NOTE-TAKING

I have tried a lot of different methods, using lots of colors and color-coding. My favorite thing was keeping things neat and pretty and bright, but that doesn't always help as classes become more in-depth and demanding of your time.

Coming to college forced me to keep my notes concise. I still keep things neat and pretty, but I stick to black and a pop of color. This has helped TREMENDOUSLY. I hope this helps some of you too!

~I make broad, summarizing statements for topics at the very left of the page.

~Arrows help me see relationships between subjects and their details. Sticky notes are used for diagrams, side notes, in-depth definitions, and relationships across topics.

~I only write vocabulary words in my colored pen. The highlighter is used sparingly (!!!!) mostly for vocab and key phrases.

~Writing the learning objective from each chapter helps me see what I will be learning in that chapter.

PRODUCTIVITY

This is my weekly view on Google Calendar. Things are grayed out because this is an old week's schedule. My classes are color-coded and time-scheduled. I have the location of my classes as description.

Seeing my schedule like this helps me gauge when my free time is. I also have a part-time job in the evenings, so it's nice to see when I will have appointments, extra seminars, or work and when I can schedule study time in between.

I assign my homework for the day as TASKS so they show up at the top of my page (the blue bars). That way I can mark each as complete as I go.

***I look at the SYLLABUS as soon as I get it so I can pre-enter all due dates and tests. I assign them as DUE and COLOR-CODE them to my classes.

Oftentimes in college, you will need to read a section of text by a certain day. I don't like procrastinating too much. I DIVIDE THE READING into equal parts over a set amount of days so I can ensure I'll be prepared for class when it's due and will be discussed.

(example: I had to read King Lear Act 1 for the beginning of the week. If that act is 50 pages due in 6 days, I will divide that into 10 pages per day so I'm not overloading on the reading and forgetting key notes. By the 6th day, I am prepared!)

This TIME MANAGEMENT helps!!! I have NEVER been more PRODUCTIVE before using this software!! I really do add everything for class and work and have plenty of time to prepare and revise essays, do homework, study, and i still have a SOCIAL LIFE!!