Staying mentally organized can help you stay organized in college on many levels and help you avoid problems, such as trying to cram for an exam that you forgot about until the night beforehand. Use these tips to facilitate college readiness.
Use Just One Calendar Tool
Some people prefer apps they can use on their phones, while others prefer hard copies of day planners. Whichever one you use, only use your selected tool. If you try to list reminders and to-do lists in multiple places, you’ll be more likely to end up misplacing or forgetting about something.
If you do use a physical day planner, carry it with you whenever when you leave your dorm. Bring it not only to your classes, but also to social activities whenever possible. This allows you to jot down new plans or changes in existing plans as soon as you know about them. It’ll also help you avoid scheduling conflicts, since you’ll know what you’re already committed to.
Plan in Advance
At the beginning of every week (or the end of the week prior), write down everything you’ll need to remember for the week ahead. This includes assignments, exams, social activities and reminders (e.g. “call home” or “plan a birthday outing for a roommate”).
Use Advance Reminders
It’s definitely a good idea to indicate on your day planner or scheduling app when an assignment is due or when you’ll be taking an exam. However, it won’t do you as much good as you’d hoped if you only notice these items on the day of or the day before they happen. To give yourself more time to prepare, use advance reminders.
When you have a major assignment due, such as an essay or a time-consuming project or when you have an exam coming up, write down reminders in the days leading up to the big day, such as a reminder to study a few days before a test. You can even color code these reminders, if that will help you. For example, you could use yellow for the reminder five days ahead of time, green for three days ahead and red for the day before.
Alternatively, if you prefer scheduling apps, set up periodic reminders on your phone. Figure out a system of reminders that works best for you — and stick to it.
Syllabus Reminders
Certain information doesn’t belong in a day planner. If you need to remind yourself of something for a specific class, consider annotating your syllabus for that class. On each syllabus, write down important class information or the professors’ policies.
Follow a Consistent Schedule
People tend to be creatures of habit. If you do different things at different times each day, you may be more likely to forget to do something important because you don’t have a set routine. Although your class and labs schedule may look different on Monday than it does on Thursday, try to otherwise follow a consistent, predictable routine.
For example, try to wake up at about the same time and go to bed at roughly the same time each day. Set aside time to work out and try to eat meals at around the same times each day.
