Organization Tips For Busy College Students

As a college student, I know how hard it can be to stay organized, whether it’s your bedroom, laundry, car, or school assignments. Things tend to pile up and it can extremely hard to dig ourselves out. That is why I have compiled the perfect list of organization tips for every college student to stay organized.

Use your planner every single day and night:

Most college students will buy a planner, however, it doesn’t do much good if you don’t actually use it. So many of my friends say that their planners are just sitting in their backpacks and that they never look at them. So trust me, use your articles to their fullest extent! Use it for your school assignments and test, study/homework time, work schedules, exercise, and other activities or fun events. Having everything in one spot makes it much easier for you to understand everything you have to do and when they must be done by. You will also feel much less overwhelmed and more prepared by understanding what commitments you have coming up.

Purchase folders for important printed documents:

I know we don’t get a lot of paper materials anymore but they are still handy. Once in a while, you will get paper documents and there is a very important reason that they are paper: It is because they are important and should be kept in a safe spot! So label your folders accordingly and put whatever you need to in them especially any documents for school, work, travel, living situations, etc.

Use a flash drive to back up your work:

Don’t let all of your files pile up on your desktop. Buy one or two flash drives and constantly back up your work! I cannot tell you how many times my laptop has turned off without saving my work and I have had to start my assignments from the very beginning. I know that it is very tempting to delete all of your work once a class is over, but saving them on the flash drive will allow you to keep all your files so that one day you can look back at them if you need to or if you just want to. So keep your documents clear, organized, and safe from deletion by using flash drives to store your work in addition to saving them on your desktops.

Take good class notes (electronic or hand-written):

I personally prefer taking electronic class notes on my laptop because I type much faster than I write which allows me to pay more attention to what the teachers are saying. However, everyone has different preferences and you should use whatever feels better to you whether that is typing or hand-writing your notes. Whichever way you take notes, just be sure to make sure they are clear and legible. Use appropriate titles, formatting, colors, sections, etc. I indent my notes based on the sections and titles they belong to. I also use different color fonts or highlighters based on the information I am marking. For example, I highlight key terms and points that my teachers repeatedly state in class in different colors so that I can very quickly and easily get to them.

Keep in good contact with your teachers:

Having close communication with your teachers is a great way to stay organized because you are taking an active and direct role in staying on top of your assignments. By having a good relationship with your teacher you can ask them for extra help in a certain subject, ideas for your upcoming projects, or just further discussing something in the class that interests you. In sum, by staying in contact with your teachers, you are keeping yourself well organized and informed.

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Use your phone:

Your phone is a great resource that serves more purposed than using social media or texting. Set your alarms for important dates and times of when things need to get done. For example, if you have a discussion board post due at 11:59 pm every Sunday, set an alarm for 9:00 p.m., 10:00 p.m., and 11:00 p.m. to ensure that you do not forget about it and that you have enough time to finish it once you get the first initial notification. Also, put important dates in your phone’s calendar.

That way, even if you forget to check your planner one day, you will still get an alert on your phone. Lastly, if you need to jot some things or ideas down so you do not forget, you should use your phone’s notes. You can make all the lists you need for things you need to buy or things you need to finish. Just be sure that you don’t overuse your notes to the point that you have so many that you actually get unorganized. Therefore, defeating the purpose of using it to stay organized.

Try to keep your environments clean:

Keeping your bedroom, backpack, car, and other places clean will help you feel better and stay more organized. You don’t have to turn in to some neat freak but having clean areas will allow you to find whatever you need in a short amount of time and it will be a more welcoming environment for you to dedicate your time accordingly. Keeping these areas clean will save you time which you can then spend on doing more fun activities than working or homework. This is one of the best organization tips!