College is an entirely new experience compared to the years of formal education leading up to it. You suddenly have complete freedom over your time, which can prove to be problematic initially. Cleaning your room can seem like a hellish prospect when you can easily watch a movie. Why write that paper today which is due in a week? Of course, we all know how that goes. One day turns into two, and then before you know it, the deadline is hanging over your head.

However, college does not have to be a reckless and lawless land. You can easily avoid these pitfalls by putting in some time and effort into better organizing yourself. Reading this article means you are concerned about how you can better organize yourself, and for that, I commend you. Let’s look at some of the changes you can make to achieve this goal.

A Planner Goes a Long Way

This may seem like an obvious thing, but not many students practice it. Due to the advancements in personal computing, we often overlook the utility of simple things that have been tried and tested for centuries. A planner is simply a calendar that has spaces for each day of the week. You can write down essential deadlines in these spaces to keep track of the dates.

Students often deceive themselves into thinking that they will remember important dates. However, our memories are highly unreliable, and you have probably experienced this all your life. You could be sure that you are on top of an assignment deadline only for it to escape your mind. When you finally remember it, you find that there isn’t much time left and panic ensues.

Hence, getting yourself a planner or even a traditional calendar should be the first step in getting organized. Please don’t rely on your memory, and make it a habit to check your planner every morning. If you’d instead go the digital route, that is fine too, as long as you follow the same principles. There are many great apps for planning your time with the added features of notifications and alarms. These can help you keep track of all important deadlines and other things such as appointments and interviews.

Don’t Forget to Check Your Syllabus.

A crucial aspect of staying organized in college is to follow your syllabus unlike high school, where the syllabus is not of much importance, your college syllabus matters. Your entire course’s blueprint details the different course material you will need, such as books and articles. It also contains all the critical deadlines for assignments, presentations, and tests.

I would suggest that for maximum benefits, you use your planner in conjunction with your syllabus. Your syllabus tells you everything about your course in advance. What better way to utilize it than to use it in combination with your planner?

Gather all the material that a particular course requires and write down all the important dates on your planner. Moreover, use post-it notes where necessary and stick them around your dorm room so that the likelihood of you forgetting something crucial can be minimized.

Use Separate Binders For Different Courses

Cramming all of your course work into one binder might be the more comfortable thing to do, but it is far from ideal. Clutter is the enemy of the organization. You don’t want to mix up everything by cramming them into a single binder. This will cause unnecessarily waste your time when you want to retrieve something specific. Instead, get yourself separate binders for each of your courses. Label the binder according to the course and keep everything related to that particular course in that binder. This may seem like a lot of work, but since we are trying to maximize organization, this is one of the critical things you can do.

When you give each subject its own space, you minimize the risk of losing relevant course material. You won’t have to go searching for a paper that you wrote or for notes you wrote down. Such instances only make things worse when tests are near. Believe me; you would thank yourself later.

Avoid Procrastination

Sticky post with handwriting the word Later stick on alarm clock on solid yellow background with copy space using as procrastination, self discipline or laziness concept.

I know, we all do it from time to time, and you often feel helpless as the clock ticks away, and you waste your time doing anything but the thing you are supposed to do. It is an unpleasant feeling. However, there are a few things you can do to break the spell. Most notably, using a to-do list has proven quite useful in coming out of a rut.

The idea here is to make a list of things you need to do on any given day. However, the key is to start your list by writing down the easiest every-day tasks first. For example, your list can begin with:

1. Make the bed
2. Brush teeth
3. Make breakfast
4. Take out trash

These are simple tasks that you will probably do anyway despite a list. However, having them written down on paper and then ticking them off as you complete each task gives you a sense of accomplishment. As you tick off the first few simpler tasks, you will find yourself building momentum towards the more difficult tasks you would instead procrastinate.

Clean Your Room

Ever heard of the expression, “A clear space equals a clear mind”? This is not just some cliché that people have picked up over the years. Instead, according to a study done by the Princeton Neuroscience Institute, clutter can cause significant distraction. When your entire room is a mess, it can hurt your ability to concentrate on your planned tasks. Moreover, a messy room is terrible for the organization, but it has also been shown to increase depression.

Hence, the few minutes you put into cleaning your room each morning will pay up significantly in the long run. You will feel accomplished by getting it out of the way early in the day, and it will be less distracting when you are studying—a win-win situation.