Get Organized 5 Tips for the Back to School Season

Stay on Top of Your To-Do List With These Organizational Musts For many students, the transition from summer break to the new school year can feel a bit overwhelming. In order to stay on top of your to-do list and build a strong foundation for the year, it’s essential that your organizational skills are up to par. Simple changes, such as sticking to a daily calendar and tackling assignments as soon as possible, can help make staying on top of your work feel more manageable. Keep reading for some of our top tips for organizing efficiently, which will help you feel confident throughout the back to school season and beyond. Create a To-Do ListBetween shopping for school supplies and keeping tabs on assignments, staying on top of your responsibilities for the school year can feel challenging. In order to avoid letting anything slip through the cracks, take note of every deadline, project, and assignment you need to have on your radar. Include similar notes for extracurricular activities and also any important reminders for your college application process. Once you have every item written out and accounted for, you can begin to systemically work through every bullet on your agenda and prioritize your most pressing tasks. Carve Out Space for Each ClassWhen it comes to coursework, create a designated space for each subject in order to avoid mixing up notes or due dates. Everyone has different organizational preferences, but separate notebooks, folders, and binders can be a good place to start. If you do most of your school work online, adopt a similar strategy and clearly separate all of your downloads and documents. Take time each week to review your sections for each class to ensure everything is in its proper place. Don’t Be Afraid to Add ColorColor coding notes, handouts, and documents can be a great way to easily find exactly what you are looking for. This strategy can be particularly effective for students who gravitate towards design and/or anyone who is more of a visual learner. Whether you decide to use multiple pens or highlighters to take notes or opt for color blocking as part of a study strategy, playing with different hues can be a fun way to make your work more visually appealing and systematically categorized. Save Time for a Once-OverEven students who excel at organization and feel confident in their ability to juggle multiple tasks need to set aside time each week for a catch up. Pencil in time to review your to-do lists and update them with new assignments and deadlines and also ensure all of your classwork is organized and easily accessible. While doing this on a weekly basis may sound tedious, it will eliminate the need to spend hours revamping your organization habits or frantically searching through all of your notes later in the year during exam season, when students are often more pressed for time. Make Productivity a PriorityIn addition to staying organized, students need to work efficiently. One easy way to up your productivity is by tackling the most challenging items on your to-do list ASAP. Although it can be tempting to procrastinate, strive to complete essays and papers well before their due date, in order to avoid the stress that comes with working down to the wire. Tackling the most challenging items on your to-do list is satisfying and can help eliminate assignment-related stress. The back to school season is the perfect time to take your organizational skills to the next level. If preparing for college is on your agenda, our team of expert college admissions counselors can help you stay organized throughout the process.