By: Hermekay Dehaney

Being organized for school is one of the few keys to academic success. Knowing the different hacks on how to stay on top of school assignments can help reduce stress, manage your time, and help you prepare for the future. In this article, I will share some tips and strategies to help you stay organized for this semester and future semesters.

1.   Make a planner:  You can use digital or physical paper to make your planner. Making a planner is essential for staying consistent and keeping track of your many different assignments.

Start by writing down the days of the week, and write down the times you’re free, after that, you can start to write down the specific times for doing homework and studying. Make sure to include breaks in your schedule so you don’t get stressed out.

It’s okay to make a few changes to your schedule during the week, but try to stay consistent with your schedule as much as possible.

2.  Time management: Time management I would say it’s one of the most important skills to learn if you want to stay organized.  Avoid delaying assignments, and start setting realistic goals on ways to finish your assignments.

There are many different time managing methods. A few include the technique you might’ve learned in your Scot’s Strategy or AVID class and that is the SMART Goal which stands for: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-bound. It’s a technique that helps you to create realistic manageable goals. This technique is useful for people who want to set long-term goals, and it’s a great method to track and manage your time.

3.   Keep your study place clean: A messy study space can make it harder to stay productive in completing your assignments. Keep your space clean by removing unnecessary items, sorting, and keeping only what you need on your desk. Use folders, and notebooks to arrange your notes and assignments. This will make finding assignments when you need them a lot faster and easier.

4.  Take organized notes: Writing clear, and organized notes can help you have a clear understanding of what you’re learning, and it’s also a good way to study. There are many different ways to take notes such as  Cornell, bullet points, outline, mind mapping, etc.  Find out which one works the best for you, and start writing.

No matter which method you choose to use to take notes, I suggest simplifying your notes and highlighting important things that you may need to retain.

Also, remember to use different notebooks for different subjects, or if you have those 5 subject notebooks, make sure you’re only using one section for one class.

Organizing, revising, and being consistent with your notes can help you understand the material better, and it’s especially useful if you have an upcoming test to study for.

5. Prioritize your time based on importance: Managing your time effectively is important for staying organized. A technique I use is that I divide my assignments based on the due date and their importance. If the due date is coming up, I prioritize that assignment first. If it’s a large summative project, I take some time out every day adding to the assignment little by little, so that by the time the due date is here, I won’t be stressed about completing it.

Staying consistent and organized takes a lot of hard work to do, but if you try to implement these 5 tips into your routine you’ll see much needed difference in your everyday life.