Back to school season is upon us and we all need to find our own way to cope with the stress of the semester. It took me a few semesters to get used to the university pace and find my own rhythm, but I eventually got it.
There are so many ways to stay organized: bullet journals, calendars, planners, etc. At the beginning of my academic path I used to waste so much valuable time filling up my planner and journals, thinking I was organizing my day, when I was really just procrastinating. I have switched that around to a simple and effective system that allows me to be concise, yet organized and on top of my game. I am going to share with you my time-organizing method and what tools I use that to make the best out of my energy and productivity.
1. Time Slotting
If you are a busy person, and if you are a student chances are you’re beyond busy, this is truly a game changer. Mark down the time slots that you already know you have a class/activity/meeting. I recommend entering these as soon as you find out about them, so you don’t spend hours each Sunday preparing for the next week’s schedule (though you might want to spend a few minutes to make some adjustments).
There are two ways you can do this: electronically or on paper. I absolutely love to have a physical planner where I keep track of my schedule, so I bought one that has the time slot option. However, you can opt for an electronic version (Google Calendar or Calendar app on Mac). Electronic calendars are definitely more flexible for changes and give you the option to add recurrent activities so you don’t need to manually enter all of them.
This method will allow you to visually comprehend how much free time you actually have in a day, and you can then further time block things you want to get done: study sessions, gym, cleaning time, etc.
2. Monthly View
I cannot even remember how many times I stumbled upon an important/due date a few days before it was actually due, which often lead to poor quality of my work given the time constraint. When your mind is cluttered with so many ideas, use a monthly view calendar as a tool to keep you up to date with your due dates.
Most planners have a monthly view incorporated, but for some reason it is so much more visible and accessible to me when I print them out and keep them always in front of my desk. Having a monthly view that is in front of you at all times allows you to keep track of your due dates and prepare in advance effectively. In fact, you can start planning your action plan for the specific assignment and using the time slot technique for it.
3. Daily View
On the daily view of my planner I like to have 3 things: the time slots of all my activities/meetings of the day, the important assignments due for that day, and a section where you can add things to remember/do. On the bottom of my planner I always use some space to track important tasks I need to get done that don’t necessarily fit in any of the time slots. I will use the time in between those scheduled hours to complete these tasks.
If your planner doesn’t have that space, I suggest getting a sticky note and putting that information there. Afterwards, you can add it to your daily spread, so that you don’t carry multiple notebooks/journals with you. Alternatively, you can also do this on your Notes app or another app on your phone which allows you to create lists.
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