Sticking with my Back to School series, I thought that I would give you some tips for staying organised while you're back at school, college or university.
Tip 1: Get yourself a planner!
It's pretty obvious, but a planner will help you organise everything you need to do over the course of the academic year. The best kind are academic planners, as they start in august and end in July, this means that everything that you put in there will be mostly assignments, deadlines, exams and so on. It's a good idea to pick a fun planner, because this will make you want to check it more often and it will encourage you to use it more as well! I also use another notebook to make my to do lists in! I just personally find it easier to have my to do lists in a separate book and I make them into little check lists, then I tick off each item when it's completed.
Tip 2: Organise your desk space!
I can't work in a messy environment, (which is strange, because I study Fashion), but my desk space at home and at university are always ridiculously organised! Some people can work with a messy desk and that's completely fine, so if you do skip over this tip.
I keep on my desk: my laptop, headphones, USB stick and/or hard drive, my planner, notebook and a couple of extras, like the book I'm reading and a candle, (the candle changes every season), during the academic term, my sewing machine will also be on my desk. At the moment, my desk also has some pictures and colour swatches on it, as part of a project I have started ready for when I go back to university.
I find that when you have an organised desk space, you get a lot more things completed, as you don't have to spend time cleaning your desk or wasting time moving things around to make space.
Tip 3: Organise your supplies!
This one may only apply to those of us who are either studying the arts and/or are just extremely organised! Whether you have just a pencil case, or a set of drawers like myself, organising your school supplies just helps!
I didn't do this last year, but this year I know that the drawers are going to really help keep all of my stuff organised. In my top drawer, I keep stationary items: pencils, pens, crayons and glue etc. The second drawer holds: scissors, post-it notes, rulers, stapler and staples. The third: pattern envelopes, folders and my weekly planner. The fourth drawer is my displaying drawer, so there's stencils, split pins, card and fine liners, these are for my production books. The fifth drawer is miscellaneous items, like dress bags for finished garments, sticky labels and books. Finally, in the last drawer, (my favourite) is everything I need for my C.A.T.S (Critical And Theoretical Studies) lectures: notebooks, spare folders, help sheets and presentation notes.
Tip 4: Prioritise
My final tip for this post is to prioritise your work load. I can't stress how much easier your time at school/college/university will be if your prioritise your work! Do all of the things that you know you need to hand in first. If you have an essay that isn't due in until the end of the semester and it's something you know you have a lot of knowledge on, leave it until you've got your projects done that you struggle with and then when you've finished those, you will be able to just power through the essay and it's a good way to end the semester with an easy essay or project!
I hope these tips are helpful and make you want to start organising a bit more, ready for your first semester back at school!
Until next time...
x
