In five years of writing for various audiences, Uche has learned to simplify career-focused content for ambitious learners regardless of their qualifications. Her work is published in notable platforms such as Hackernoon and Hashnode.
Nneoma Uche Education WriterIn five years of writing for various audiences, Uche has learned to simplify career-focused content for ambitious learners regardless of their qualifications. Her work is published in notable platforms such as Hackernoon and Hashnode.
Written By Nneoma Uche Education WriterIn five years of writing for various audiences, Uche has learned to simplify career-focused content for ambitious learners regardless of their qualifications. Her work is published in notable platforms such as Hackernoon and Hashnode.
Nneoma Uche Education WriterIn five years of writing for various audiences, Uche has learned to simplify career-focused content for ambitious learners regardless of their qualifications. Her work is published in notable platforms such as Hackernoon and Hashnode.
Education Writer Brenna Swanston Deputy EditorBrenna Swanston is an education-focused editor and writer with a particular interest in education equity and alternative educational paths. As a newswriter in her early career, Brenna's education reporting earned national awards and state-level accol.
Brenna Swanston Deputy EditorBrenna Swanston is an education-focused editor and writer with a particular interest in education equity and alternative educational paths. As a newswriter in her early career, Brenna's education reporting earned national awards and state-level accol.
Brenna Swanston Deputy EditorBrenna Swanston is an education-focused editor and writer with a particular interest in education equity and alternative educational paths. As a newswriter in her early career, Brenna's education reporting earned national awards and state-level accol.
Brenna Swanston Deputy EditorBrenna Swanston is an education-focused editor and writer with a particular interest in education equity and alternative educational paths. As a newswriter in her early career, Brenna's education reporting earned national awards and state-level accol.
Updated: Jun 20, 2024, 3:16am
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The benefits of attending college extend beyond earning a degree. As a college student, you’re exposed to a whole new world, one much bigger and more complex than what you knew in high school or growing up in your hometown.
The world of college is freeing, fun and undoubtedly challenging. Adapting to the rigors of the collegiate experience can take a toll, and until you learn how to stay organized in college, some important tasks may fall through the cracks.
College organization strategies can help you stay on top of your new learning routine, ultimately preventing burnout and promoting academic success. If you’ve been struggling to balance school, work and recreation, read this guide to get some college organization ideas.
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Implementing the right tools and strategies can help you become an organized college student. Later in this article, we’ll explore some useful organization apps for school. Below, we dive into some tips and tricks for getting your college life in order.
A calendar is a good way to keep track of important dates and events for the month or semester. You can log appointments, exams and events with family and friends in your personal calendar to ensure nothing falls through the cracks. Reviewing your calendar regularly gives you an idea of how your week will pan out so you can plan your days around important events and deadlines.
You can choose from several calendar options, depending on your lifestyle and personality. A digital calendar is best for getting regular reminders if you move around a lot. However, a physical calendar is a better option if you prefer writing down tasks and seeing your day planned out on paper.
A planner helps you visualize your day and break it down into a to-do list, including several small tasks at different hours. You’ll find that each day varies in college, so a daily planner can make it easier to manage your time efficiently.
Physical planners are great for eliminating distractions when creating your schedule, but mobile planners can be just as efficient. Planners are better than calendars for creating daily schedules because they provide more room for to-do lists, notes and checklists.
By assigning your most important tasks to your peak productivity hours, you can make the most of each day. These peak hours differ for everyone. Many students work best in the early hours, others at midday and some at night. Take the time to learn your body and mind, and determine which hours of the day you’re most likely to focus and work fast.
Using your digital task manager or a good, old-fashioned notepad, rank your daily tasks in order of importance. Some students prefer to tackle the most urgent or difficult tasks first and handle the rest later in the day. Others prefer to build up their productivity by starting with minor tasks.
You can implement several time management techniques to accomplish your daily goals. For example, the Pomodoro technique requires you to focus on a task for 25 minutes and then take a five-minute break. You can also prevent burnout through the Eisenhower matrix. It involves categorizing your tasks into four quadrants: urgent vs. non-urgent, important vs. unimportant.
The time-blocking method is also great for deep work and self-care as it requires assigning time chunks to every activity, regardless of urgency.
Organizational strategies for students go beyond planning; they also include tasks like studying and note taking.
During lectures, document key concepts and examples provided by your professor. When studying solo, you can then expand on those concepts.
Note-taking methods like bullet points, charts, maps and color-coding can help you retain important information. You can also organize your notes by subject and topic in notebooks or digital folders for quick access.
Decluttering your environment is the first step to decluttering your mind. Ensure you block a time in your schedule for organizing your home and your workspace for school, preferably before you start working on anything else. This tip also applies to digital clutter—organize your email inbox using Gmail filters or Outlook’s clutter folder, delete all irrelevant tabs and start your work on a fresh page.
Organization is a crucial life skill that allows you to stay on top of tasks, manage your expectations and complete your objectives in a timely manner. While organizational skills are not technical, per se, they involve planning, foresight and commitment.
Like any other skill, organization comes easily to some people, while others must put in more effort to develop organizational skills.
Overall, developing organizational skills as a college student offers immediate benefits to your college experience, along with long-term benefits for your future career. Below, we discuss some benefits of staying organized in college and beyond.
Twenty-four hours may not seem nearly enough time in a day for first-year students overwhelmed with a barrage of new college experiences—both academic and extracurricular. Developing organizational skills equips students to handle their daily tasks with a sense of urgency and focus so they can get more done in less time.
A lack of organization can increase your stress levels if you end up feeling like all your tasks are due at once and you have no control over your life. Disorganization may lead to missed assignment deadlines, tests and classes when you’re forced to make critical decisions at the last minute.
Developing and committing to a set schedule can help you maintain a clutter-free space, concentrate on pressing academic projects and create time for social activities you enjoy.
Organizational skills can help your daily routine feel more predictable, reducing stress levels.Organizational skills in college are critical to your academic performance. Organized college students can complete assignments before they’re due, attend all of their important classes, take comprehensive notes and create efficient exam prep plans.
These routines help you cut down on last-minute cram sessions, which can be counterproductive. Moreover, getting organized can improve your mental health, which may also impact your performance in school.
Getting organized is a great way to regain control of your life. Instead of living on autopilot, you can become more mindful about how you spend your time. Creating a schedule, prioritizing tasks and eliminating distractions can help you build discipline and commitment to a robust college experience.
Taking on this responsibility and meeting your daily objectives may in turn boost your confidence.
Cost: $4 per month for individuals; $6 per user per month for teams
App overview: As its name suggests, Todoist allows users to create to-do lists and prioritize urgent tasks. It offers regular reminders and integrates smoothly with other essential planning tools like Outlook, Dropbox, Gmail and Google Calendar. It’s a great task manager for college students because it offers a free beginner plan, though this version comes with limited features.
Cost: $12 per month for individuals; $15 per user per month for teams
App overview: Routine is a digital daily planner that helps you manage your schedule with its time-blocking feature. The app syncs with your Google Calendar to notify you of upcoming events and includes other organizational features such as a to-do list, contacts and a note-taking feature.
Cost: $5.84 per month for individuals; $10 per month on the unlimited plan; $20 per month for founders
App overview: Amplenote is a note-taking app with to-do lists and calendar features to help users stay organized throughout the day. Using the Eisenhower Matrix, Amplenote helps users prioritize by generating “task scores” to rank the most important tasks of the day.
Cost: $2.99 per month for individuals; $8.33 per month for a family of four; $4.99 per user per month for teams
App overview: Any.do is a productivity platform that offers numerous organizational features such as a daily planner, a task manager, a calendar and reminders. College students can use the app’s free beginner plan to log assignment due dates, share tasks with friends and prioritize tasks automatically.
Cost: one-time payment of $2 for each add-on feature
App overview: Twos encourages users to write things down, from tasks to ideas to calendar events. It also offers a reminder option for each item on your list and allows you to move unfinished tasks to a fresh list for the next day. This app is easy to navigate and offers daily tips on becoming organized.
We recommend decluttering your workspace, scheduling all time-bound tasks in a calendar and using a daily planner to stay on top of important tasks. Daily planners can be either a physical planner or a task management app that helps you track your progress.
Being organized in college helps you manage your time efficiently, get good grades and reduce stress levels. It also enables you to balance academics with a great social life.
To organize yourself for college, first declutter your life. Digital and personal clutter impacts your ability to focus on the important things. Next, determine which time management technique works best for you and create a schedule that works around your classes.
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Education WriterIn five years of writing for various audiences, Uche has learned to simplify career-focused content for ambitious learners regardless of their qualifications. Her work is published in notable platforms such as Hackernoon and Hashnode.
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