Spring Semester Eve

It was the night before classes

And all through the dorms

Not a student was sleeping

They were all at the bars

I don't know about you, but the Spring semester is the hardest for me to get into the swing of. We're all still in the holiday mode, and there just isn't that first day of school excitement that comes with the new classes in January. Despite all of that, I need to do well this semester, and I'm not completely sure how I'm going to be able to make that happen because of everything I have going on. I do know that this is going to be the semester of organization though, and here are a few tips for anybody who tends to struggle in that department.

Color coding: Adding color to my agenda is not only fun for me, but it's a ton of help. I can flip to a certain day and automatically know what is happening in each area of my life without a lot of thinking. The Lord knows that when I'm stressing, I'm not the best at thinking. The picture above isn't my planner, but mine looks really, really close to it (minus the Knicks games).

Date//Class Number//Class Topic or Agenda//Assigned That Class//Due That Class

Syllabus Excel Sheet: I can't explain how much time this winds up saving me each week. Basically in the beginning of the semester, I take the schedule from each of my syllabi and put it all into one Excel sheet. This leads to me not having to search each of my syllabi several times a week, and I always know what is going on in each of my classes. When I'm done with it, I upload a copy to my Google Drive. Then I print one out to carry with me in my bag at all times, one for my desk, and one that goes next to my calendar on my wall. I never have an excuse not to know what is going on, and it is great. 

Finally, just put in the time. Although it seems like college is some weird competition to see if you can watch an hour long TV show in twenty minutes. The answer will always be that you can't. The same goes with your papers and exams, you're not going to get your A's if you don't just put in the time. Nothing is worse than fumbling through all of your work, looking for one paper that has instructions, and losing twelve in the process. If you give yourself an adequate amount of time to finish projects and study, you're going to be more organized also.