College Organization

Hey there friends! I hope you're having a great weekend. With my crazy busy schedule, it was hard to find the time to write a new post for the week. And when I had time, I wasn't sure what to write about. However, thinking about juggling school, extracurriculars, work, and more, I thought it would be fitting to share the method to my madness: the organization techniques I use for college!

I have always considered myself to be extremely organized. Let's face it, when you are the most focused when you're busy, organization is a must. My first tip is find a planner that works for you and COMMIT! I hate to say that in the past I have gotten planners, used them for a few weeks, and then resorted to notes on my phone/computer. This year I wanted that to change. After looking at lots of affordable, pretty (because that helps with the motivation), and useful planners, I landed on this one:

Day Designer is a well-known planner company whose planners are extremely throughout and intentional. I've been looking into Day Designer planners but couldn't commit to the price without being sure that the format worked for me. Luckily, Day Designer has a line of planners for Blue Sky at Target which meant I got my planner for less than $15. So far, I have absolutely loved this planner and have been using it every single day.

There are a ton of small details in this planner that make it incredibly useful.

I've included photos of the monthly pages for February and March as well as the day page for my birthday (hint hint... haha). I've put both of these formats to use, and the only reason I didn't show the pages for this month/today is because they are totally marked up! The monthly page has space for notes and each box has enough space for multiple commitments. My favorite parts of the daily pages are the "Top Three" to dos, daily quote, hourly schedule, to do list, and space to write down gratitudes each day. I would highly recommend this planner layout.

When filling out my planner, I make use of the gold stickers included inside, other stickers I have from past planners, and different writing utensils. I color coded my classes using highlighters so I block out the time in my schedule and sort my homework with them. I also have different colors of pens for different kinds of commitments and activities.

My next organizational strategy is my course binder. In high school I definitely had a folder or binder for every class. Last year I realized that being on campus all day made that not so possible. Additionally, I found that I didn't need a ton of space to fit all of my papers. So, now I use one binder with sections separated by dividers for each class. Since so much of my work is online, I have few documents to keep in my binder. I made a cover page for each class using downloadable prints from Vera Bradley which you can find HERE. I put the course number and title in a big font and also include a spot for the professor's name, building and room number, and days and times when the class occurs. You can easily make these on Word with any photo. They truly help organize my papers and assignments.

Finally, I also still utilize the calendar on my phone/computer for scheduling and deadlines. I also make use of the Sticky Notes application on my computer. I have an entire note devoted to a list of my courses where I can write down my homework.

All of these forms of organization help me going where I need to be when I need to be there and keep me on top of my schedule. If you have any questions about this topic or anything else, don't hesitate to shoot a message my way! Also, don't forget to subscribe to my blog so you can be notified about new posts and projects. Thanks for reading!

#LIFESTYLE