How do you all stay organized?

[DisobeyedCargo]

Reading up on my previous thread "advice on college/dorm like", I've seen this one tip a lot. Plan and stay organized.

those two things have been something I have greatly struggled with for my life for various reasons.

i come to you all again for advice. How do you all stay organized in the piles and piles of paper and dates school and life throws at you.

[Slumber]

I feel like once I was done with high school, keeping up with due-dates and school work became second nature. Any time there was any sort of uncertainty, the course syllabus or the online components for the course laid out what was due when.

For everything else, I kinda winged it.

Edited May 8, 2018 by Slumber

[Corrobin]

I don't.

[Will Bill]

Could you please explain to me what this “organize” you speak of is?

Edited May 8, 2018 by Will Bill

[DisobeyedCargo]

23 minutes ago, Will Bill said:

Could you please explain to me what this “organize” you speak of is?

Basically juggling stuff like due dates, notes, papers, and assignments. Being able to know where something is and where to find it.

[Mow Mow]

I find that using an organizer (like a calendar or agenda) really helps me with keeping my dates in order. It helps me when I can open it and see everything that's due for the week.

[Aura Of Twilight]

To be honest, organizing and planning are skills I have yet to master, mostly because I have trouble sticking to them even then. It's not easy, but I guess I recommend you writing a to-do list and forcing yourself to stick with it. Then build on that.  

[Zanarkin]

I have to be honest, I winged it most of the time. Though all the assignments that needed to be done would generally be somewhere I would see them if I grabbed/opened the notebook for that class. Having study buddies in each class also helped, cause they would often remind me by asking me how I did question x, or how to do y, etc.

Granted it was rare for me to have much more going on other than assignments/projects/exams. I wasn't much into extra curriculars and didn't have a job either, so I found it pretty easy to remember what I had to do.

I know my friend who likes to keep himself occupied always kept an agenda handy and frequently checked it and updated it. That seems like a good way of keeping organized, but do make it a habit of checking it. You could develop that by always checking it everytime you are going to start work on something, everytime you get to class, when you arrive home, etc.

 

As for knowing where stuff is, I found that notebooks with pockets (they would have little sleeves on the inner side of the covers or dividers if it was a multiple classes notebook) to be a fantastic help. Far more convenient than binders too. Of course, if you misplace your notebooks the problem remains, but you can solve that by making sure to leave your stuff in designated places (i.e. if your math notebook is not in your backpack, it should be in your current working space, your desk at home, or a designated place like a bookshelf in your room).

Edited May 9, 2018 by SlayerX

[Moblin Major General]

14 hours ago, Corrobin said:

I don't.

I echo this sentiment.

[nnhh]

On 5/8/2018 at 9:55 AM, DisobeyedCargo said:

Reading up on my previous thread "advice on college/dorm like", I've seen this one tip a lot. Plan and stay organized.

those two things have been something I have greatly struggled with for my life for various reasons.

i come to you all again for advice. How do you all stay organized in the piles and piles of paper and dates school and life throws at you.

This might seem like a silly thing, but I found that getting a giant wall sized calendar keeps me on track. It has worked way better than any other kind of schedule system I've used. It's hard to avoid doing something when it's written in huge letters glaring down on you at all times. I don't have any tips for finding the energy to do things though, sorry.

[Karimlan]

What's the dissertation about?

On topic: organizers on my laptop, a calendar/organizer tacked to the wall, a ledger full of utility (rent+power+internet) bills, and reminders on the Calendar app on my phone. xD

[Res]

The best tip I have for physical organization is to assign everything a place and keep it there. Stay on top of it all by picking up every day.

Labels and lists can also really help. It can be cheap - bankers boxes and a thick sharpie are my go-tos a lot of the time. 

I haven’t had time for filing papers in years but at least I know which box to look in if I need to find something - which narrows it down a lot!

As for maintaining a calendar, choose something you’ll use. A lot of people love planners but my planners always went unused; however, setting up alerts on my phone works for me as I’m always checking my phone. 

[GuiltyLove]

calendars on a computer or phone (yuck) helped me. I don't really use planners but I'm usually on my computer so I check the calendar on my computer a lot

you should probably keep ur papers and other stuff in separate binders and folders if u have room for them

i suggest just prioritizing assignments when it comes to due dates. that helps me the most

if possible, try to do your assignments ASAP when you get them. there's no room for fun in this world anyway

[Karimlan]

13 minutes ago, GuiltyLove said:

 there's no room for fun in this world anyway

The curse of adulting lol.

Some people still write stuff out longhand in organizers, which helps in keeping your brain active, too.

[MacLovin]

My solution is using copious amounts of alcohol to get through the day and to ensure I'm willing to organize my belongings and life.

 

[Karimlan]

23 minutes ago, Mister Rogers said:

My solution is using copious amounts of alcohol to get through the day and to ensure I'm willing to organize my belongings and life.

 

"As long as it's to drink, there's absolutely no problem with getting a early start in the day." LOL

[MacLovin]

17 minutes ago, Karimlan said:

"As long as it's to drink, there's absolutely no problem with getting a early start in the day." LOL

"irish breakfast"

[expshare]

My habits in college were:

- One notebook per class

- One folder per class, with all papers shoved into it

- All necessary supplies on my desk or inside my desk

- Checking class websites

- One sheet of paper for all scheduling purposes

The sheet of paper would simply contain lists of plans described with as little as one word each, and I would throw it away once it became obsolete. I probably had a new sheet of paper about every 1 - 3 weeks. 

[Junkhead]

Simplifying your life goes a long way. You start off by cutting all the "noise". Not just actual noise (if you tend to leave the TV on, but then there's also things like constant backround music as well as constant idle social media and celphone usage). Cleaning your room also helps a lot with this, because your mind becomes distracted with all the clutter (assuming you do have a disorganised room, for example).

[Chopper...]

Kind of late to this, but let's see...

I tend to suppress overtly tiresome experiences, but what I remember about it all is that what would save my life all the time was having one or two good friends that took my same courses and would remind me of everything that was due in them. At first I would write dates and stuff with big letters and even with colors in my notebook but the thing is, that only works if you make a habit of opening and reading your notebook outside the classroom. It wasn't on purpose, I'm too forgetful.

Now, I know that's not a good advice by itself but maybe you should take every advice here given just in case one of them fail sometime, so to sum it up: use planners or calendars, always keep your papers organized in folders, clean your room, and make some good friends (or just one will suffice). I'm not sure about the alcohol one, depends on your age, if you're legal, go for it.

And good luck! You can do it