How to Get Organized For School
Most high school students lead very complex lives with clubs, sports, activities, homework, and more. It can be hard to balance it all without becoming overwhelmed.
Oftentimes, students get in over their head and sign up for too many extracurriculars and don’t know how to balance them out with homework: this can quickly lead to burnout, procrastination and excessive stress. This is why it’s important for a student to know their limits and good organization techniques that work for them.
While being organized sounds simple and easy on paper, it can often be a herculean task- especially for highschoolers. However, the first step to solving a solution is identifying the roadblocks that stand in the way of solving the issue.
Some common reasons students aren’t organized are: they haven’t been taught how to organize themselves and their time efficiently, they have a hard time keeping track of papers, they’re forgetful, they get distracted easily, or they have a habit of procrastinating. If you are often subjected to these issues, then this list should help you exterminate your bad habits from last school year and start the new year out right with good organizational habits and techniques.
- Don’t overwhelm yourself
The first thing you can do to become organized is to avoid signing up for too many activities that will take up a large portion of time. While it’s important to try new things, being committed to too many activities can lead to a decreased amount of time to complete homework, which can cause a great deal of stress. It’s important to know your limits and to recognize when you’re getting overwhelmed.
- Use a planner, calendar, or to-do list to keep track of dates
In order to keep track of activities, appointments, homework, and other dates or tasks, it’s essential to write it all down somewhere. Dates can be written down electronically or on paper in a calendar, planner, to-do list, or bullet journal. I typically write down my assignments and due-dates in a paper planner, as the dates are already written down for me and it’s easy to take out of my backpack and write down dates or assignments as my teacher goes over them. In addition to the planner, I put important dates for activities, practices, reminders, and appointments into the Google Calendar on my phone, since I can access it anywhere.
- Organize assignments by subject in a notebook, folder, or binder
Do you shove papers and assignments in your backpack without a second thought the moment your teachers hand them out? Then it may be time to get a binder, folder, or notebook to store notes and assignments in. When there isn’t an organization method in place, in folders, binders, and notebooks, it can be hard to keep track of papers and turn them in on time. To combat this, I typically use dividers in my binder to reserve a section for each subject. I also have folders that I put loose papers in. For writing heavy courses, I use a notebook to do most of my work and take notes.
- Declutter and organize your workspace and backpack
It can be hard to remain focused, organized, and find things when working in a messy environment. This is why it’s important to keep your workspace for your homework and backpack clean. Before I got in the habit of decluttering and cleaning my workspace regularly it felt like a big chore, which made me even more discouraged to do it. However, once I got into the habit of cleaning every few weeks, it became a habit and made my life much easier.
- Build a routine
Unless you make it a habit and remain true to your commitment to become more organized, all the tips above are useless. A key factor that is true for building any new habit is creating a consistent routine that you stick to. The age-old saying “practice makes perfect” applies to more than improving a skill- it can be applicable to any aspect of life. Practicing a well scheduled routine will eventually make it a habit that you’ll naturally commit to and won’t even have to think about. While this may seem like a lot of work, it’s important not to give up because you fail to stick to your routine a couple of times- remember your motives for creating the routine, and you’ll be able to keep on track until it becomes an ingrained habit.
Overall, becoming more organized can decrease stress and allow you to be able to do more with your time and energy, since it can make doing homework more efficient. It also can promote and build life-long organization systems and skills that will benefit you into your adult life.
