Wednesday, September 3, 2014

Organized? Hilarious



I appear to be organized at the beginning of the semester, but it takes A LOT of effort for me to continue to be. I struggled the first couple of semesters back in school because I had never worked full time and go to school full time. Then to make matters worse, I hadn't been in school for like 3 years. So, there was a lot of trial and error with finding a strategy that works best for me and that really hurt me in the long run. So I spent the last year searching Pinterest and finding different ways to stay organized. All of these ideas are not mine, I'll link all the original posts for you to see their way of doing things because some I have changed to fit me and my schedule.

The first is my planner. I have a gorgeous Lilly planner, however when I first got it I wasn't sure exactly how to use it. I was constantly forgetting to put things in it or just not using it at all. Last spring I really committed myself to using it the best way possible for me. I did a lot of research on how people use theirs and I found a system for me. COLOR CODE EVERYTHING! If everything has a certain color then you should be able to see the color and know what you have to do. I use flair pens for this. I like that they are bright and bold and they write amazingly. I use these a lot when studying as well. At the beginning of each I go through and put anything that's due that month in the monthly view with their designated pen color. I also go through and I go through the daily views and write in each class. That way when the teacher is spouting out random things at the end of class I don't have to worry about finding the certain color it's already done.


This is my weekly view with my flair pens.



This is my monthly view with my color coded assignments.


The other thing that I do at the beginning of the semester is go through the syllabus from each class. This takes some time but in the long run it helps to see what's going on through out the semester. I make two spreadsheets: 1. Readings 2. Assignments.
1. Readings: I have a hard time knowing when to read things and by when. I go through each class and figure out what chapters we are on and when. I also color code these with their special color so I can pin point what's going on.
2. Assignments: if you have ever looked at your syllabus then you can see in that jumble you can hardly pin point a test or paper and when they are due. This helps with that scenario a lot!

    

This my spreadsheet, it is far too long to show the whole thing. This kind of gives a general idea. 


Binders and notebooks. Why do you need both? Some don't, me I do. I keep hard copies of my syllabus that way if something is changed I can mark it ASAP and make my changes on my spreadsheet at home to reprint. I also keep all copies of my power points in my binders and any notes I type up. I also color code these. If you can tell, I love color coding things.




We will see how long it takes me to fall off the bandwagon of organization, but I hope it sticks around!

Organized Charm (Spreadsheet)


Jess

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