Between university, work and your social life, there’s always a lot going on for the average student. It’s only week 3! You still have time to organise your workload to get ahead. 

Let’s be honest, getting organised at the beginning of the semester is easy. Still, as your assignment deadlines start creeping up, it gets harder to keep your schedule. 

So here are some ways we like to get and stay organised throughout our semester.

Lists… lots of lists

Preparing a to-do list before heading into class or a study session can reduce anxiety and stress by helping you feel in control of your time. You may also want to try making your to-do lists the night before; you get to rest easy knowing you have tomorrow’s tasks sorted. 

Some of our favourite list and organisation apps include Asana, Trello, Google Keep, and Notion. Bonus tip: you can sign up to Notion using your student email to get the pro version for free!

Create an assignment schedule

No, we don’t mean just syncing your uni calendar with your personal calendar. We suggest creating a separate schedule just for your assignments. 

Seeing all of your due dates in relation to each other can be really helpful in planning out your time. We like to create our own assessment schedules using Google Sheets/Excel. This way, you can print out a mini-version and pop it into your bag, wallet, pencil case or wherever you need it! Some standard formats include gantt charts and weekly time schedules.

Whatever you choose to do, visualising every unit’s assignment in one place can be a helpful trick to avoid any deadlines creeping up on you.

Keep your mind healthy

Your mental health has a massive effect on your productivity and performance. Being kind to yourself will help you in the long run. These are a few ways we practice this:

  • Fuel your brain and body with healthy foods, lots of water and a good night’s sleep. 
  • Allowing time for mental rest. A few moments throughout the day and a few hours in the evening to let your brain chill out. Giving your brain time away from study can help with mental clarity and reduce stress. 
  • Be patient. If you don’t get everything done on your to-do list, it’s okay. Some days you might not be able to run at 100%. Step away when you feel yourself becoming sluggish, recharge and revisit what you’re doing in a few hours. Just don’t give up; you can do it!
  • Set your goals! In the middle of a semester, it can be hard to see the forest for the trees. Setting goals in the beginning weeks of the semester can help you stay on track. With a final goal in mind, you’ll have the ability to step back and gain some perspective on your work.