Hello, friends! I’ll walk you through an organization system that’s simple, quick, and easy–like spaghetti alla puttanesca. ( ͡~ ͜ʖ ͡°)
I should say it early on that this method requires both digital and analog media. It aims to minimize unproductive pseudo-busywork/unnecessary effort in the process of organizing schoolwork. The time it frees up can be used for actual learning, self-care, or whatever it is that you like to do! (・∀・)ﾉ
Disclaimer: I deliberately removed social media/gaming apps from my phone. Wifi access is almost always switched off. It’s strictly used for calling, SMS, the occasional photo, and various school-related apps.
Ready? One, two, three–go!
Jot down tasks (and their corresponding dates, if available) as soon as you get them. Get shit out of your head and filed into a place where you can find them easily.
I keep a list of all the things I need to get done in the Notes app that comes with my phone. Digital lists are that much easier to update–you can remove, add, and rearrange tasks however you find it necessary.
During your downtime (wherever you may be), parse through your list aggressively divide big assignments into smaller, bite-sized pieces. Regroup tasks such that errands are batched together and study sessions are spaced apart. The idea is to butcher the wolf into a bunch of tiny sheep so that they’re easier to tackle later on.
(Alternative App: Evernote.)
I spend a lot of time on my computer for school stuff, so I’m quite comfortable with using a digital calendar–they just make it super simple to color code, schedule recurring events, and generate multiple calendars that run in parallel. I have the iCal app docked on my taskbar for easy access, and I default to the monthly view.
You can see that I don’t encode strict study schedules–excess rigidity stresses me out and from there, I’d find it super hard to find my fucking chill. ( ˃̩̩ ⌂ ˂̩̩ )
It takes a bit of discipline and sincere focus on my part, but I’ve found that the flex time (1-1.5 hours) between my classes is enough to finish a good portion of my readings or to accomplish one block in my programming homework. I also do study stuff after classes without prompt from a schedule–just my calendar with deadlines and my assignment masterlist. These time pockets should not be underestimated!
(Alternative App: Google Calendar.)
Whenever available, I save digital copies of lecture slides, assignment specifications, textbooks, scripts, and anything I could possibly need.
Instead of leaving everything to rot in the downloads folder, I make sure that each course has its own section in my college folder. It takes around 5 seconds of my life to perform this rename-and-move-to-proper-folder ritual.
Each file starts with the name of the course, and then followed by a short description about its contents. It’s a habit I got from my thesis adviser, actually. This makes everything hella easy to find.
I use this app to take notes on everything–academic or otherwise. I have a separate notebook stack specifically for scholastic purposes, and I like that it’s very compact and all my notes are in one place.
In separate post, I will talk about how I manage to learn from digital notes despite all those claims that physically writing down your notes helps you better. ( U v U ) <3
Since I digitize as much of my shit as I possibly can, paper stuff for all of my 5 courses fit into one A4-sized accordion file (with 12 built-in pockets). It eliminates the need for hole punch and the fear of things falling out. It also fits a range of paper sizes!
Each tab is labeled accordingly. Some classes need more sections than others, but in general:
each class gets their own notes section;
math-based classes get their answerables section (for problem sets under the works); and
reading-based classes get their readings section;
non-academic documents and receipts get their own miscellaneous section.
I use these binder clips to hold small stacks [of readings or of problem sets] together. They’re super fucking pretty, oh my god. I’m a goner. They’re gold and I’m in love. You can’t stop me. (◕ᴗ◕✿)
You’ll notice that my system is really spartan, but I’ve figured that simple systems work and it’s really nice to use the time I would’ve spent compulsively making stuff look pretty on things that’re more important to me (like practicing my figure drawing or creating stuff for this blog or being trash with my friends).
I hope you picked up something useful from this post! Tell me if you’ve got any questions/ideas/comments. If you’d like, tell me about how you organize your time and your stuff for school–I’d love to see!
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