ADHD friendly ways to organize notes and handouts
The most common advice I see on how to organize notes and handouts involves having separate notebooks/binders/folders for each class. In theory, this is great, and I know it works for a lot of people but it has never worked for me. It gets really complicated for me to keep everything in its rightful place and make sure that I have everything I need when I need it. I usually have at least 2 classes a day, so it becomes a hassle to carry 2 giant binders full of things I mostly don’t need.
Here are some of the alternatives I recommend:
For me, it’s a lot more intuitive to organize everything together chronologically than to divide it by subject first. If you think big picture, or remember days of multiple classes rather than individual classes, this may be the method for you. This method makes it easier to review all of your classes at the end of the day, or grab everything you need for a quick study session.
At any given time, I have one notebook going for all of my subjects. It sounds chaotic, I know, but stay with me. There are lots of different ways you can do this. You can use cheap a spiralbound notebook, or a nicer, prettier notebook of your choice. Make sure to label the cover or first page with the date you begin the notebook, and when you finish it, write that date too. That way when you have lots of notebooks you can easily differentiate them.
To keep it organized, leave a couple pages blank at the beginning for a table of contents/index. Use color coded titles or flags to easily identify the different subjects and be sure to date all notes.
I prefer to organize my notes and handouts separately, but if you wanted, you could use one binder instead of one notebook to keep everything together.
Folders instead of binders
To avoid the bulk of a binder for every class, use folders instead. You’ll want to have at least two folders for each class if you do this, so you can keep the papers you don’t immediately need organized at home. When I’ve done this in the past, I clipped the papers to the folder with a binder clip so they couldn’t fall out.
If you’re a “shover” like me, you don’t want to spend time hole punching and carefully organizing everything, you just want to shove handouts away when you’re done with them. The problem with this is, handouts accumulate quickly, backpacks can make a mess of handouts, and worst of all they can get lost entirely.
An expanding file folder can make shoving more organized. Get one with at least as many folders as subjects, and label the folders. I would recommend looking for a vertical one so you can put it in a backpack without having to jostle it much. Be sure to date handouts and always add them to either the front or the back of the folder so they stay in chronological order.
If you’d prefer a method that allows you to see the handouts, try sheet protectors in a binder instead--this is my plan for the fall because I love shoving and hate hole punching, but need to be able to see my handouts. I’m going keep one binder just for handouts in sheet protectors and one notebook for notes, both in chronological order. Sheet protectors also feel really fancy, which is a plus.
If you have a hard time keeping track of loose handouts and none of the other methods speaks to you, try keeping them all digitally on your computer or a service like Google Drive or Evernote. Try and keep everything neat in folders if you do this, but this method also has the benefit of searching for an item if all else fails. Some professors post their handouts online, so you can pull them directly from there. If not, you can scan them. This method has the benefit of not taking up space, but it also means you’ll likely need to use your laptop in class, which can be really distracting.
I know the classic organized binder for every class method doesn’t work for everyone, and I hope these methods help you find the best way for you to stay organized. It might not look like anything you’ve seen before, but the method that will work for you is out there!
