College Organization: Part II
If you missed the first part of this guide, check it out here. This part will focus on time and task management.
Before getting into my specific system, I need to emphasize the importance of creating a system that works for you. While this system works fairly well for me, it isn't guaranteed to work for you.
This post is organized by tool used. You will notice the entire system is digital. This enables me to always have access to my calendar and tasks. I love paper planners, but I have found digital to be more efficient and effective.
I use Google Keep to manage my academic assignments. I was first introduced to Google Keep in my sophomore year of high school. I have the app on my phone and iPad. Additionally, every time I open Google Chrome on my laptop it opens to Google Keep by default. Google Keep is sort of like a digital board of glorified sticky notes. In my system, each class gets a color-coded note with a checkbox for each assignment. Since assignments recur frequently, I uncheck assignments as they get reassigned. Until recently, I also had a note in Google Keep for my personal tasks.
Google Tasks
Google Tasks is the current way I manage most personal tasks. I have the app on my phone and iPad. Google Tasks can also be accessed in the sidebar of many Google applications including Gmail and Docs. Google Tasks is very simplistic, but in some ways that is an advantage. I would use Google Tasks for everything, but it lacks the ability to color code. It may seem odd to have two separate task managers, but it works well for me. Google Tasks basically holds my daily to-do list. As you will know from my most recent reading blog post, I try to read every day. Google Tasks makes managing recurring tasks such as reading really easy. In Google Keep, recurring reminders can be made, but the note persists after completion.
I manage my schedule through Google Calendar. Once again, I have the app on my phone and iPad. Using a digital calendar allows me to easily keep track of recurring events such as classes, work, house council, ukulele club, and POCheese. In my Google Calendar, I have a bunch of calendars. The advantage of having multiple calendars is that I can selectively turn on and off calendars. I use the default calendar for events and deadlines. I also have a calendar dedicated to my course schedule and another one for professors’ office hours.
In addition to the calendars that I created, I have two other calendars that I can reference, my house calendar and the Smith academic calendar. If you use a digital calendar, I highly recommend adding the academic calendar to your calendar. You can do so by following the instructions at the bottom of the previous link. The dates are important and adding them this way saves loads of time and ensures they are correct.
I track my time using Toggl. I use the app on my phone and the Chrome extension on my laptop. Additionally, it opens by default when I open Google Chrome (in a secondary tab next to Google Keep). Time tracking allows me to see how much time I spend on each class and each assignment. This enables me to make more realistic predictions of how long a future assignment will take. It also lets me gauge my productivity. Once again, I implement color-coding in Toggl. Though it is not a website blocker, starting the timer (it’s actually more like a stopwatch) tells my brain that it’s time to focus on the task at hand.
The above tools work independently and together. For instance, if I am particularly overwhelmed, I will schedule blocks of time to complete specific tasks. These blocks are scheduled around my existing events in Google Calendar. The tasks can be found in my Google Keep (and Google Tasks) and time estimates are made based on information in Toggl.
