Scheduling Tips

I mentioned here and here that I have a schedule and I use a planner for organization. Even with those, it’s not that easy to set an efficient schedule, especially with all the things going on.

So here are my three tips to organize effectively in college:

1. Prioritize. Answer these questions: Are all your tasks worth doing? What is the goal accomplished by a task? Is that goal immediately important?

2. Make a deadline. Give yourself at least three reminders for a specific task’s deadline (especially if it’s a major task): 3 weeks before the deadline, two weeks, and a week before the deadline. This way, you won’t panic when you see that a major paper is due the next week.

Also, it helps to divide your major task into steps and set deadlines for each step. This might seem like a lot, especially when you write it in your planner, but it truly helps in organizing everything.

* Note: Don’t forget to schedule in a break, as well.

3. Focus. This is the key to following your schedule. Compartmentalize your mind (sounds weird, I know, but it’s true).

Since you already have an efficient schedule, the only thing left to do is follow it. Look at your tasks for the day and think of nothing else but those tasks. Don’t let yourself be distracted by worries of all the other things you have to do. Trust your schedule (and, by extension, yourself, since you’re the one who made the schedule in the first place).

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There you go. Good luck!