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In high school, it is much easier to stay on top of assignments because they are usually assigned at the beginning of the week and given a due date or assigned the day before they are due in class. In college, however, that is not the case. This is what makes the transition from high school to college difficult for students.

In college, on the first day of class, you will be given a syllabus that more often than not contains all of the assignments for that class for the entire semester. It is your responsibility as the student to complete your assignments on time and come to class prepared. The only way to do this is to read your syllabus and pay attention to the assignments listed.

Staying on top of assignments is difficult if you are not organized. The method I have to organize my assignments is something that works for me, and may not work at all for you. However, I figured that sharing my method may inspire you to develop your own, and hopefully help you to stay on top of all of your assignments for the semester. 

I print out or copy the assignments that are on my syllabus and keep them on my desk and then on Sundays I sit down and write out all of the assignments that I have for the week in my planner.  I then take out my monthly calendar and decide which day I will complete each task. I have found that keeping the tasks limited to two to three each night allows me ample time to complete them and get to bed on time. By telling myself that I will only complete the tasks I have written down for the day keeps me focused on one task at a time and also keeps me stress-free.  After I complete an assignment or reading I highlight it in blue on my calendar, in my planner, and on the class’s syllabus. 

Currently, I am working with a group of classmates on a project that was assigned and introduced weeks ago. Of course, as everyone knows there is always someone within the group that causes an issue and does not put in the same effort as the other members of the group. While this is something that is difficult to deal with since your grade is dependent on other people who, in the case of college, you do not know very well. Here are a few tips, that I am sure you have heard before, but may provide some assistance when dealing with the stress of working with people who are not always as on top of things as you might be.

Start a group chat with the entire group and talk about the project so that the person who is not participating as much as they should knows that the other members of the group are taking it seriously.

Showing your initiative and interest in a grade may lead to them deciding to hop on board and participate.

Send them a private message and ask them if they need any help. While this may seem like it will result in you having to do more work, it may allow them to realize that if they are confused with what they need to do, someone in the group can try and help them out.

If absolutely necessary, confront the person if they have not put forth any effort. Remind them that the entire group’s grade is dependent upon every single member of the group working hard.

As a first time college student it has been difficult adjusting to staying on top of all of my school work. In high school there was the constant reminder by teachers of when assignments were due. However, in college this is not the case. Many professors will give you a syllabus at the beginning of the semester and each student is responsible for checking it for assignments. While this can be stressful for many, there is a way to stay organized and quell the overwhelmed feeling when there are multiple assignments all due around the same time.

I have compiled some tips and tricks that have been working for me and may work for you!

At the end or beginning of each week write down all of the assignments that are due throughout the following week

Write daily to-do lists and keep the number of items for each day to five or less

Space longer assignments out over the span of a few days

Take breaks when studying or working on projects

Drink plenty of water

Eat healthy foods

Get an adequate amount of sleep

Use all of the free time you have throughout the day to work on assignments to free up your nights

An important way to stay organized when going back to school is to purchase a planner. I love using planners to keep track of daily assignments and activities that are coming up. Everyone looks for different things in a planner and I have tried my fair share of layouts and bindings and have developed some tips on how to find a planner that works for you!

Decide if a monthly or weekly layout or a combination of the two works for you.

Decide what the perfect size is.

Decide if you want lines or blank space.

Decide if you would prefer dated or un-dated pages.

Decide on if you would prefer a planner that you can really make your own or one that is already set up how you like.

I purchased my planner from Bloom Planners this year and I absolutely love it so far. It has an amazing layout to keep me organized and is the perfect size to carry around from class to class every day without getting in the way or being a nuisance. 

Going back to school means another year of assignments and due dates that you need to keep track of. Staying organized will only help you when it comes to school work. I am by no means a professional when it comes to organization, but I have developed a system that works for me and have friends that have similar ways to stay organized with school work, so I decided to compile a list of things that may be helpful.

Buy a planner with a monthly and weekly layout.

This will help you know what assignments need to be completed for the next day and allow you to plan out big projects and see all of the due dates and tests that are looming in the future.

Color coordinate notebooks and folders and/or label them to make sure you are taking the right supplies to class and home every day.

Find a clean and distraction-free place to do homework at home. 

It is important to have a designated area for work as it will allow you to complete homework quickly and ensure that you are not associating somewhere that you are meant to relax with stress and the need to be productive.

Work on bigger assignments a little every day to avoid stress when trying to complete it the night before. 

Study a little every night when you have a test coming up. 

The longer you spend with the information the better you will remember it. You will end up retaining more if you do small chunks at a time for a longer period of time than a lot of information all at once.

Find a place for all of your school stuff and try and keep it in the same order.

You’ll be able to find your items easier and you will also be able to stop at your locker quickly between classes.

I suggest putting books and notebooks in your locker in the order of your classes so that you can grab the items from the front and put the items you no longer need in the back and then it will be in the same order the next day.