Student planning efforts not only make a difference on grade reports but also can be the key factor for graduating college and getting job offers. Sounds great, but not so easy to pull off when your attention span is worse than a goldfish’s (like literally).
In the following article, we look at six things you can do to become a better student planner. Let’s begin!
Use a Task Manager
The increase in remote learning has placed even more personal responsibility into the laps of students everywhere. Developing systems to deal with all the responsibilities is essential.
Physical to-do lists are great for organizing your thoughts and ideas. Too often, though, they become hard to keep up with and clutter your workspace. Plus, to-do lists can change so much, you might have to create a new one every day.
Consider using a digital task manager. This can be a specially designed app or something as basic as the Notes tab on your phone or computer. These offer more flexibility and are easier to maintain.
Add Important Dates to Your Calendar
Successful semester planning requires noting key deadlines and due dates. Using the calendar app on your phone or a third-party scheduling app with more robust features is worth considering.
Whatever you decide, make sure it goes beyond simply marking the dates. Use the reminders as well, and set reminders far enough in advance where the dates won’t sneak up on you.
Get Your Digital House in Order
Another great advantage of online tools for student planning is that they can help you manage your files in a much more organized fashion than if you were using traditional files and filing cabinets. Use a logical system of folders and subfolders so there’s no danger of getting random files in the same pot.
If that does happen, you can always search your entire hard drive or cloud drive, but it can take a lot longer. You’ll also have to remember what you named the file instead of being able to find it with a keyword or two.
And Physical When and Where Applicable
A clean workspace helps with time management. If you do still keep physical files, and you very well might have to, do your best to organize them in a fashion that keeps them out of your workspace and makes them easy to find.
Invest in files, filing cabinets, divider tabs, and labels. Spend time organizing each day to keep from falling behind.
Have a Go-To App or Process for Making Notes
Organizational skills are important, but so is being able to capture information on the fly. This is where a Notes app can really come in handy.
If you see something you’ll need to remember, take a picture of it or make a voice recording. Then, make a note for it when it slows down and save it with an easily understood title.
Understand Your Assignments
Whether working on a college term paper or a research project, you need to understand the full extent of the assignment. Break the sum down into its components, and make sure that you’re hitting every milestone and deadline along the way.
These Student Planning Tips Will Get and Keep You Prepared
Student planning is essential to maximize your school performance. Doing that requires a mixture of electronic tools and traditional thinking.
Focus your efforts on scheduling, reminders, note-taking, and organizational skills. The rest will fall into place. For more educational tips and information, check out some of our additional posts!
