Staying organized in school is crucial for your academic success. By being organized, you can balance sports, school, and free time. Also, you will probably do better in exams and you won’t get as stressed. Here are some tips to help you stay organized:
Tip #1: Have a planner to write down when tests are, what homework you have, or when sports tryouts are. You can have a separate planner for your extracurriculars (ex. Application due on Friday, volleyball practice on Wednesday), or you can simply have everything in one big planner.
Tip #2: Study for tests and do all your homework as early as possible. If you are a student, you probably hear this a lot. However, it will make your life a lot easier if you don’t cram the day before the test. If you have a big project due in two weeks, the earlier you do it, the better. Also, a lot of teachers say, “Whatever you don’t finish in class, finish for homework.” In that case, just finish it in class, then you don’t have to worry about it!
Tip #3: Develop a binder system that works for you. In junior high, one of the easiest methods is to just have one big binder for all subjects. Every time you start a new chapter in any subject, you empty the old material into a file box. You will have one file for each subject. For midterms or finals, just look back into the file of that subject. With this system, you’ll never say, “Oh no, I forgot my math binder at school.” In senior high, you might want to switch to one binder per subject, because you have so many more papers. Use whichever system suits you best.
Tip #4: Organize your workspace. Work somewhere quiet and distraction-free so that you can focus. Put your phone downstairs while working. This may be shocking, but you can survive an hour without checking your phone! If there are no distractions, you will get work done faster.
Tip #5: Have an idea on when to study for each subject during finals. You will have multiple tests, and you should know on which day and at what time you’re studying for each subject. You may need more time to study for a particular subject, so you should account for that. This will ensure you don’t forget to study for a subject. Also, remember to take breaks after working for more than an hour. Get up for fifteen minutes, stretch, do some jumping jacks, and get some water. This is scientifically proven to improve concentration.
Bonus tip: If you need to memorize some things quickly, one of my favourite methods is to use flashcards. Firstly, write your flashcards by hand. By writing the word and its definition, you have already subconsciously started memorizing the word! Secondly, read through all the flashcards and divide them into three piles. One pile is “I have no idea,” another is “I kind of think it’s this,” and another is “I know that one.” After you have divided your flashcards into piles, Put a red paperclip on the “I have no idea” pile, put a yellow on the “I kind of think it’s this” pile, and finally put a green one on the “I know that one” pile. Now, review the red pile first, then the yellow pile, then you’re done! Of course, you can change the colours to whatever you want.
If you follow at least some of these tips, I’m certain you will have a very successful year!
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