2020 has introduced a new normal for society with the COVID-19 pandemic, stay-at-home orders and social distancing. College students are experiencing a shift to online learning and quiet classrooms and campuses. With classes being remote, it can be difficult to stay focused and organized. Looking for ways to stay organized and focused? Keep reading for some helpful tips and tricks.
Folders for your courses
A great way to keep organized while being online is to put each class in a different folder. It may be helpful to color coordinate and label the folders as well. In the folder, you can put your syllabus, the textbook and any downloaded assignments for that specific course. Color coding can be appealing to the eye and also help motivation. Creating folders will make materials easily accessible whenever they are needed.
Time management
Time managing is something that a lot of college students struggle with due to the immense amount of coursework on top of having a personal life. It is imperative to familiarize yourself with the syllabi and class assignments. Creating a virtual and physical calendar is helpful when it comes to organization. Some people prefer keeping notes on their phones while others prefer writing them by hand. Both are great, and it may be useful to have both a digital and hardcopy of a calendar just in case the hard copy is not available at that point in time.
Staying organized
Creating bookmarks when it comes to research can be helpful to avoid hunting down websites whenever they are needed. There are plenty of helpful study websites, but the most common one is Quizlet. Quizlet is a free website that can be used to create flashcards and games that can help with studying. Quizlet also has archives of other people’s study materials just in case there is not enough time to create your own. Being online can be a distraction, but there are sites to help monitor and create motivation to stay on track.
Adopting a routine
When a routine is created, there is more of a chance that there will be motivation to stay on top of tasks and get them done in a timely manner. Once all the syllabi have been read, creating a study schedule may be of good use. There are many platforms where a study schedule can be created such as Google Sheets, Microsoft Excel or you can go old school and use a whiteboard or a planner. Being as detailed as possible with this schedule is imperative to be sure that there is no deviating and the main tasks are completed.
There are many ways to stay organized while being online this year. This is an adjustment period for all of us, but at least there are many resources for us to use and keep us on track with our academics.
