Preparing For a New Semester Of School

Being on vacation from work, and having a break off school. I still have a lot to do before I'm ready for the new Fall 2015 semester at college.

So here are the TOP things I always do to prepare for a new semester....

1. Clean out the computer
- I delete things I don't need anymore
- put documents in the right folders
- get everything organized to begin a new school year

2. Still living at my parents house, I always deep clean my room. I sweep, mop, and dust. I go through my closet, desk, dresser, vanity, and old drawers. I love cleaning so this really does help me get everything in place. I also clean my bathroom and car out to just get rid of clutter.

3. My favorite thing is to go and look through all my old school supplies. To figure out what I need for the new semester. Lucky this year I only had to buy new highlighters ( I really wanted the see through ones), one pencil (for my planner), one notebook (50 cents I plan on using it for studying), white out tape (the liquid wasn't doing the job). While everything else I already had including a file system, pens, folders, binders and loose leaf paper (I have a 2 inch binder FILLED with paper).

However, this year my mom bought me a Livescribe 3 Smartpen Pro Edition so I plan on using this to take notes. I'll do a review on this once I have started using it.

4. I clean all my bedding and jackets. I clean my bedding every two weeks, so the Sunday before I start school I'll clean my bedding again. I wash all my jackets because they've been hanging round my house through the summer. During Christmas break I wash them again before the Spring semester starts.

5. I pamper myself, I get a facial, my nails done, a haircut, go shopping for new clothes. I do this because what women doesn't love pampering themselves.

6. I get my planner cute, clean, and ready for the Fall. I make sure I've wrote in all the dates from the school calendar. Then for the Plum Paper Planner I have I write in my classes. I also make a note card of my class schedule with the room number.

What do you do to get ready for a new semester of school?

How I Organize my Desk For Studying

I've been in college for four years, I've changed my desk around plenty of times. But I've FINALLY got it the way I want it.

So I have a before picture of my desk which I like to call a "Organized Mess"...

Nothing really had a place, I just put stuff where ever it fit. I bought the Desk at Office Max for around $250 I believe. 

Now.... 

I put everything in its own little place. I'm a very organized person, so to get the place I spend about 85% of my time during school clean was a must. I used stuff I had laying around in storage to help get it to work for me. 

1. My Wall Calendar..

I bought this at Hobby Lobby for around $11 (with a 40% off coupon). 

I write down all my due dates for school, doctors appointments, days I work. I then cross it off when I'm done. I will eventually take those clips and write down #1, #2 for things I need to do in what order. 

Heres the calendar filled out with my school things. 

2. Shelf organization.. 

This is my favorite thing about this desk.

The first shelf (to the left)... has all my bill, college, and a small random notebooks and folders. 

The middle one has my binder I plan on using for this Fall, along with a clipboard. 

Last one has my wedding binder, an my 5 subject notebook I use to write random stuff in. 

The top shelf has receipts, one of my books for the Fall, and my iPad. The bottom shelf has all my school books for this Fall. 

I also have an assignment book where I keep track of all my homework (bottom right corner). 

3. The drawer on this desk is honestly a POS. But I really don't open it a lot so I deal with it. 

4. My Filofax sit here so their easy to grab. The small one is my Budget/ Finance keeper. The big red one is well my everyday planner. 

I also have a coaster, so my drinks don't cause a ring on the desk. 

5. Since I don't use my drawer a lot I have this desk organized (I got it from Target). I put my everyday things here; scissors, pens, pencils, glue, post-its, stapler, tape, highlighters, etc. Then I have my post it organizer I got from Big Lots. I also have my Staedtler Pens, which I must say, are the BEST pens ever. Kind of in the picture I have my cuticle oil and hand lotion. 

6. This index card holder of course holds all my index cards. I study with them, so I have a TON! Also bought from Target. 

7. The desk has four of these shelves, the top one pictured has all my Filofax/planner items in it. Such as stickers, my sticker maker, all my avery labels, etc. The bottom one (sorry I thought I had a better picture) has all my extra notebooks and folders, along with my paper cutter, and hole punch. The drawers I bought from Michaels a long time ago. The two shelves not picture hold my DVD player and child books. 

I love having this new desk I can spread all my homework out, and I just feel more productive with everything organized. 

If you have any questions, just ask. 

How to Stay Organized in College Using a Planner, Calendar, and a To Do List

THIS PLANNER IS FROM WAL-MART I BELIEVE I PAID AROUND $13

I'm an organized person at heart but when I started college I new I'd have to step it up. And that's what I'm going to share with you guys. 

This is the inside, I  LOVE planners that are big because I write everything and the small planners just weren't cutting it anymore. 

Okay to get on to how I organize it.....

1. Organizing Classes 

I write my classes out on each day, then leave a couple lines in between to write what were doing that day or homework assignments 

example...

MONDAY: 

Bio:

Math:

TUESDAY:

Bio:

EDUC:

GEOL:

As shown below, I use to have a color for each class in my old planner but I found that to be a pain so now I use whatever pen/pencil I have in my hand during class.

This is what a full week looks like in my planner A LOT of writing (to me anyways). 

(picture didn't clear up like I wanted, sorry) 

2. How I keep it organized with in my planner. 

   I Circle the important stuff such as test, assignments, or meetings

   I also write on the day, that homework was assigned then next to it when its due. 

   And my most favorite, I high light EVERY assignment once it's done. I just started the high lighting        this semester and I love it so much. 

3. The TO DO List   

Another thing I do with assignments is on the Friday day I make a weekend To Do List. I write on the day the assignments due/assigned along with on the To Do list. Then once I finish something I high light it off both places. This just lets me see it in multiple places and I'm a big check stuff off as I go kind of person. 

4. Other Systems   

My calendar and To Do list in my room is another way I keep everything organized. 

The Calendar I bought from Hobby Lobby- if you use a 40% off coupon its $10 :) 

The white board I bought from Wal- Mart, around $5 then decorated it (I have a tutorial how I did it once I post it to my blog I'll link it) 

This system works because I get tired of looking at my planner when I'm at home. That's why once I get home from school I write everything I got assigned that day on my TO DO list. Then I get started on finishing it all. I usually write the day it ALL due really big and that becomes my goal. 

Now I know every person is different in how they stay organized, but this system works very well for me. I've been using this system since I started College, a year and half ago. And have only missed turning in ONE essay. Other then that all my homework is turned in on time. 

So give it a try, comment, or leave me some advice how I could improve it. I hope you enjoyed, thanks so much.