Have you tried using a planner your freshman year? Have you created numerous daily tasks but never quite accomplished them? Well for starters, you need to utilize a planner for at least a month to actually help you. If you use it for a week and stop, it really won’t do much.
Every college student always plans to get organized every semester, but does it happen? No. For many students, it’s hard to stay on track with set dates. Every semester they buy a new planner that is totally expensive, but cute. A week in, and you’ll most likely find it in the furthest corner of their bedroom. Are all these extraneous things to get organized really necessary? Getting organized and being on top of your school work shouldn’t cost anything, since tuition is high enough to drive someone insane. You know what else drives people insane? Finals.
You might be planning on a weekly basis with school, but does it decrease your stress levels? I know it doesn’t because you wouldn’t be reading this. In order to stay organized you must have the drive to follow a set schedule. Since we are getting close to finals, let me just cut straight to the point.
Are you freaking out about finals? If you are, here are a few tips for you to get on track from here on out. First, look at all your syllabi to find the dates of your finals for each class. Then, add it to your phone’s calendar or a remind app that you use. Once you know when your test is, it’s time to get studying. Be sure to ask your professors if they have a topics list of what their exam consists of. If they have a list of terms, the best way to study is by creating your own Quizlet. Study the cards you make and quiz yourself. This study method really helped me for every exam I’ve taken in college.
If your professor doesn’t have a topics list, it’s time to look for those massive notes you take during lecture. At least it’s something you should be doing as a responsible college student, right? Yeah, well not realistically. If you don’t have notes to study from, the best way to help yourself is read the textbook. Don’t try reading everything. Read the first and last sentence of every paragraph. Take notes of important terms and add them to Quizlet.
Study at least twice a day until the exam. Quizlet is an efficient tool that you can download to your phone and have access to it while you’re on the shuttle.
I could tell you all the many things I do to get organized before finals, but it comes down to your schedule and your perseverance. Let’s all pass these finals, especially those graduating this semester.