The new semester is well underway, and my planner has been collecting assignments and deadlines as a hobbyist would vintage knick knacks and antiques. I’m off to a quick and busy start, what with juggling full time classes and two demanding jobs, and I have no doubt that my undergraduate community is rowing away next to me in shockingly similar boats.
Being a student is difficult, taxing, and most of all – time consuming. If you aren’t already practiced in managing your time and delegating responsibilities, the demands of classwork and extracurricular activities can prove to be overwhelming.
For a while, I found myself at a loss when attempting to manage my own daunting schedule. But, with some trial and error, I have discovered how best to tackle my duties and prepare for the path ahead. If you find yourself struggling to do the same, take a word of advice from someone who has learned a thing or two – start with Spring Cleaning.
Why “Spring Cleaning”?
You may or may not already be familiar with the concept of “Spring Cleaning”. Perhaps your mother or father has woken you up in the harsh light of an early Saturday morning, with music already pounding through the house and the scent of vinegar in the air, to tell you to “get up out of that bed and get to it”! Maybe they have also stripped away your blanket, and maybe you have balked at the horror – I know, for sure, that I have.
But, when I talk about Spring Cleaning here, I’m not going to focus on your house and home. While I encourage you to partake in the peculiar ritual of deep cleaning and reorganizing your belongings in the chill breeze of oncoming spring, what I want to focus on instead involves a few more books, papers, and wayward pens.
Spring Cleaning in preparation for the present semester – and, consequently, the year ahead – means building the foundation for a reliable and effective daily routine. To do so, it is best to follow the steps below.
Step One
To begin any venture in cleaning, you have to start by taking out the trash. In our case, this means taking the time to go through the tools and resources you used in the previous year, and discarding what you will not need anymore. This can mean:
- Filing away or recycling notes from previous classes.
- Returning or reselling textbooks that you no longer have need of.
- Discarding dwindling pencils, dried out pens, tearing bookbags, etc.
After this step, you should be facing a relatively blank slate on which you can design your coming year.
Step Two
After discarding your trash, take some time to reflect on the tools and techniques that were of most use to you in the previous semester or year, and consider what you’re missing. If you find yourself without fresh notebooks, but realize that you performed better when your notes had been typed, then perhaps you don’t need to invest in new spiral-bounds. Or, if you took more effective notes when writing the old fashioned way and notice that you are now out of pens or pencils, you should be sure to invest in purchasing more.
This is also the perfect chance to reflect on what you most struggled with in your previous semester or year. Did you neglect your studies in favour of club activities? Did you lose too much sleep and burden your grade by waiting until the last minute to study? Highlight what you most need to change, and look into effective ways in which you can make those changes.
Step Three
I’m sure the biggest changes you may need to make are in regards to time management – the real juggling act. During your Spring Cleaning process, before the trails and turmoil have really picked up, you should seriously consider finding a way to visually organize your time and routines. One of the simplest ways you can begin to tackle this task is to find and implement a planner. Below, I’ve explained how I approach this process specifically for an academic semester, using a weekly/monthly planner that extends from January to December.
- In the front of your planner, keep a schedule of your classes, including where they are located!
- At the semester’s start, collect each of your syllabi and your planner. Immediately mark down each major assignment – it’s best to record these both on the day they are assigned and the day they are due.
- Similarly, be sure to record every exam on the dates that they will be held.
- If you are involved with clubs or other organizations, record as many events and/or meetings as you are aware of.
- If you also happen to be working a job, record the shifts that you are aware of.
Looking good so far? At this point, you should have a comprehensive visual model of how your time is spent on a week-to-week basis. At this point, you should be able to see where you have the most available time: these are the blocks in which you will be able to complete readings and homework, prepare for exams, and put time into extended assignments. However, you also have to remember that this time will also include the basic necessities such as eating, showering, traveling from place to place, socializing, etc. If you find that these lengths of time just aren’t enough, then you may need to sacrifice time spent on lesser priorities. This is all part of responsibly and effectively managing the time that you have available.
Step Four
This is the hardest part – implementing your new tools, be it a new planner or otherwise, in the coming semester and year. If you are utilizing items and systems that you haven’t before, it may take some time before you notice a positive change or before you become accustomed. That’s to be expected, and it’s a-okay! Any change that you make will include its own unique challenges – what’s important is that you remember why it is necessary to make that change in the first place, and what outcomes you are hoping to reach. If you find that certain tools just aren’t cutting it for you, it’s perfectly fine to reevaluate and tackle your difficulties from a new angle.
If you find that no matter what routines or systems you implement, you are just too overwhelmed or at a complete loss, it is also important to remember that we have resources available on campus specifically designed to aide in stress and time management. For more information regarding these resources, be sure to check in at the Office of Student Academic Success.
From Here On
That’s as much as I, alone, can offer you all in the face of this semester. It has been a long month passed, and I can only hope our journey going forward is met with success, happiness, and just a bit of luck.
Enjoy your Spring Cleaning!
Written by Brittany C., a Rutgers—Camden Undergraduate Student and Editor in Chief.