I have always been an organized person. I always had every piece of stationery you could imagine and I used to know my class schedule like the back of my hand. People used to ask me how I did it… so here are my tips and tricks revealed to survive college deadlines. 

1. Get a planner or use Google Calendar

It doesn’t matter if you’re a forgetful person or if you have the best memory in the word; college life is hard to manage sometimes. You have to balance submissions with other projects, extracurricular activities and HELLO you need some time to just chill too! Keeping up with everything is going to be really tough if you just rely on your memory alone. So, get yourself a monthly planner if you like to write things down or use Google Calendar. Google Calendar is really efficient if you’re someone who is on your phone a lot because the events will sync to the app from your phone to your laptop.

You can take it a step further by printing out the calendar month and sticking it on a wall in your room to keep yourself up to date with new events, deadlines and projects to get done. Take a picture of the updated calendar if you don’t want to use the app and you’re good to go!

2. Cheat sheets are your best friend

I’m someone who hates copying lecture slides word for word. It’s pointless. You can just ask your professor to email it to you or take a picture of it on your phone. You’re going to refer to those slides in the future anyway so take notes that actually help you.

Use a notebook or a section of it for each subject so that you know where to go when it’s time to study. Or just organize your documents into folders per subject on your laptop if typing is easier (Google Drive is good because you can share documents if you’re working on group assignments.) Whenever you go in for a class, take notes down in YOUR OWN WORDS. This isn’t school where the professors are going to check your notebooks, so calm down. You can be as messy as you like; write in short hand or use abbreviations that YOU will understand. Do whatever will make you feel like you’re getting the concept or idea.

When you get home or for a few minutes after class, challenge yourself to put your notes on ONE page for that class. It can be messy or pretty or logical, but stick to ONE page. This is now your cheat sheet. So when you need to refer to this topic for your exams or a project, you don’t have to go through a million slides if you just need a quick point of reference. It’s a habit you should develop because it saves you a lot of time.

Bonus Tip: If you’re professor speaks really quickly or you just can’t keep up with their lecture; ask if you could voice record the lecture so you can refer back to it later when studying.

3. To do lists and sticky notes

You have your calendar, you have a planner…why do you need to-do lists too? Planners and calendars tell you WHAT you need to get done. Not HOW to get it done. To-do lists are a way to conquer your day effectively rather than trying to multi-task and getting nothing done properly.

You can write to do lists in a note book or use the ‘notes’ section of your phone. You can even us productivity apps which are really helpful. I used to use Wunderlist, but you can use anything you like. The point is to set tasks for the day or week and get them done. I promise you, even though it takes a lot of work; the satisfaction of completing that list is amazing.

Sticky notes are helpful in so many ways. You can note down things that you need to buy for a project or if you have an impromptu meeting in an hour and don’t have time to update your planner.

It’s also a really good way to remember your doubts in class. Let’s say you’re in a Finance lecture and don’t understand how the professor got to the answer of a question. Write the question or formula they used on your sticky note. If you’re shy, refer to the sticky note and ask your prof after class in person. If you have to run to another class, but still didn’t ask the question…email them your doubts and most of the time, they’ll respond back with an answer or they will ask you to come to their office for them to explain it further.

4. Outfit planning – Be a stylist

If you’re a fashionista but choosing an outfit is the reason you show up late to class, plan ahead. Being ‘fashionably late’ is not a thing for professors, I can promise you that. There are two ways you can tackle this problem.

Option 1 – The night before, set your outfit on a hanger OUTSIDE of your cupboard the night before. Put your shoes, accessories and bags towards the door of your room or on a table. So, when you wake up, you just have to put everything on and get out the door.

Option 2 – At the end of your weekend, go through your wardrobe and make a full look for each day of the week; with your shoes, accessories and bag. Take a picture of it and save it on album on your phone. Keep the clothes for the week in a section of your wardrobe like the far left of right so that when you wake up in the morning and scrolling through your phone; you can scroll through you wardrobe album, pick a look and get it done! This is a really cool way to keep yourself looking stylish AND being on time.

If you aren’t really into dressing up a lot for college but still get late because you couldn’t find those jeans…girl, check this out:

At the end of your weekend, pick out the essentials that you go to in your closet: the basic white and black tees, blue and black jeans, a few pretty dresses, a skirt and a few belts. Boom. You got yourself a capsule collection. Allocate a space in your wardrobe for the collection so you can go to it when you’re in a rush. You can mix and match all of the pieces and you will always come out looking put together and ready for your day!

5. Professors are there to help you.

College is an exciting time in our lives but it can be quite stressful at times.

If you’re finding something difficult or you’re feeling anxious or your struggling to meet a deadline…TALK to your professors. They are there to help YOU. Everyone says college is a time where no one will check if you meet deadlines like they did in school. ‘You’re considered an adult now.’ Well, it’s true. But, even adults need help from time to time. Go to your professors. Trust them with your concerns and they’ll figure it out with you. They want you to succeed.

Just remember, don’t put so much pressure on yourself, you’ll get the hang of it. 

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