how I STAY ORGANIZED for my COLLEGE CLASSES + how you can too (from a straight-A COLLEGE SENIOR)

Summary

In this back-to-school video, college senior Lauren shares essential organization tips for college students. She discusses the importance of a five-subject notebook or the Notability app for note-taking, using a journal to log assignments and due dates, and color-coding for class organization. Lauren emphasizes the value of planning weekly tasks realistically and establishing a study cut-off time to maintain mental health. She also highlights the benefits of a consistent morning routine and setting personal goals for a successful college experience.

Takeaways

• 📚 Use a five-subject notebook to keep all class notes in one place for easy reference.
• 💻 Consider using an app like Notability for digital note-taking and organization across semesters.
• 📅 Maintain a journal to log due dates, assignments, and other class requirements to stay on top of responsibilities.
• 🎨 Implement color-coding for each class to quickly identify and organize tasks and notes.
• 📈 Plan weekly tasks in advance to avoid last-minute stress and ensure a manageable workload.
• 🚫 Set a strict study schedule and avoid all-nighters by being realistic about what can be achieved each day.
• ⏰ Establish a specific cut-off time for studying each day to maintain a healthy work-life balance.
• 🌅 Develop a reliable morning routine to start the day with intention and set a productive tone.
• 💡 Create habits that are hard to break to ensure consistent organization and productivity.
• 📈 Reflect on personal productivity patterns and tailor study times to when you work best to maximize efficiency.

Q & A

What is the main topic of Lauren's video?

The main topic of Lauren's video is college organization tips to help students stay organized and reduce stress during their college career.

How is the video content divided?

The video content is divided into three parts: school supplies, organization, and time management.

What is the first school supply Lauren recommends?

The first school supply Lauren recommends is a five subject notebook, which helps to keep all class notes in one place.

What is the benefit of using a five subject notebook according to Lauren?

Using a five subject notebook allows students to have all their class notes in one location, making it easier to find specific lectures and reducing the need to sift through multiple notebooks.

What app does Lauren recommend for digital note-taking?

Lauren recommends the app Notability for digital note-taking, as it allows for storing all notes in one location and creating dividers for each class.

Why does Lauren suggest getting a journal for college students?

Lauren suggests getting a journal as a place to organize thoughts and to write down all due dates, assignments, and tasks from the syllabus to stay organized throughout the semester.

What is the significance of color coding in Lauren's organization system?

Color coding is significant in Lauren's organization system because it allows her to instantly identify work for specific classes and helps in visually managing tasks and assignments.

What rule of thumb does Lauren give for planning tasks in a journal?

Lauren's rule of thumb for planning tasks in a journal is not to put more than five tasks for one specific day to avoid being overwhelmed and to manage time effectively.

Why is setting a specific time to stop studying important according to Lauren?

Setting a specific time to stop studying is important to avoid burnout, maintain mental health, and ensure that the work done is of high quality and not rushed.

What is the role of a morning routine in Lauren's organizational strategy?

A morning routine plays a crucial role in Lauren's organizational strategy by setting the tone for the day and helping her maintain a consistent work and study schedule.

What does Lauren suggest as a final tip for staying organized in college?

Lauren's final tip for staying organized in college is to create habits that are strong and consistent, which will help in maintaining sanity and staying accountable throughout the college career.

Outlines

00:00

📚 College Organization Tips

In this paragraph, Lauren, a college senior, introduces her video on college organization tips. She emphasizes the importance of these tips in reducing stress and preventing mental breakdowns during college. The video is divided into three parts: school supplies, organization, and time management. Lauren shares her personal experience and recommends a five-subject notebook as a central place for all class notes, which she refers to as her 'Bible'. She also suggests using the Notability app for digital note-taking and color-coding classes for better organization. Additionally, she recommends maintaining a journal to log all assignments, due dates, and other academic responsibilities to stay organized throughout the semester.

05:01

📅 Time Management and Self-Improvement

Lauren discusses her time management strategies, including setting a strict study schedule and not studying past a certain time in the evening to maintain productivity and mental health. She also talks about the benefits of creating a reliable morning routine, which she believes is crucial for staying organized and productive. Lauren shares that she has been in college for six years without missing a semester, attributing her success to setting clear goals and establishing strong habits from the beginning. She concludes by encouraging viewers to implement these strategies to make their college experience more manageable and enjoyable.

Keywords

💡College Organization Tips

College Organization Tips refers to strategies and practices that help students manage their academic workload effectively. In the video, the speaker shares personal experiences and advice on how to stay organized during college, emphasizing the importance of these tips in reducing stress and improving productivity. The tips are presented as a way to navigate the challenges of college life more smoothly.

💡Five Subject Notebook

A Five Subject Notebook is a type of notebook that contains five separate sections or 'subjects', allowing students to keep notes for multiple classes in one place. The video recommends this as a tool for organization, suggesting that it can serve as a central 'Bible' for all class notes, making it easier to find and review specific lectures without having to search through multiple notebooks.

💡Notability

Notability is an app mentioned in the video that allows users to take notes, annotate PDFs, and organize their academic materials digitally. The speaker recommends it as an alternative to physical notebooks, highlighting its ability to store all college notes in one location with the added benefit of creating dividers for each class, making it a comprehensive tool for digital organization.

💡Journal

In the context of the video, a journal is used as a tool for personal organization and reflection. The speaker advises using a journal to log due dates, assignments, and other academic responsibilities, which helps in tracking and managing academic workload. The journal serves as a central place to record and review all academic commitments, contributing to better time management.

💡Color Coding

Color Coding is a method of organization where different colors are assigned to different categories or classes. The video speaker uses color coding to differentiate tasks and notes for each class, making it easier to identify and prioritize work. This strategy enhances visual organization and helps in quickly recognizing tasks associated with specific classes.

💡Time Management

Time Management is a key theme in the video, focusing on the efficient use of time to balance academic and personal responsibilities. The speaker discusses the importance of planning and scheduling tasks to avoid last-minute rushes and all-nighters, which are common stressors in college life. Effective time management is presented as a critical skill for maintaining academic performance and personal well-being.

💡Syllabus

A Syllabus is a document provided by professors at the start of a semester that outlines the course structure, including due dates for assignments, exams, and other important information. In the video, the speaker emphasizes the importance of reviewing syllabi to plan and organize academic commitments, ensuring that students are aware of upcoming tasks and can allocate their time accordingly.

💡Morning Routine

A Morning Routine refers to a set of activities or habits that are performed daily upon waking up, aimed at setting a positive tone for the day. The video speaker shares her personal morning routine as a strategy for maintaining organization and productivity. Establishing a reliable morning routine is presented as a way to start the day with intention and structure, which can contribute to better overall organization.

💡Accountability

Accountability in the video is discussed in the context of holding oneself responsible for meeting academic and personal goals. The speaker suggests that setting and adhering to self-imposed rules, such as a strict study schedule or a morning routine, can lead to increased productivity and reduced stress. Accountability is portrayed as a key factor in staying organized and achieving success in college.

💡Procrastination

Procrastination is the act of delaying or postponing tasks, often leading to increased stress and reduced productivity. The video addresses this issue by recommending strategies to combat procrastination, such as setting specific study times and creating a structured daily routine. By managing time effectively and avoiding procrastination, students can better organize their academic workload and reduce stress.

Highlights

College organization tips can save students from unnecessary stress and mental breakdowns.

A five subject notebook is recommended for keeping all class notes in one place.

Using tabs in a notebook can help organize notes for different classes.

Notability app is suggested for digital note-taking and organization.

A journal is useful for organizing thoughts and tracking assignments.

Writing down all due dates and assignments at the beginning of the semester can prevent stress.

Color coding classes in a journal can make it easier to see what work is left for each class.

Planning weekly tasks can prevent last-minute cramming and all-nighters.

Setting a maximum number of tasks per day can help manage workload effectively.

Establishing a no-study time in the evening can improve mental health and study quality.

Creating a reliable morning routine can set a positive tone for the day.

Accountability with self-set goals and routines can make the college experience smoother.

The video includes a comprehensive back-to-school series for college students.

The speaker will be vlogging their fall semester and an upcoming trip.

The video concludes with a call to action for likes, subscriptions, and notifications for future content.

Transcripts

hi hello how are you welcome or welcome

back to my channel this week we're

talking about college organization tips

because if I knew any of these tips

before I even started my college career

I would have saved myself so much

unnecessary stress and several mental

breakdowns so today I'm going to show

you how I stay organized during my

college career if you don't know me hi

my name is Lauren I am a college senior

and I do college slash organizational

slash productive videos here on the

channel this video is going to be

divided in three parts school supplies

organization and time management I have

a whole video on time management so you

can click on the little I right here we

all love going shopping for school

supplies it's very satisfying and it

feels like you're starting fresh you're

a few school supplies that I've used

previously in other semesters that have

worked for me and hopefully will help

you the first one is a five subject

notebook so here's a little trick for

you usually when you go to college some

professors get over having one specific

journal for their class you can always

buy a separate Journal but I think

ultimately what really helps is just

having everything together being a

full-time student is four classes and if

you're going to go over time I have

classes I really recommend buying a five

subject notebook or you can have all the

notes of every single class just in one

place so it's kind of like your Bible

where you take it everywhere you study

you don't have to sift through like five

different notebooks to like find a

specific lecture that you're looking for

so having everything in one place and

all the class notes in just one location

is gonna be super helpful you can even

put like little tabs to help you out

this is what I first did when I started

in college and it really really helped

me but if you have the means and you

have an iPad I totally recommend

downloading this app called notability

you just store everything in one

location you can create little dividers

inside of the notes that you have per

class so I have notes in here from three

semesters ago that I can still reference

and that are actually helpful for other

classes so if there's a class that there

are notes that you want to reference

from last semester you can totally do

that here you can always keep the five

subject notebooks from other semesters

but this is a great way to store all of

the notes that you can possibly have in

college you can even color code all of

your classes and have all of the notes

per class be one specific color so if

you're looking for a specific app to

organize all of your notes I totally

recommend notability this is not a

sponsor I just love this app and I've

been using it for like two years now

something that I recommend you guys

getting is a journal so it doesn't need

to be fancy you can literally just go to

the dollar store and buy like a cheap

little Journal it's literally just a

place where you can organize your

thoughts this is where I go into my

organizational aspect of this video

because big thing that I do to organize

myself is to look at all the syllabi for

all of the classes that I have that

semester and just pour all of the due

dates all of the assignments all of the

discussion posts everything that you

need to do in this journal whenever

something is coming up and every single

quiz and any due date that is prominent

on canvas or in the syllabus you see it

because you wrote it at the beginning of

the semester and it saves you so much

stress so much time if the professor

ever changes something then you can

always go back and change it but at

least you can see that something is

coming up and you can just double check

on the syllabus in case the professor

changed it forgetting that an assignment

is due is a lot harder so it keeps you a

lot more organized color code I will

never get over how satisfying color

coding is every single semester I will

sit down and color code all of my

classes so I've mentioned this before on

my channel but I will sit down either on

campus or here at home and I will pick a

color for every single class that I have

every single time that I have to write

something to do on my journal or that

specific class it's in a specific color

and I can instantly tell what work I

have left for what specific class if you

write it all down in one color you can

get it done and it's still organized but

I feel like with new color code you can

easily see like oh okay I already

finished all my work for ENC 1101 and I

have this class left because it's all in

this purple color so I know that all the

purple ones that haven't been crossed

out are just from this class and it's

easier to navigate your Journal that way

and obviously it just looks more

aesthetic if I'm being honest so once

you have everything written out for the

entire semester you can go then like

week by week as the semester goes on and

plan out all the things that you want to

do so if you have something to do on

Friday that's pretty big you can start

working on it on Monday and just little

by little the progression of that

assignment until it's due on Friday so

this is where you should plan your week

out look at all the things that you have

to do and just plan it out in a way that

is manageable for you and that is easy

for you to get done because I think

there's another big rule of thumb that I

learned in college and I suffered so

much because I thought that I wasn't

getting things done but I just was being

very unrealistic with how many things I

put on mine to do this so A good rule of

thumb and I think everybody says this is

to not put more than five things in your

journal for one specific day so if you

have more than five things to do in your

Journal that's something you should look

out to see if you can actually be able

to do it that day and manage it if it's

five little tiny things that take like

three minutes to do then that's probably

understandable but it's things that you

know you're like cutting it close that

you're probably gonna do an all-nighter

I recommend just reevaluating your week

and seeing what else you can fit

somewhere else this is why it's so much

easier to like sit down every week and

plan it out because till this day I have

not done a single all-nighter in my

entire college career and I'm going to

be a senior this coming fall so the

biggest thing that prompted that was

planning out my week and seeing like oh

I have too much on Monday let me

separate it to Tuesday you get in the

rhythm of doing them and you'll think

yourself later especially the transition

into college can be very difficult so if

you have these rules of thumb just to

start off it's a lot easier to navigate

your classes and your assignments which

leads to my time management section so

this is more of a self-improvement

section that can also help you with your

organization one of the best things that

I did for myself this past semester is

to set a specific time where I stop

studying so for example I don't study

past 6 PM I feel like every single time

that I do that I'm just setting myself

up for failure my brain is like slowly

deteriorating as I do these assignments

and it's like 11 o'clock I'm really

really cramming I know that I put too

much on my to-do list or I know that

I've just been procrastinating it and so

here I am it's 11 o'clock I'm tired and

the work doesn't even turn out that good

at the end of the day this could have

all been avoided if I just really put a

strict rule to myself where I don't

study past 6 PM now this doesn't have to

be 6 PM there's work and there's classes

and there's night school and insert any

other thing that you need to do so it's

not always going to work for everyone to

set a specific time at 6 PM however set

a time that works for you something

where you're like okay I know that I can

only start studying at 5 PM because I

have stuff before then plan a specific

time like okay I'm not gonna study past

nine or ten because it just gets to a

point where like what are we doing here

like the work is not valuable as much

anymore you're not putting your best

foot forward and I think it's really

important to know your own self I know

like okay I work very well at night and

so I only study at this time or I only

study in the morning whatever works for

you just setting a time after this

certain time I have the day off I can do

whatever I need to do run errands relax

Etc so it's just way better for your

mental health and at least it's like

giving you some motivation to like study

for like another 20 or 30 minutes

because you know that at 6 PM you have

to stop or at 7 pm you have to stop or

whatever I found is really helpful I

actually saw this on Tick Tock so it's

honestly a lifesaver I love it and my

last tip for today is creating a

reliable morning routine this doesn't

only apply for college one of the best

things that I did was create a stable

morning routine and I have my morning

routine video so you guys can see it on

the eye right here but that's basically

what I do right now is my morning

routine and it still helps me keep

working and edit and film and do all

these things and plan I started off my

day with intention and I know that

you've probably heard of this before but

it really does help and I think this all

boils down to just habits and creating

habits for yourself that are so strong

that it's hard to break it where it gets

to a point where like now if I don't

have my morning routine it feels off it

feels weird so it's all just like

getting yourself used to things I know

it's easier said than done but these are

the things that really really help me

stay organized in my college career

ultimately what I'm trying to say is

that keeping yourself accountable with

all these things is hard but is so worth

it I've been doing college for six years

now my first two years Associates and

then I did another four-year bachelor

program and I have not missed a semester

since 2018 so it's been a long road and

I'm here to tell you that setting these

goals for yourself from the very

beginning is just gonna make the time

Breeze by you know what you're doing you

know what's missing when something is

going wrong like setting a morning

routine and color coding your classes

and doing all these things look

arbitrary from a distance but are the

little things that keep you sane to be

honest yeah it's pretty crazy anyways

why did I say it like that do you guys

love my little mic I busted it out again

very long cord it's just the mic that I

use on top of my camera

it's cute right I just love holding

something while I'm recording it just

adds more Charisma I don't know this

video is the beginning of my back to

school videos this year and I'm super

excited to Vlog this fall semester for

you guys I'm actually going on a trip

pretty soon so I'm excited to Vlog that

as well a lot of things happening in

August so I'm really excited and I

really hope you guys enjoyed this video

please like this video because that's

how you let me know subscribe for more

videos like these and hit the little

bell notification right next to the

Subscribe button so that you get

notified every single time that I post I

post every single Sunday and I will see

you guys in my next video bye

[Music]

thank you

thank you

[Music]

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