Organize to achieve your goals
Posted on August 16, 2020
What is important to you? Knowing what is important to you will allow you to organize your time in a manner that supports your priorities and goals. UNM CAPS has an on-demand time prioritization series and activity packet that is designed to help you set goals and priorities and create a schedule that supports those goals and priorities
Use your goals as a guide for organizing
Next, develop a concrete plan for this semester that includes organizing, scheduling, and to-do lists. College InfoGeek has a detailed post about why and how to stay organized. As a college student, you have many demands on your time: classes, work, family, friends, and extracurriculars. To make sure that you don’t neglect any of these important areas of your life, you need a schedule and a plan.
Scheduling
There are many tools available to help you create and keep track of your schedule; use what works for you:
• paper planners, calendars, and lists (There are a variety of free printables available online. Daydesigner and Simplified by Emily Ley have free printables for grocery lists, goal setting, daily planning, and to-do lists available for personal use (both also sells printed and bound planners).
• calendar, planner, and reminder apps are on your phone; and
• UNM provided office 365 includes One Note (online notebook) and Outlook (email, calendar, tasks and to-do features are included).
In all of these tools, you will at the minimum want to block out classes, work, and extracurricular events. After you have blocked off times for things you must attend, look at your schedule and block out consistent study times. Next, fill in dates for homework assignments, projects, and exams. As your schedule takes shape, you can start building weekly and daily to do lists.
To Do Lists
There are different methods for structuring your to-do list; pick the one that works for you:
Distracted by your phone?
Try a focus app that blocks distracting websites and apps. These apps allow you to set blocks of time when you cannot access websites and/or apps to reduce distractions and help you focus. A few examples are LeechBlock, Self control, Cold Turkey Blocker, Freedom, and Forest.
Or try the Pomodoro Technique; in this technique you alternate focused work sessions with short breaks.
