Organize for Success: Tips to Start Your School Year on the Right Foot

Happy September! Depending on where you live, you might be just diving into the new school year or you might be deep enough in to be approaching your first big tests of the year (or getting ready to get that first test back). Regardless of which situation you are in, now is a great time to pause and think intentionally about your organizational systems.

Why Organization Skills Matter

In most classes, the material you learn at the beginning of the school year is foundational for what you will be learning throughout the year. This means that it will likely be helpful to have it in a location and form that is easy to find and reference when you need it. The ideal way to do so is different for different students in different circumstances, so let’s consider a couple of potential situations.

If you have classes where you take notes or your teachers give you physical handouts or worksheets, having a system for organizing all of the paper is crucial. You don’t want to, for example, have to sift through all of your math notes to find a hand out from Spanish class. Keeping separate notebooks or folders for each class and putting things away intentionally rather than tucking papers into your notebooks haphazardly or just tossing them loose into your backpack can go a long way.

Some students don’t have much paper these days, though. Maybe your teacher provides you with a slideshow file for every class and your work is all done in a digital assignment system. In this situation it can be easy for a student to get complacent about organization. It might feel like your teacher has everything organized for you and that you don’t need to worry about it. If you are in this situation, I would encourage you to look at things a little more closely.

Is your teacher consistent about posting things promptly?

If they announce assignments or tests in class before posting them in the system, it would be smart to have a back up plan to prevent last minute panics. This might look like adding due dates to your calendar on your phone (or to a physical planner) when they are announced in class. If you prefer a digital calendar but are not allowed to have your phone out in class, a small notebook where you can write things down as an intermediary might work well for you. If they are slow about posting reference materials, you should consider keeping your own notes for the class as well.

Are there enough details in those posted slideshows that they will be helpful and sufficient if you reference them? What if you go back to look at one several months after the relevant class?

Slide shows often don’t contain every detail that is covered in class. For a math class the examples might not be fully worked out. A history class might highlight key points but not every single important detail. For some students, taking notes while they are in class is an effective way to both stay focused and make sure they get those details down. For other students, it might be more effective to go back over the slideshows after class and annotate them then.

When you turn in an assignment, is it available for you to go back and review in the system?

If it is, great! If not, consider keeping a copy for yourself before turning it in. Make sure you give your files names that will help you find them later (lots of files named “essay.doc” isn’t very helpful!) and consider creating folders to organize your files. If your assignments are in a system that doesn’t lend itself to saving a copy, consider taking screenshots of material you might want to be able to reference later.

Final thoughts

If you take the time to lay that organizational foundation now, your future self will thank you when it comes time to study for midterms, finals, or even AP exams. If the idea of building an organizational system feels overwhelming, don’t panic. This is a skill you can work on and improve at!

Our excellent executive function coaches are experts at helping you craft a personalized organizational system, as well as helping you adjust that system as you learn what works for you. And if you find yourself getting overwhelmed with the material in any of your classes, we have academic tutors who can help you get back on track.

Book a call with a Program Director or give us a call at 1-866-789-PREP (7737) to get started!