How to stay organised through the year
Hello everyone! School is starting to creep up on everyone now that it’s basically the end of summer. So if you’ve read the previous blog posts I’ve done with Jasmine, then you might be wondering how to stay organised throughout the year. Well, I know I would because I’m an organised freak. :D
So, in this post we shall be talking about things like organising your files/folders, writing notes, study schedules, colour coding and whatever else we find ourselves talking about!
Have organised files is really important in terms of studying and preparing yourself for future lessons. Some lessons and teachers may require you to have a folder, others don’t. So make sure you check with your teacher first if you aren’t sure. So here are a few tips that you should take into consideration.
Make sure that you have all the supplies you need.
This can range anything from a pencil to calculators!
Getting a folder that is comfortable for you is important.
Think about where and when you are going to use it and how much you are going to put in it. If the folder is staying at home and it’s for all subjects, then invest in getting a bigger one. If you want to take this folder to school, then get a smaller one to save your back. I personally only have a big binder for my geography class. This is because we get a lot of case studies, so I need to store them somewhere. For DT and fine art, I use a portfolio for them. The rest of my subjects are in notebooks.
For your folder, I suggest buying some dividers or something that separates your notes into sections. I don’t use dividers from the shop. I use thick pieces of card. This way I can write on the paper, instead of just the corner of the divider.
So if your folder is for more than 1 subject, make sure you label everything. Have your dividers between the different classes. I would also suggest colour coding your folder as well. Blue could be for Maths while green is for Geography.
In my folder, I like to keep a few pages of lined paper. This is just in case I need to write something down when I don’t have my notebook.
Quick tips:
Check to see if your teacher actually wants you to have a binder for class, sometimes they don’t.
Try to keep your folder neat so you can understand.
Make sure you LABEL everything in your folder
Lastly, make sure it’s organised!
Here are just a few short tips for your note taking. There is no right way to take your notes, just find what is right for you! It took me about 2 terms in Year 10 to figure out the best way I take my notes and it’s never failed since then!
Make sure you use the same note taking format for all your subjects.
Add diagrams if it helps you learn. Make sure they are labelled so you get the most out of your notes when you review them later on.
Make them look nice to the extent where it helps you remember. If adding space/planet doodles to your physics notes help you remember the information about space, then go for it. However a word of warning, don’t go overboard.
Keep everything simple! The notes, the doodles and your stationery for note taking. Write down what you need to know and stop writing down the useless “fun facts”. However in your own time, do some research about the topic area so you have more evidence, but you don’t need to write it down!
If you take your notes on the computer then stick to a productive app/program that will be able to product the notes you need. If I’m on my computer then I use Microsoft OneNote because it’s easy and simple to use in the middle of a lesson.
Summarise! This is SO important. Write in short sentences, not paragraphs. You don’t need to know every single word that is in the textbook or what your teacher is telling you! If you keep it simple then you will remember it better.
Alright now you might be thinking “colour coding is easy why I would need tips about this?” Well, for starters you can never have too many tips but also because you might colour code too much or too little. You also might be colour coding the whole page! Which you shouldn’t do!
so my first tip to you would be to make sure your notes are CLEAR! If your notes are in order then you will be fine. The first problem is when your notes are all messed up and the page is just a scribbled mess.
So here is just a quick rundown of how I used to colour code my notes.
Black Pen: Writing the notes down Blue Pen: Notes I put into the column of the page. These were often questions I needed to ask or wanted to research further. Mild Yellow Highlighter: Important definitions Mild Blue Highlighter: Quotes for English or important case study quotes in geography. Mild Pink Highlighter: Statistics to remember. Mild Orange Highlighter: Important dates and people.
Please bear in mind you can use whatever colours you want, I just used these because I like the colour combination but also because I remember things better when I know what the colour means. Also, colour coding takes a long time so I don’t recommend you do it in lesson, instead use it as a revision technique. The more colours you have means the more pens you will need to have, which then takes longer to colour code. My recommendation is to have no more than 3 colours and PLEASE don’t highlight full sentences! Only words!
Have a folder for every subject. Make sure you have a folder for every subject and store everything in that folder,but use dividers to split up your work into sections (such as homework, class notes etc.
Type up your notes on a laptop. This will keep all your notes organised and easy to access in one place, so you don't ever lose them, and typing up all your notes from a class in the same day can count as revision for that class's
Maintain a calendar. This will make sure you know everything you need to know and when you have it done by, as so you don't forget any tasks.
Make sure you have extra stationery/supplies. This means you would have everything you need when you need it, so you don't end up using this as an excuse for not doing work.
Clean out your things at least once every quarter. Throw away any papers you don't need or any old notes that you won't need again in the future and make sure you re-organise everything every few weeks so you don't get everything messy and lost.
Keep a clean workspace. Every few days, clean your desk and keep everything tidy through the year so you don't lose anything or build up all the cleaning till a point where you won't want to do it.
Prioritise . Use a list and prioritise all your work from most important to least important, so you know where to start from.
Have a separate notebook for every subject. This will make it easier to go back and read all your notes.
Leave a page blank at the beginning of every notebook. Use this page to create a table of contents and number all the pages based on what notes are written, and this will make it so much easier and organised when going over those notes later.
Stick to your plans. Have a rule where if you write it down,you have to get it done.
Give each class a color, and stick to that through the year, it'll make it easier to know what you have to do and it'll keep everything in one place, even when using it to record reminders on your phone.
Put everything away. Dedicate a place for everything and put everything back in it's dedicated place as soon as you're done.
