Here’s How to Stay on Top of Your Assignments

College. It seems like one minute I have my life together, all my assignments are in order, and everything’s going well. Then the next minute I have five papers due, three tests to study for, and seven blog posts to write all in one week. Ok yes that may be a bit exaggerated, but that’s what it feels like. And I know I’m probably not alone.

College can be a huge learning curve for some people. It’s the first time you really have your whole life in your hands. And if you’re not careful, things can get out of hand (ha see what I did there?) really fast. But, fear not! It can be easy to stay on top of your assignments! All it takes is a bit of planning and not procrastinating to make sure you never miss an assignment again. Today I’m sharing with you the ways that I make sure I never miss an assignment.

Treat weekdays like a 9-5 job

Done with class at 1pm and head back to your dorm/apartment/house and go straight to watching Netflix? Bad idea. I make sure that I’m up by 8am every day and I try to work on only school and blogging stuff until around 5pm.

Instead of treating Netflix as something to fill my time during the day, I use it as a treat before bed (gasp! I know that’s really bad for you, but I live on the edge). If I’ve done all of my homework for the day and gotten some blogging stuff done, then congratulations Abigail, you’ve earned yourself an episode or two of Jane the Virgin.

Have calendars and planners everywhere

I have two calendars above my desk, two planners (one for school and one for blogging), and multiple online calendars set up to help me keep track of my life. Y’all if I don’t have it written down in multiple places, I will forget to do the assignment, show up to class, or show up to an important meeting. 

For online calendars, I love love love Google Calendars. It easily syncs to my phone and macBook, and I can create multiple calendars, such as school, life, and work, all on one account.

As for physical planners, I love my Rifle Paper Co Monthly & Weekly 17 Month planner and any Blue Sky planner from Target.

Looking for more ways to use Google Calendars? Kayla from Kayla Blogs has great tips!

Set personal due dates

I almost never miss an assignment or due date simply because I set personal due dates for all of my assignments. If there’s an assignment due this upcoming Thursday, I’ll have it 95% complete by the prior Tuesday. It gives me extra time to look over my work, catch any mistakes, and keep from stressing.

Give yourself a due date of two or three days before an assignment is actually due. And if you’re prone to procrastination, you’ll have plenty of time to complete the work!

Take quality notes

Developing a note-taking system was the best thing I ever did my freshman year. Not only do I learn the material even more when I’m rewriting my notes, I’m not frantically flipping through piles of unorganized notes to try to find the one piece of information I need.

This could be anything from taking notes in class and the rewriting them later, taking notes from the lecture slides, or taking notes directly from the textbook.

Grab your favorite set(s) of pens, you favorite notebook, and get to writing. And yes, writing. Not typing. Think typing those notes will help you? Writing with pen and paper is proven to help you remember information.

Need some note taking inspiration? Studyblrs on Tubmlr are my life, and they should be your’s as well.

Now, it’s time to slap that procrastination out of your system and hit the books! Treat the week as an opportunity to grow and learn and don’t spend it counting down the days ’till the weekend. Good luck!

What are some of your best ways to stay on top of your assignments?

~abigail gray