Staying on Top of the Leaf Pile: Six Ways to Stay Organized Over Fall Break
There are few things that college kids as excited about as fall vacations. After several consecutive weeks of tirelessly completing homework, meeting essay deadlines, and fulfilling other academic obligations, a little TLC never sounded so good. However, some of us get so excited about the approaching date of the vacation and all the fun activities we plan on doing during it that we forget about the responsibilities we’ll have to attend to when it’s over, causing many of us to lose track of our work and come back to school a bit of a mess. To help make the transition easier from vacation to back to school, here are six tips to stay on top of your organizational game through this upcoming Fall Break and Thanksgiving.
1). Keep a Planner
No, seriously. Keep a planner. When you write down what you have to do, not only does it become much easier to remember, but you also have one convenient place to double-check all of your work. Plus, you get the added bonus of having a physical copy of your schedule, allowing you to feel that thrill of satisfaction when you get to cross something off your list.
It doesn’t even have to be kept in a “planner” planner. You could put sticky notes on a calendar, use those nifty calendar or memo apps on your computer or phone, or whatever you find works best for you.
2). Set Goals
The longer the break, the more likely you’ll be tempted to push everything off to the end of it. This is a trap that I have fallen into on several breaks, leaving me to spend the last night of my vacation working on three essays and cursing my past self for not doing them sooner.
The best way to handle a big workload over a small or tightly scheduled break is to set work goals for each day. I can’t guarantee that you’ll get everything done that you want to within that day, but it’s a great way to keep yourself on track without burning out. This is an especially helpful tip if some of your days during the vacation are more packed than others; you can assign different amounts of work for different days, getting your work done only when you can. Therefore, you work with your schedule instead of working against it.
3). Don’t Overload Yourself
College breaks are few and far between, so when they happen, we want to make the best of them and do as many fun and relaxing things during them as we can. However, this can easily lead to us wanting to do too much at one time. We all would love to be able to write that essay, go to that concert in the park, see the new Batman movie, and try that new hiking trail all in one day, but we’re probably not going to be able to. Remember that there is no need to do everything right away. Just because you can’t do something today doesn’t mean it can’t be done tomorrow. Pace yourself: Spread your activities or work throughout the week instead of trying to squeeze them all into one day. You’ll find yourself less stressed and enjoying your break more.
4). Use a Work-Reward System
As the name suggests, after you do some work, you give yourself a little reward. Finished that worksheet? Help yourself to that chocolate bar. Finished outlining your essay? Heck yeah, you can go to the movies with your friends tonight. This system will not only keep you motivated to do your work, but it will also let you have some fun over your break. Just be careful to keep the balance equal. If you reward yourself too much for doing too little work, or vice versa, the system won’t work, and you might find yourself stressed at the end of your break.
5). Keep Your Belongings in View
I know this one seems a little silly, but trust me. It helps. Many of us are prone to throwing our belongings all over our bedroom once we have entered “break” mode and are free from the rigor of student life. This is not a particularly helpful habit, because it makes us more prone to lose or misplace items. If you need that important notebook with all your science notes and can’t remember where you put it, not only do you have to deal with not being able to get your work done, but also with the stress of not being able to find the item you need! Here’s my tip: Resist the urge to drop everything. Instead designate an area to keep your belongings, whether it be a corner of your room, under your bed, or a convenient cardboard box — whatever works best for you.
Another nice thing about this tip is that it helps motivate you to do your work. If something is not within easy reach, we are less likely to bother with it, especially on breaks. Having the work right in the open will add that extra push you might need to finally get things done and get back to enjoying your break!
6). Appoint a “Mom” Friend
Sometimes self discipline is not enough to get us to stay organized over breaks; we can write our goals down and remind ourselves over and over again that we need to do something, but we’ll get caught up in our break and temporarily lose our organizational edge. This is when outside help can become beneficial. Try asking someone — a friend, a sibling, a parent, even Siri — to remind you to stay on top of your work during break. A push from someone other than yourself may end up being just the thing you need to crank out that worksheet or finally read that book you keep saying you’ll read when you “have time.”
I hope you find these tips helpful for keeping on track with everything over your vacations. Vacations are supposed to be a time for recharging and relaxing: Don’t let your workload ruin that for you. As long as you stay conscientious of your responsibilities — whether academic or otherwise — during your time off, you’ll be fine. Have a great Fall Break, and happy organizing!
