Stay Organized at School

A big part of a successful year of school is being organized--how else can you expect to keep track of assignments, tests and events?

Not only will staying organized keep you focused at school, but you'll be able to apply your organization habits to your life after college, which will come sooner than you think.

If you're not the best at staying organized, don't worry--here are some tips to get you started.

Schoolwork

Calendars
Calendars let you see entire days, weeks or months into the future so you can plan everything accordingly. Whether it's a desk calendar for your entire month or a day planner in your bookbag, keeping track of due dates, upcoming events and work schedules will keep you sane throughout the hectic school year.

Binders
In middle school, you may have only needed a single binder to keep everything together. Now that you've got a full course load with different classes every day, binders might be your saving grace. Figure out a system that works for you. A simple way to get started could be to have a binder for each set of class days--for example Monday/Wednesday/Friday classes vs. Tuesday/Thursday classes.

Color coding
Color coding is helpful for some people when it comes to staying organized. Just like the binder idea, you could easily distinguish different classes with different colored binders/folders/sticky notes.

Personal items

Clothes
Keeping your clothes organized might not come so naturally to you, but when you've got a small closet and limited drawer space (if any), you'll need to adopt new skills. An organized wardrobe will also make getting ready for class a breeze.

However, you should keep a few things in mind when you're unpacking and getting settled--you won't need your tank tops, shorts and flip flops until you come back for the spring semester, so you might as well store them away (if you even brought them). When you hang up your clothes, try the soda tab trick to minimize the space your items take up in the closet.

General tips

Underbed storage
Making room under your bed for storage containers or drawers is going to maximize your floor space. You can loft your bed high enough to fit a dresser or a few plastic bins to get the most of your room.

Put things away
Keeping things neat is essential when you're in a dorm, and putting things away after you're done using them will help you keep clutter at bay. The things you bring to school with you should have a function and a home--and if they don't, consider it clutter!