How to keep organised over the holidays
Hi guys, hope you’re all well and enjoying Pokémon GO (because I absolutely ADORE it)! Aside playing the greatest game in existence, days during the summer can go pretty slow without a constant inflow of work shifts (which I am far too familiar with) or holidays planned/friends and family to see.
Or, you could be on the other side of the coin. You have too much to do, too many people to visit and so many things on your to-do list that it is overwhelming to even look at.
Either way, having an organisation plan, although it sounds dull, can really clear space in your mind. This means that you can either 1) prioritise little things, so that you feel like you’re being productive, or 2) minimise noise (i.e. time-wasting) by focusing on tasks for the day.
Here are four sure fire ways of making sure you can be on top of things when the summer has got your mind doing the opposite:
– Bullet Journal
If you have been around what’s new, you would have surely heard about how amazing and magical using and having a bullet journal is. In hindsight, it’s just a glorified checklist of things to do, but I would be lying if I said that I didn’t love using it. It uses a very simplistic way of recording whether you have completed the task, scheduled it (for another day) or migrated it (so that the task is still prioritised, but can be done at a later date). Also, its basic structure allows you to think clearly about these things that you need to do, as opposed to having a long, extensive list.
Check out the official website for more information on how to get one, all it takes is a pen and notepad!
– Planners
Having a planner is a way of keeping everything in one place, so a good planner should contain these basic components; a calendar, a to-do list, a journal and some information pages.
Your calendar is the basic backbone of your planner. This is for all your normal calendar things, appointments, get-togethers, parties, and any job interviews.
Your to-do list is where you can get stuff done. This list is your place to put the reminders to yourself into a concrete form (much like the Bullet journal does). Don’t worry about the length of it, as time passes and you do more and more of your list, you’ll have a record of all the things you’ve accomplished.
Whether you use the journal part for fun, or as a tool for self-reflection, this section is very personal to you. You can track the days in this section and look back on things you’ve enjoyed in times of stress or noting down little tips for the future.
Finally, your information pages can be a place for you to gather the smaller points of your daily planning, such as shopping lists, menu planners, phone numbers or book lists. If you need to remember something, that is the place to put it!
– Resource storage
Your holidays are a long time, no matter how you look at it. On average around 8 weeks or so and that’s a lot of time for that one information sheet from that seminar that one time or for the notes from that lecture that you simply HAD to be at to go walkabouts.
Storing your university resources is really important for going on into the next academic year, as well as clearing your conscious of thinking ‘hm I wonder where I put that?’. This can be done by making sure you’ve got all your resources stored in one place. One useful thing is box files, or simple boxes to sort out your resources into each year. That way, with everything in one place you won’t end up leaving any of it behind.
For electrical resources, making sure you’ve got them backed up somewhere solid or stored on the cloud so that if you need to check on that reference before, or use an essay for revision to get that little bit of extra reading, you’ll know where it is for when you need it!
– Phone apps
However, if the non-tech way of organising doesn’t tickle your fancy, there are heaps of apps that can help you sort out daily tasks, scheduling your day and obviously means that you don’t have to bring around pens or fancy planners whenever you have a spontaneous to-do or thought. Some (free) apps for organisation include:
Throughout all this, it’s important to remember that this holiday away from academic study should also promote relaxation and clarity. Holidays, in general, are important to make some head space for next year. Thus, freeing up your mind from admin tasks via these organisation tips mean that you can (finally) spend some time relaxing!
Til next time.x
