Feel overwhelmed? Take some time to sit down and make these lists to organize your life!

I have found that physically writing a list helps me feel more in control of things. It motivates me to actually get things done and makes me more productive.

Writing lists is a simple but powerful way to organize your life and fight overwhelm. Creating lists instantly frees up valuable mental space and declutters your mind.

I like to write lists by hand in my planner, but I also keep some lists in Google Docs to make them easier to access and update. You can choose whichever method (physical or digital) that works best for you.

Here are the best lists to make to organize your life today!

1. Daily To-Do List

A daily to-do list is one of the best ways to get your life in order right now. Sometimes just writing down what you need to do will give you the push to get it down!

I use my planner for this and there’s nothing quite as satisfying as crossing items off once I’ve accomplished.

2. Weekly To-Do List

Another helpful to-do list you can make is an overview of the weekly tasks you need to complete. This is a good thing to do on Sunday before the start of a new week. It gives you a big-picture look at the most important things you want to accomplish during the week ahead and keeps you accountable.

3. Monthly Goals

Another great list to make? A list of your monthly goals! At the end of the month, I like to create this list for the month ahead.

Then you can use your daily and weekly to-do lists to schedule the actions you need to take to accomplish those goals.

4. Annual Goals

I’m a huge fan of New Year’s resolutions. I always sit down at the end of December and start planning out my goals for the year ahead. I usually set goals for myself related to money, career, travel, reading, and any other life areas I want to focus on.

I put this list at the beginning of my planner for the new year so I can refer back to it throughout the year.

5. Monthly Lookback

At the end of every month, you can make a list of which goals you achieved, which ones you made progress on, and which you didn’t get to. You can also reflect back on the past month and list other things you accomplished.

6. Grocery List

A grocery list is a simple yet effective list to make. You can have a full grocery shopping list that contains all of your usual staples, as well as a running list of items you need the next time you’re at the grocery store.

7. Running Shopping List

Similar to a grocery list, keep a running shopping list of things you need to buy the next time you’re out so you don’t forget, whether that’s home items, beauty products, or something else.

8. Life Admin To-Do List

Life admin is the invisible labor it takes to run your household and your life. Think of things like making and attending doctor’s appointments, doing laundry, paying your rent and utility bills, cleaning, doing your taxes, and so on.

Keep a list of these life admin tasks so you can stay on top of them and knock them out before they start piling up and overwhelming you!

9. Morning Routine

Having a morning routine is so helpful. It lets you start off your day in a positive way and can impact how the rest of your day goes too. Make a list of steps to your morning routine (it doesn’t have to be complicated!) so you make it into a habit.

10. Evening Routine

Similarly, you can make a list of steps to your evening routine. Like a morning routine, an evening routine has many benefits and helps you wind down at the end of the day.

11. Monthly Reset List

A monthly reset is a great way to reflect on the past month and prepare for the new month ahead. Make a list of all the things you want to do as part of your monthly reset.

This can include journaling about the past month and setting your goals for the upcoming month, taking care of home tasks like washing and changing your bedding and deep-cleaning your living space, and anything else you want to do to feel productive at the beginning of the new month.

12. Due Dates

If you’re a student, it’s a good idea to keep a running list of due dates for assignments so you can stay on top of things. Similarly, if you have a job, you can make a running list of deadlines at work to keep yourself on track.

13. Meal Planning

Meal planning at the beginning of the week is a great way to simplify your schedule and eliminate the uncertainty of what you’re going to eat.

You can also make a running list of your favorite easy-to-prepare meals that you can refer back to when you’re doing your weekly meal prep.

14. Recurring Expenses

What are your recurring, fixed expenses every month? These are things like rent, utilities (which might fluctuate slightly every month but are more or less fixed), your cellphone bill, health insurance, car insurance, car payment, any subscription services you have, and so on. Write them all down!

This gives you an idea of how much you have to spend each month on fixed expenses, and also allows you to see if there are any cuts you can make (like a subscription you rarely use.)

15. Monthly Budget

Another helpful financial list to make is a monthly budget. I like to make this list in Google Sheets because I find the format of a spreadsheet easier to work with for this. You should include your fixed monthly expenses, as well as variable categories like food, gas, personal spending, entertainment, travel, savings, and so on.

Your monthly budget should also include your income and ideally you want your expenses to be less than this so you’re not spending beyond your means!

16. Monthly Spending

Again, I keep track of this in a spreadsheet (the same one I use for my monthly budget.) In fact, I am just using a modified version of the “Monthly budget” spreadsheet template that you can find for free in Google Docs.

I’ve been tracking every single expenditure I make in a month since I was in college, and let me tell you, this is a game changer! It will help you get your spending in check, see how much money you’re actually spending, and make you reevaluate whether you really need to spend money on something if you have to list it out later.

17. Birthdays and Anniversaries

Make a list of birthdays and anniversaries for friends and family in your life. This way you will never forget when it’s someone’s special day!

18. Gifts to Buy

Another great list to have is a list of gifts to buy. This is good to make around the holidays when you’re planning to do a lot of shopping, but it’s also good to keep a running list and jot down specific gift ideas when you think of them.

For example, your mom mentions wanting to try cooking in an air fryer like the one you have? Perfect gift for Mother’s Day, her upcoming birthday, or Christmas!

19. Cleaning List

Make a list of the daily, weekly, and monthly cleaning tasks you need to do so you can follow a cleaning schedule and keep your living space neat and tidy.

20. Usernames and Passwords

I personally keep all my usernames and passwords stored digitally in Google Chrome, the web browser I use daily, but you might also want to make a list of the most important usernames and passwords you have to keep track of them.

Just make sure you keep this list secure where no one will find it! Ideally, this is a list you want to keep digitally where it’s more private, and not on paper somewhere.

21. Fitness Progress

If you’re on a fitness journey, keeping a list about your progress is a great way to stay motivated and feel good about all that you’ve accomplished so far.

22. Emails to Send

There’s nothing worse than knowing you need to send or reply to emails but procrastinating. That’s why making a list of emails to send is helpful!

23. Upcoming Events

What upcoming events do you have on your schedule? Make a list of them all, along with any notes for preparation (for example, buying a gift for your nephew’s birthday party or making a dish to bring to a Friendsgiving party.)

24. Positive Affirmations

Positive affirmations are a great tool for improving your mindset. Affirmations are simply short statements you can repeat to yourself, either verbally, mentally, or written down.

I like to have a list of my favorite affirmations written in my planner that I can refer back to whenever I need a positive reminder.

25. Dreams and Goals

I’ve already talked about setting more concrete monthly and annual goals, but you can also make a running list of more abstract dreams or goals.

Maybe these are things you don’t see yourself doing for several years or things that seem like a real stretch, but write them down anyway!

26. Journal Prompts

Journaling is a great way to get in tune with your thoughts, feelings, and emotions. (In a way, writing lists is similar to journaling!) If you need some inspiration for what to journal about, you can make a list of journal prompts to refer back to whenever the mood strikes. This way you’ll always have some inspiration for what to write about and reflect on.

27. Books You’ve Read

I’m a huge reader and you probably already know how many benefits there are to reading, especially if you read to replace your screen time! Keep a list of all the books you’ve read, along with any details like a short review or what you would rate the book out of five starts.

28. TBR List

TBR stands for “to be read” and this is a list of books you want to read. Whenever someone recommends a book or you come across a book that seems interesting, add it to your list.

That way, whenever you’re looking for a book to read next, you can refer back to this list and choose something that strikes your fancy.

29. Gratitude List

Regularly taking the time to reflect on what you’re grateful for is an amazing way to feel more positive about your life. Make a gratitude list of everything you’re thankful for right now, even if it’s something really small.

30. Self Care Ideas

Practicing self care is a great way to de-stress and regulate your mental health. Keep a running list of your favorite self care activities (like going for a walk in nature, reading a book with a mug of hot chocolate, doing a puzzle, coloring in a coloring book, calling a friend or family member on the phone, going out for ice cream, etc.) to refer back to when you need a pick-me-up.

31. Restaurants to Try

This is a great list to have because it will help you when you’re having one of those nights where you don’t know what you want for dinner! Keep a running list of new restaurants you hear about that you want to try, then you’ll always be able to pick one from the list!

32. Travel Destinations

I love to travel and I have several lists of the places I’ve been. I keep a list of countries I’ve traveled to, states I’ve traveled to, and cities I’ve traveled to. I also have a list of travel destinations I want to visit in the future.

33. Bucket List

A bucket list is a list of all the things you want to do before you die, AKA “kick the bucket.” This can be big and exciting things (like going skydiving or publishing a book or walking on the Great Wall of China) or smaller things you want to do (like go on a road trip or learn how to play the piano.) You could always add things to this list as you come up with more ideas.

34. Packing List

If you travel frequently, it’s helpful to have a standard packing list that contains all the essentials you know you’ll need to travel with.

For example, travel-sized toiletries, a portable cellphone charger, outlet adapters for traveling abroad, your travel neck pillow, and so on.

35. Accomplishments

Keeping a list of your accomplishments might seem a little vain or conceited, but it’s not at all! This can actually serve as a major confidence boost whenever you feel like you aren’t where you want to be yet.

Make a running list of all your accomplishments, whether they are professional or personal, so you can remind yourself you actually are achieving things all the time.

36. Memory Log

Whenever you experience something you don’t want to forget, write it down! You’ll be glad to have a memory log to look back on later, and jotting down memories in the form of a list is a great way to remember things without spending too much time writing.

37. Brain Dump

Finally, one last helpful list to make is a brain dump list. This is literally just a running list where you put ANYTHING that runs through your mind. An idea for a novel you want to write one day? A breakthrough you want to talk about with your therapist? An inspirational quote you heard that you don’t want to forget? Anything goes!

Lists to Organize Your Life

These are some of the best lists to organize your life that you can sit down and create today. Pick a few topics that resonate with you and spend 15 to 20 minutes making the lists today.

I guarantee you’ll feel better after making lists — it’s a great way to organize your mind and free up mental space, and it makes you more likely to be productive and take action!

Related Posts:

• 11 Highly Practical Uses For Your Empty Notebooks
• 23 Easy Habits That Will Skyrocket Your Productivity
• 10 Brilliant Habits To Organize Your Entire Life
• 18 New Month Journal Prompts

The post 37 Easy Lists To Organize Your Life appeared first on Sincerely Students.

Notion is an all-in-one digital organizing tool that has rightfully taken over the Internet in a few short months, and in this post, I’ll teach you how to organize your life with this versatile tool.

This post is the second post in a series of three, and if you’re a beginner at Notion, check out the first post here: How To Set Up Notion For Students.

If you’ve already tested the waters with Notion, then you’re ready for this post! Here, we’ll go over the different planning and organizing features of Notion and how to use it to organize your whole life!

Please realize that because this is a blog post filled with text, it will be difficult to teach you exactly how to set up Notion (you can check out YouTube videos instead). What I’ll be doing is give you some ideas and get you started on the content of your workspace, not necessarily the visual aspect.

Download My Template

First things first, if you want to skip the work of setting up your own Notion, you can buy my Ultimate Student Planner Notion Template and start using it immediately!

Setting Up Notion

In case you need a reminder, here are some of the basic steps in setting up Notion:

1. Go to notion.so and click Sign Up in the upper right corner. 
2. Go to Download and choose the option you need (I suggest Mac & Windows).
3. Sign in to the app once it is finished downloading.
4. Done!

You can play with the different features in Notion, such as the slash (“/”) shortcut, embeds, page settings, font colors, and more! Once you’re a bit more familiar with how Notion works, you’re ready to customize your own workspace and make some pages!

Notion For Academics

Notion is extremely versatile, and you can easily use it as a digital school binder. This means that you can make a copy of your schedule, save links for online Zoom classes, save copies of your syllabus, and even take notes during lectures.

If you haven’t already, create a new page from your sidebar– this will act as your Home page and will hold all the pages you’re going to create today. 

Next, create a new page within your Home page by typing /page and selecting Page (the first option). This will embed a new page within the current, which is exactly what you want to do.

You can title this page whatever you’d like, such as School, Academics, Learning, etc. Then, I recommend you create an inline table using /table and selecting Table – Inline. This will be where you store information about your classes!

Setting up the table

Follow these steps to set up your table and store all the right information and files in it:

1. Title your table; it can be named Classes, Schedule, etc.
2. Click the + button on the rightmost column to add columns for information like the teacher, what days/periods you have it, and whether or not it’s weighted.
3. Hover over the first column (which you should’ve named with the name of the class) and click OPEN.
4. Select New template; we will be making a template to use for all of the classes in this table to store important information.
5. Decide what information you’d like to write down and imagine how it would format on Notion. 
6. Create the template! Here’s an example:

Once your table is created (and if you’ve followed my steps and example), you’ll be fully prepared for all your courses and ready to take notes– you can take notes directly on each page in the Lecture Notes table– and succeed in the class.

Other pages and links

In my opinion, successfully setting up the classes table is one of the most important steps of creating your Academics page. But of course, there are various additional elements that play a part in your academic life.

So consider the following elements and add them to your page by creating another column on the page (simply create the block and drag it onto the side of the already-existing table). The ideas marked with an asterisk are for high schoolers!

• Your college prep action steps*
  • List of extracurriculars/awards you have and are looking for
  • List of courses that are relevant to your major of interest
  • List of dream colleges and their admission requirements
• SAT, ACT, AP tests study guides*
• Scholarships you’re interested in
• Extracurricular online courses you’re taking
• A page for new vocabulary
• A “bookshelf” for books you’d like to read

YOU’LL LOVE THIS POST: College Prep Checklist For High School Upperclassmen

Notion For Productivity

Notion is generally considered a productivity tool, so here is where all its tools can really shine! Personally, I do not have a separate page dedicated to productivity-related elements. Part of the reason is simply that Notion has so many tools, I get a bit overwhelmed!

Within my Home page, I have a “personal” page that contains the following:

• Monthly focuses
• My daily routine
• A list of daily habits
• Weekly focus
• Daily to-do list

On my home page, I also have a calendar to keep track of important dates, as well as a simple table to keep track of upcoming tasks using the Eisenhower method! If you’d like to implement the formulas that will actually organize your tasks with an algorithm, you can check out this post here.

Notion can be super simple, but it can also be extremely complex (as shown with the thousands of formulas you can write to do different things). You can play around with Notion’s countless features and see which ones will benefit you the most!

Lastly, do not fret if you’re not the best with design or are struggling to make Notion look “aesthetic.” I’ll have a free template for you available in the last post of this Notion series (coming soon!).

Notion For Future-Planning

Another important part of planning and organizing your life is to plan for the future. There are 3 things I focus on: my personal (long-term) goals, my academic plan, and my financial state.

Therefore, I focus my Notion set-up on these 3 things! However, since my academic plan is implemented into my Academics page, I’ll just be showing you how I organize my personal goals and track my finances.

Personal goals

I have a separate Growth page that I created within my Home page, and the main element on this page is my goal board.

You can create a board like this by typing /board and selecting Board – Inline. Create 3 columns, labeling them not achieved, in progress, and achieved. Then, just add “cards” to each column! You can add detailed steps or helpful resources to each goal simply by opening each card.

There are many more things you can add to your Growth page, such as:

• Self-care routine
• Some self-care activities
• Affirmations
• Things that make you happy

Finance tracker

My expense tracker is simply a table (/table) that’s linked to my home page. Here’s what an example looks like:

I have a tag for each month, which helps me organize my expenses and earnings when I filter the table. I only display items for the current month, which I achieve by selecting Filter and adding a filter for Where [month] is [current month].

An important thing to remember is that when adding your expenses, don’t forget to add a negative/subtract symbol in front of the number! If you don’t do this, the table will count this number as an earning and not an expense.

Notion For Organizing Information

If you’re like me, there are tons of information that doesn’t quite fit the labels of academics, productivity, or future planning. These can include:

• Movies and documentaries you’d like to watch
• Dramas or shows you’d like to watch
• Recipes you’d like to try
• Things you’d like or need to buy
• Vocabulary for a language you’re learning
• Your favorite YouTube channels
• A monthly playlist of your favorite songs
• Achievements you’re proud of
• And so much more!

In my opinion, it’s better to create these pages and use them occasionally than to not create them and end up regretting this decision. Therefore, go ahead and create these pages!

You can link them to a sidebar on your main page, or create a separate page for miscellaneous items! However, do not overwhelm yourself with too many unnecessary pages; over time, it’s likely that you’ll cut down and simplify your workspace.

Resources

This post is simply a general overview of what you can include in your Notion set up to organize your life; if you’d like to see more examples, detailed tutorials, and more, check out these resources below:

• Notion’s built-in templates
• Notion Pages 
• Danny Hatcher’s Notion tricks 
• YouTube videos
  • Like twirlingpages’s and cafe.studyy’s! You can search up “Notion set up” and find many more videos!

Conclusion

I hope this post was helpful in guiding you through Notion and showing you its potential! It truly is possible to organize your life with this app, so do some research and use it to its maximum!

Don’t forget to check out the rest of this series!

1. How To Set Up Notion For Students
2. How To Organize Your Student Life With Notion (this post!)
3. My Notion Setup + Free Template

The post How To Effectively Organize Your Student Life With Notion appeared first on Sincerely Students.

Although there are many more elements to being focused and productive at home, organizing and setting up your desk properly plays a major role. 

In this post, I’ll teach you the 7 crucial steps to organizing your desk for maximum productivity whenever you work and study, so you can be super successful even while working from home.

Step 1. Do you need a new desk?

First, determine if you need a new desk to start with. A sturdy, high-quality, ergonomic desk is good for your physical health (posture-wise) and a long-term investment that’s highly worth the money. 

If your current desk matches multiple of the following, you may need to consider getting a new one:

• Wobbly and unbalanced
• Unable to support itself (held together by tape)
• Too low or too high, causing bad posture
• Too small, with not enough space for your work

If you do not have the financial ability (or physical space in your room) to get a new desk, you can try moving things around, adding some support/height, etc. to your current desk. In addition, the rest of the tips may be able to help you transform your desk as well.

But if you are interested in getting a new desk, I’ve listed some recommendations below. They’re not in any particular order and are all great desks (though the price varies).

• CubiCubi Study Computer Desk from Amazon
• CubiCubi L Shape Computer Desk from Amazon
• DlandHome L-Shaped Desk from Amazon

Step 2. Remove everything.

Though it’s not impossible to organize your desk without removing everything first, it’s much easier to start with a blank slate. This will also help you determine what you should throw away and what you should keep.

So if you have a bunch of papers, pens, decor, trash, etc. lying around on your desk, remove them and put them somewhere else for now (you’ll either be placing them back, storing them, or throwing them away later).

While you’re doing this, create separate piles or buckets for the following:

• Things you definitely want/need to keep at your desk
• Things you only use once in a while
• Things you can throw away because it’s old, broken, useless…

This may be the hardest step of all these steps, because you may find it difficult to determine which things are actually necessary. So take your time and go through the objects at your desk and ask yourself: do I really need this at my desk?

Once you’ve got this figured out, you’re ready to go onto the next step and really get rolling.

YOU’LL LOVE THIS POST: 10 Brilliant Habits To Organize Your Entire Life

Step 3. Throw away the useless.

Since you’ve already separated all your objects into categories, this step should be quite simple. Go through the third pile I defined earlier (things you can throw away because it’s old, broken, or useless) and throw away everything you think you should throw away.

This can include broken pens and pencils, old worksheets, random trash, etc. The fewer things you have on your desk, the better; if it’s useless and/or distracting, you do not need to keep it on your desk.

Your next step is not to organize the other piles yet (the things you’re going to keep). These will come in near the end of your organization. Now, it is time to set up your desk.

Step 4. Set up your desk.

There are two parts to setting up your desk, and I will split this section up so it’s easy for you to follow. The first part is to clean and prep your current setup, and the second part is to “upgrade” it, adding and moving things around.

Prep your desk

There is not much you have to do to prep your desk, other than to give it a thorough cleaning. Get rid of all the dust and glue residue on your desk and it’ll be as good as new!

Grab some wet wipes (alcohol wipes can get rid of glue residue easily) and wipe down your desk. Then, use some paper towels to dry it.

If you plan to move your desk somewhere else, now’s the time to do so. Once you start placing things back onto your desk, it’ll be more difficult to move it around.

Upgrade your desk

Once you’re done cleaning your desk and ready to start putting all your stuff back onto it, look into things that can help you organize everything further. Below, I’ll go over a few of my desk essentials– consider investing in some of these, as they’re good for your physical health and can declutter your desk.

• Ergonomic laptop stand

Staring down at your laptop is very bad for your spine in the long run. This laptop stand will help raise your laptop to eye level and ensure that you’re sitting up tall, instead of slouching over and putting too much strain on your back.

• LED adjustable lamp

This LED lamp is not only adjustable to reach where you need it to reach, but you can also adjust the brightness and warmness of the light to relieve eye strain during different times of the day.

• Pen organizer (set of 5)

If you’re a pen hoarder and don’t want to throw away all your different pens, you’re better off organizing them in these organizers. The vertical organizers are perfect for different colored pens and highlighters, while the cups are great for your most-used pens.

• Acrylic 5-drawer desk organizer

If you have a lot of miscellaneous, small items like scissors, gluesticks, erasers, airpods, washi tape, postcards… this organizer is the perfect place to store them. Having multiple drawers means maximizing space and storing upwards instead of across on your desk.

• Floating shelves

If you don’t have enough space on your desk, you can use these floating shelves to put books and other small objects (like clocks, speakers, headphones…). They’re super easy to install and last for a long time.

• A rolling supplies cart

If you have a lot of miscellaneous items that are helpful to have around but are in such large amounts that you can’t put them all on your desk, a supplies cart is the perfect place to store them. You can keep this right next to your desk!

Step 5. Organize the essentials.

Now that your desk is all set up and upgraded, you can start organizing the things you want to keep and place them on your desk! There are some essentials that you should always keep near you, while others can be put a little farther away.

Some essentials include:

• Your laptop, keyboard, and mouse
• Your most-used pens and pencils
• Notebooks for school
• A planner, calendar, or to-do lists
• Water, tissues, healthy snacks

Using the space you have and the organizers you have, determine the most space-efficient way to organize these! If you’d like some inspiration, you can visit Pinterest or Instagram and browse through desk setup posts.

RELATED POST: The Ultimate Guide To Studying From Home

Step 6. Store everything else.

By everything else, I mean the non-essentials, such as the following:

• Books
• Journals
• Speakers
• Albums
• Gaming consoles

Especially if something is distracting you and causing you to stray from the task at hand, you should remove it from your desk and store it somewhere else (like a bookshelf or closet).

For other items (like things you don’t use often but still find helpful to have around), simply place it somewhere within reach, but not on the surface of your desk.

I find it super helpful to have a bookshelf and/or a rolling supplies cart (which I mentioned earlier) on either side of my desk, for I can store a lot of books, textbooks, extra pens, journals, craft supplies, and more.

Step 7. Organize once in a while.

This step is essential to maintain your desk in the long run. Once in a while, you’ll find that somehow, all your notebooks and pens have ended up on your desk again. When this happens, you need to place them back where they belong and declutter.

Every 2 weeks (or whenever your desk starts becoming cluttered), take 20-30 minutes to organize your desk and throw away trash that’s starting to pile up.

If you feel like it, you could even have a desk makeover every few weeks along with reorganizing it. This can make you feel like you have a new study space every once in a while, which you might enjoy.

Conclusion

I hope this post was helpful in helping you organize your desk and set yourself up for maximum productivity! If you’re studying from home and need some more tips regarding productivity and studying, check these out:

• How To Set Up Your Planner For Maximum Productivity
• 23 Easy Habits That Will Skyrocket Your Productivity
• 8 Daily Habits Of Highly Successful Students

The post How To Organize Your Desk To Maximize Productivity appeared first on Sincerely Students.

But you should not overlook digital organization, even though all your items are not physically taking up space or are disorganized. Organizing your digital files will make it much easier to store and find important links and save a lot of hassle.

In this post, I’m going to teach you how to organize all your digital files during online learning– or in general! If you’re tired of seeing a cluttered desktop and files all over the place, this is the post for you. Let’s get organizing!

Use Cloud Storage

Cloud storage, according to Google, is a type of computer data storage in which your digital data is stored in third-party servers and off your local computer. This means that everything is saved somewhere other than your local downloads.

Apple device users can use iCloud, and those with a Google account can use Google Drive.

I highly recommend using Google Drive, especially as a student. You can save digital notes (Google Docs), presentations (Google Slides), and miscellaneous files (like PDFs, images, etc) in Drive without downloading them to your computer.

Google also makes it easy to share files with other email users, so it’s a handy tool to use when you collaborate with your classmates on assignments and projects.

If you’re not already using cloud storage, go find one now according to your region and your needs. And by the way, all the tips below apply to both local and cloud storage, so keep reading!

Don’t Download Everything

It’s true, there are many many files sent to students, and all of them seem important. But you must be able to differentiate between a file that’s fit for one-time reference or a file that you’ll be using for a long time.

Let’s differentiate between a file in your cloud storage versus a file in your local storage.

• Cloud storage (Google Drive): it will be owned by you and you can bookmark it to reference. However, these files will only be accessible when you are online and have wifi/data.
• Local storage (computer): these are like your physical papers, but digital. You own them, they’re only viewable on your computer, and they can be accessed even when you’re offline and have no wifi/data.

If the file is simply a one-time reference or something you need to print, there’s no need to download it as a local file. You’ll likely never use it again and it will just sit in your computer, taking up space.

However, if you believe that you’ll be using the document repeatedly and for a long time, either add it into your Google Drive or download it onto your computer. I suggest adding it to Drive first, then downloading it if you seem to be using it often.

Name Your Files Properly

Do NOT leave your files named as the default gibberish. Whether you’re downloading a document, an image, a video, or something else, the default name might resemble a string of letters and numbers. 

Please do not leave the file names like this, because you will struggle to find them later on. Instead, create a naming system that’s clear and concise, then stick with it for all your files.

If you have many digital notes and lecture presentations that you’ve downloaded, consider using this format: ChapterNumber_ChapterName_Date.

If you have more miscellaneous items, like images, videos, and random files, simply name them with a short description. If there are files with the same/similar contents, simply add a number to the same name.

YOU’LL LOVE THIS POST: The Ultimate Guide To Studying From Home

Create Folders With Hierarchy

Creating folders is one of the key elements of digital organization, and creating folders with a hierarchy is an extension of that. Like I mentioned in an earlier post, Complete Organization System For Online Students, you can create folders in your bookmark’s bar to organize links.

The same idea applies to the files on your computer. Create folders and organize your files accordingly, then create folders within those folders to create a hierarchy. For example, on my desktop, I have folders like this:

• BLOG
  • Products
  • Receipts
  • Assets
• SCHOOL
  • A folder for each class
• MUSIC
  • A folder for each instrument
• MISC
  • Work
  • Vision Board
  • Pictures

You can customize, rename, and organize your folders however you’d like, but remember to maintain a system you’ll remember!

Color-Code Tags

Personally, I don’t use tags because my folders and file names are enough to organize everything. But tags are a great way to distinguish between many files quickly due to the color and the way they’re usually displayed on your computer. 

Most tags are colors (like Red, Blue, Yellow….), but you can usually rename them or create new tags. This can be a good way to differentiate between notes for different classes, or documents from different semesters.

The most important thing is not how elaborate and detailed your organizing system is, but rather that it’s one you can remember and stick with. So if tagging with colors works for you, go ahead and tag all your files!

Delete Files Often

Last but not least, you need to clean out your files often. Even if you didn’t download everything (as I emphasized at the beginning of the post), you’ll probably end up with a lot of unused files at the end of the semester.

Every few months, and definitely every semester, go through your folders and delete the files you know you won’t use again. And if you’re 100% sure you’ll never need it again, go ahead and delete it from your Trash as well. This will save storage!

Leaving your useless files in your computer will only take up space and clutter your mind, so this tip is super important. But don’t worry, this shouldn’t be super tedious, especially if you followed my very first tip!

Conclusion

I hope this post helped you get an idea of how you should organize your digital files! As an online student, I know just how important online organization is, so I hope this helped you out!

If you’re looking for more tips on studying from home, check these out:

• 7 Terrible Study Habits To Quit Immediately
• 8 Daily Habits Of Highly Successful Students
• Complete Organization System For Online Students

The post How To Organize Your Digital Files In 6 Easy Steps appeared first on Sincerely Students.

You can build habits and systems to organize your entire life, starting with the physical aspects. But once you have your life organized, productivity and happiness will come along on their own.

In this post, you’ll learn the 10 habits you need to build to organize your entire life. If you’re ready, I’m ready; let’s get organized!

Analyze yourself

Before you begin the organizing process, you must figure out what there is to organize. Do you need to focus on your physical environment? Or your emotional and social surroundings? What about your mental space?

Analyze yourself and figure out your weaknesses. Once you’ve done that, it’ll be much easier to pinpoint and improve specific areas of yourself. Some common bad habits students have that prevent organization and productivity are:

• Procrastination 
• Not writing things down
• Constant distraction
• Burning out

Later in this post, you’ll learn more about how exactly to fix these issues. But before you go on, think about yourself. What prevents you from getting your life sorted out?

Dedicate time to organize

Many people feel sudden “bursts” of motivation and use that energy to have a sudden organization spree. While that works sometimes, it’s not the best way to use your time and doesn’t guarantee the best results.

Instead, dedicate blocks of time you’ll use to organize, whether it’s organizing your physical space or organizing your future plans.

For example, many people like to spend 1-2 hours each Sunday afternoon to plan out the next week’s goals and todo lists. Many also like to choose one day each month to “deep-clean” their homes, organizing and cleaning. 

Doing this – predetermining chunks of time for organization – can give you a sense of control and accountability, so you can maximize your efficiency and productivity while organizing. Try it out!

Set smart goals

Setting goals is an extremely crucial step in organizing your life. They give you a sense of purpose (even if it’s temporary) and help you build stepping stones in your life.

But many people don’t know the right way to set goals. Here’s an example of a not-ideal goal:

• I will make money.

And here’s an example of a smart goal:

• By August of 2024, I will have made $10,000 from blogging.

This is a smart goal because it has a deadline (August of 2024), an amount ($10,000) and a method (blogging). I can specify this goal even further by including short-term goals (certain amounts by certain dates) and individual income sources (affiliate marketing vs. ads).

When you are setting your goals, make sure to be ultra-specific. You must include a when (deadline), a what (preferably a quantitative measure), and a how (the process you will follow). And it’s even better if you can split it further like the way I did with the example.

Plan ahead

Planning ahead is crucial. By planning ahead, you’ll maintain control over time and not have to nervously work without purpose.

When organizing your life by planning ahead, I suggest starting small. Start with planning out the next day, then the next week, the next month, and eventually the whole year. 

All your plans should be interconnected. When planning out your week, you will no doubt have to plan out the day as well. And when planning out your month, you must have individual tasks/goals for each week. And so on and so forth, until you have the whole year planned out.

So today, grab a planner and start planning out your day. For detailed planning, use an hourly schedule and timeblock your day. Don’t forget to include breaks as well!

Once you’re ready, grab your planner (again) and start writing out your plans (less detailed this time) for the rest of the week and month. Include your short-term goals, important dates, and other notes!

Maintain balance

Many students have an unhealthy balance between work and rest yet don’t realize it. I’ve noticed that this unhealthy balance can cause many problems, such as procrastination, inability to concentrate, anxiety, and much more. 

Therefore, it’s important to be aware of the energy you spend on resting and working and making sure you’re always maintaining a good balance between the two.

One of the easiest ways to do this is to know yourself and your “peak” times. Whatever time in the day you feel most productive, use that time to work. Whenever you know you simply can’t focus, rest.

Never force yourself to do work while your body refuses, because it’s simply a waste of time and will cause burnout. Balance will take some trial and error, but after a while, you’ll get better at maintaining it!

YOU’LL LOVE THIS POST: 23 Easy Habits That Will Skyrocket Your Productivity

Write things down

Your memory will fail you sometimes, but a trusty pencil and a piece of paper will not. Therefore, truly organized students don’t keep everything in their heads. They use notebooks, planners, sticky notes, and more. 

And this is what I recommend you do, as well! Whenever you want to create a to-do list, write it down on a piece of paper or a planner. I especially love this sticky to-do list notepad and use it to write down a lot of my to-do lists. 

And of course, your weekly plans, important dates, daily schedules… they can all go in a planner or an organizer. If you’re not sure which planner will suit you best, I recommend starting with this super affordable productivity planner.

Learn to prioritize

It can be easy to feel overwhelmed when you face a large to-do list. But instead of being intimidated and avoiding it (and procrastinating until it’s way too late), learn to prioritize tasks and tackle them one by one.

My go-to method of prioritizing is by using the Eisenhower Matrix. I explained all about how it works in this post: 7 Powerful Habits Of Highly Productive Students. You can use this matrix for every task in your to-do list to figure out what to do first, what to do later, and what not to do.

You can get a free downloadable template of this matrix from my Freebie Library.

Batch similar tasks

You should always have a plan of action when tackling your to-do list. Other than using the Eisenhower Matrix to prioritize and remove tasks, also try batching tasks!

For example, some of my daily to-dos on a Saturday include:

• Organize my closet
• Organize my desk
• Vacuum the apartment
• Outline a new post for my blog
• Create new pins for my blog
• Schedule tweets for my blog
• Update old posts
• Finish up the week’s schoolwork

As you can see, some of these todo’s are related to each other or to 1 topic. If this happens, I batch them and complete them together.

For example, I’ll spend 2 hours completing all my blogging tasks, then take a break. This method of organization is highly effective in making your to-do list much more manageable and yourself more productive.

Organize your space

“A clean space is a clean mind.”

Though an organized space may not instantly clear your mind and organize your life, it sure can help! Decluttering your room and your workspace is very effective in calming your mind and making it easier to plan and execute more tasks.

Therefore, take a few hours to organize your space. I suggest starting with your desk (or wherever you focus and work the most). I have an entire post dedicated to this, and you can check it out here:

• How To Set Up Your Desk For Maximum Productivity

Less is more

This tip is very much connected to the previous. Whenever you’re organizing, decluttering, or setting up your space, keep in mind that less is more.

Have you heard of the Marie Kondo method?

You must create an environment that makes you happy. And this method of “happiness” can help you declutter and throw away a lot of things.

Not everything in your room or workspace will spark joy. Keep only the items that will help you stay productive and/or make you happy. Discard or hide the rest, and you’ve got yourself an ideal work environment.

Conclusion

I hope this post will help you become highly organized and productive! And remember, building habits take time, so be patient!

Speaking of building habits, check out this Complete Habit-Building Workbook, created by yours truly!

If you’re looking for more, give these a try:

• 7 Secrets Successful Students Will Never Tell You
• 23 Easy Habits That Will Skyrocket Your Productivity
• 11 Highly Practical Uses For Your Empty Notebooks

The post 10 Brilliant Habits To Organize Your Entire Life appeared first on Sincerely Students.

Staying organized is one of the most important ways to be productive and successful in school, and that’s no different when it comes to online classes!

Online school is pretty new to all of us, and we have to face different challenges because of it. But there’s one thing I know for sure: students must learn to execute self-control and be productive without teachers monitoring them. 

Does that sound hard? If so, you’re in the right place!

Planning out your entire school semester is easier than it sounds. In this post, I’m going to share my top tips for organizing an entire school semester to stay on top on your game (and your grades). 

But first…

Why is getting organized so important?

Well, here are a few reasons:

1. Helps you become more productive
2. Reduces stress and anxiety over the “unknown”
3. Saves you time and space

And all of these combined can set you up for a great school year. Alright, let’s get into the good stuff now.

Must-Have Supplies

Although I wish I could organize everything inside my head, I can’t. Most of the time, I rely on some tools to help me stay on top of my organizing game. Let me show you some of the most essential supplies you need this semester.

• Planner: If you’ve been reading my posts for a while, you know how much I emphasize planners. They can literally hold everything, and in an organized fashion! So make sure you have a quality one handy (one like this planner, where you can plan, schedule, prioritize, and more clearly and easily).
• Highlighters: Color-coding isn’t just for aesthetics. Color-coding can increase organization significantly by helping you easily differentiate between different types of tasks or classes. For example (and this is just my preferences), I use red for math, green for sciences, purple for social studies, etc.
• Calendar: I have a calendar hanging near my desk, and it’s extremely helpful for when I’m occupied on my computer. I can just look up really quickly and scan my calendar, and I’ll know when the next important date is.
• Sticky notes: I use these to jot down quick notes to stick on my wall (yup, my wall’s pretty full). For example, I recently copied down the entire “bell schedule” for online classes and stuck it somewhere I can easily see. You can also use them to write daily to-do lists or small reminders.
• Scratch paper: Perfect (and crucial) for math problems! Whenever you’re doing a complicated math question, just grab a piece of paper from the side and get working! If you’d like to be a little neater and a tad bit more extra, you can opt for a notebook instead.
• Pen organizer: If you’re an on-the-side pen collector like me, you have about 14 pens from Muji, 9 highlighters from Mildliners, and a bunch of random pencils and Sharpies. To organize them, I use these upright pen storage organizers; they save me so much space on my desk! I was able to fit all 40-something pens into 1 organizer, and it only takes up about the volume of plastic water bottle.

Set Up Your Planner

Now that you have a planner, we need to set it up properly to ensure success in your organizing game. Here’s all you need to do to start:

1. Decide on a color-coding system. This is a key step in organizing, but how you pick the colors is completely personal preference.
2. Write down the contacts of people in your classes. This way, you can easily reach out to others when you’re in need to help.
3. Write down important dates. I will go into detail about this very soon!
4. Set goals for the school year – both big and small.

It’s super important to use a quality planner from the very start! Some people are fans of the big planners with a lot of motivational quotes and extra pages, but I believe that simple planners are better for students looking to organize.

Related Post: 8 Daily Habits To Build To Become A Top Student

Take Note Of Important Dates

It’s pretty difficult to remember all the test dates your professor tells you at the beginning of the school year then never mentions again. To make sure you don’t miss any, you must write them down.

You can do this in multiple places, for example: a desk calendar, a digital calendar, and a planner. By using a desk calendar to mark important dates, you can reference them easily at a glance. However, it’s difficult to change them if something comes up (especially if you wrote it in colored pens).

By using a digital calendar, you can set automatic reminders for yourself before the event comes along. Depending on what app you use, you can also get nitty-gritty with your planning and use time-blocking to schedule that event.

With a planner, you can easily add all the extra detailed information you need to each event. For example: class, time, class unit, Zoom code, main knowledge points, and more. However, same as a physical calendar, you might have difficulties making changes.

Bookmark Websites

This has always been important in school, but it’s even more important now that classes have moved online. There’s literally a bunch of websites teachers use nowadays, and it’s important to bookmark them to save time and energy.

If you don’t know how to bookmark a website, it’s really simple. Simply find the outlined star in the top corner of your browser and click it. You’ll be able to choose a name for that bookmark and save it to your Bookmarks Bar, or a folder. I suggest making folders for each class, and maybe putting all those class folders in a School folder.

Here are a couple websites I suggest every student bookmark:

• Your school website (for important announcements/news)
• Your school email
• Google Classroom for each class
• Your teachers’ websites if they’re relevant/helpful
• Homework assignments you’re working on
• Google Drive, Docs, Slides, and Sheets

Organize Your Desk

For the next 10 months, your desk is going to be your campus. How exciting!

In order to be productive at home, your desk needs to be set up for it. This means that there are a couple things you should have at/around your desk, and there are some things you should not have anywhere near your desk.

Here are some things you should have:

• Your pens, pencils, and highlighters
• Your laptop
• A good desk lamp
• Blue-light blocking glasses
• Some scratch paper/notebooks
• School textbooks
• Ather miscellaneous items like tissues, water, headphones…

Here are some things you should not have:

• Your phone (I know, I know)
• Video games
• Food (some snacks like nuts and popcorn are okay)

If you have 2 desks in your room, you can set one up for school and work, and the other for fun and leisure time. By clearly differentiating between the two and making a habit of only being productive at your “school” desk, your body will automatically get into work mode when you sit at that desk. Of course, this is only if you have 2 desks, which is totally optional and not necessary at all.

Create Routines

Routines are super important for establishing habits, which then help you become more productive and organized. And by routines, I don’t just mean your skincare routine (although that’s important, too!).

You should have a refreshing morning routine that gets you ready for the day. This means a good breakfast, some stretching, and maybe a shower.

You should have a relaxing evening routine that helps you loosen the muscles you’ve been using all day– or the lack thereof– and get prepared for the next day.

Most importantly, you should have a productive study routine during the day. 

Your school may or may not have bell schedules for online classes. If they do, follow that (it should be required, anyways)! If they don’t, try to reference the one from last year! 

Whenever you’re studying, make sure to take breaks in between. Many students and adults alike use the Pomodoro method, where you focus for 25 minutes straight, then rest for 5 minutes.

It’s important to remember that a break means physical and mental relaxation, so make sure to take a small walk before you sit back down. Also, save the social media or TV for when you finish all your tasks. Treat those as a reward rather than a break.

Set Goals

Last but not least, you should create goals– short and long-term ones. Setting goals is great for motivation, and helps you break down big tasks you might find difficult to tackle.

Every day, set some goals for yourself. You can set simple ones, such as finishing a math assignment or attending all your Zooms for the day. You can also set habitual, recurring goals, such as drinking enough water and finishing all your homework before 8 pm.

You can (and should) also set goals for the week, month, and year. These long-term goals should be difficult, but not impossible to reach. Break them down into smaller milestones so you’re less intimidated by it! For example, if you started the school year with a C+ in AP Literature, set goals each month to raise that grade a little until you get your desired grade.

Remember to reward yourself for reaching your goals! It can be as small as getting some takeout from your favorite restaurant, or as big as getting yourself a new phone. Of course, these rewards should reflect the efforts you put in.

Conclusion

Let me make something clear: there’s no right or wrong way to organize. If you thrive from the lack of organization, then so be it! If you find yourself most productive at the kitchen table while eating a taco, that’s great!

It all depends on your habits and preferences. Just do whatever you do best, and I’m sure you’ll crush it this semester! 

If you’re looking for more posts about online school, check out these related posts.

• 7 Terrible Study Habits To Quit Immediately
• Complete Organization System For Online Students
• The Ultimate Guide To Studying From Home

The post How To Organize Your Entire School Semester appeared first on Sincerely Students.