Getting yourself organised!

I’ve recently joined the #StudentBloggerSelection and this week’s theme is ‘showcasing your skills’. Since exams aren’t that far away anymore (my first one begins in 7 weeks time *gasp*), I thought that I’d share some of the ways I organise my academic work which will hopefully be of some use, particularly during the next few difficult weeks.

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Number 1: Organisation is extremely important.

Yes yes, you’ve probably heard of this already, but honestly, an organised folder makes revision and life heck of a lot easier. Revision is definitely a time where you don’t want to be going through useless pieces of paper, or notes that aren’t in the correct order etc, so by organising everything in accord beforehand really does you favours in the long run. I personally abhor disorganisation because I know for a fact that my revision won’t be as efficient as it could be, and really, I just think that it adds on unnecessary stress that you obviously don’t want!

Number 2: One folder per module

This is something I highly recommend. I started doing this last year where I had one ringbinder per module, but as the notes and notes started to pile up, the folders got pretty full! That led to some of my essays to go missing (not the greatest thing in the world) and some of the sheets starting to rip out. So this year, I decided to invest in leaver arch files and it suited me great! Everything is neatly put into place according to topic, so no complaints!

Number 3: Putting your notes into place

The first thing that should really go into your folder is the exam specification. To put it simply, this is your friend over the next few months. Exams won’t contain any questions that haven’t been in the specification, so really, it does save you time from learning irrelevant information. After that comes my hand written notes from the textbook, then notes from the revision guide. I do both because the textbook seems a lot more detailed than the latter but it does contain so information of no use sometimes!

After that comes the handouts my teacher gives out. These again are directly from the textbook so I just highlight the most important pieces of information. Then comes the answers to questions in the textbook.

Number 4: Separate folders for revision?

I never really did this, until now. My folders always contained past papers, practice essays and the lot; but now since my folders have way too much irrelevant pieces of paper, I decided to invest in extra folders purely for revision.

Some will contain past papers only, and others will contain revision material and timed essay practice.

Number 5: Make a checklist

Make a checklist for all your subjects then tick off all the topics you’ve written notes on. This way you’ll keep on track to see how much you’ve got left to cover.

Number 6: Make to-do lists.

Again this is important. You will be on track with your revision and see what you have left. Some diary planners my already have this (I have a Filofax which contains these to do lists), but making your own won’t hurt.

These are all of the ways I organise my work, but it does change from time to time. The more you discover the ways to organise things the better!