college

Organize, Please… Finals Week!

Are you as stressed out as I am???  I don’t think I’ve been this stressed since freshman year (and we all know how that turned out….).  I would be lying if I said that I haven’t cried, um, every night for the past week.  Between managing emails, blogging every day, having a major Sweet Lemon Magazine deadline, and this little thing called finals… I’m overworked.
I read about this system in some book (but can’t for the life of me remember which one) and I decided to give it a try this year.
Index Cards. 
In addition to a wall of calendars and my agenda and Google calendar, I needed something that I could touch and feel and flip around and lay out in different formations on a desk.
I made each index card into one day.  I’m using them to keep track of meetings, class times, phone conferences, due dates, and daily to-dos.  It’s easy to pull out the stack of cards and see if I have time to schedule a group meeting or not.
And for some reason, having separate cards (as opposed to one spread per week in an agenda) makes me realize how much time I actually have to work on things.  Basically, it keeps things in perspective.

A little more close up.  You can see that everything highlighted has been done.  Super simple!
(Side note: why did I schedule a trip to NYC during finals???  But, I will admit, I have some pretty awesome things going on then!)

Yesterday’s card… I’m still working on a few things to check off!!!

I can take the cards and put it in my agenda day by day…
(Like that green blotch???  I had two pens EXPLODE.  Green & Purple hands for two days, ladies and gentlemen.  Ugh)

or use a binder clip to hold them all together.
It’s a really simple, practical, and cheap method.
Thoughts?  What system do you use?
xoxo

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26 Comments

Gracie

font nerd comment: Clementine Sketch (the cursive one in the first pic) looks a lot better if you Type^ Like^ This^ because all the letters get finished off. Besides that, thanks for the advice!

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Jennifer L. Duncan

As a graduate student, I also have an assistantship. It really helps me that I have all of my email addresses and important calendars synced to my iPhone. Also, with the newest update I can keep up with tasks. So anytime I think of something throughout the day at work I can add it and I can get reminders as needed. I also check my calendar on my phone religiously to keep up with where I am supposed to be.

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katelyngarlow

OK don't make fun of me… but I have roughly four calendars… 1. planner (it goes with me EVERYWHERE) 2. White board weekly planner, where everything is timed and detailed completely) 3. A large month by month calendar (the kind that you see on desks and things) for the more broad spectrum type things like vacations, parties, etc. 4. A normal wall calendar that gets the remaining tid bits like appointments and such. I know… I am one of those people. I actually really love the notecard idea! I might have to take down a calendar and do that!

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Katy

I use a legal pad in addition to an agenda that I carry everywhere. On the legal pad, I write four "to do lists" entitled, "School" "errands" "Home" and "Blog" this way I know what's going on in each section. As well, if I mess up with writing something (and yes, I am a perfectionist like this) I simply rip off the page and start a new one!

~Katy

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Legal Preppy

I love the idea of the index cards but I get so confused when I have too many different agenda type things going on. I just need my agenda to plan my hourly schedule and then I use post-its (I'm addicted to post-its) to help me figure out my to-do list. xo, LP

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The Sacred Femme

I always love your little oganisational ideas. This one is especially handy because I am completely freaked about havingmy big, official, scary exams coming up for January. I still have so many names to remember for Sociology and Psychology. It's overwhelming to the point that I just want to crawl under to covers or wtach trashy TV. I'm really not an exam person.

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Emily

I may try this system next semester (for my last semester…freaking our already!) I currently use my planner, my erin condren notepads for to-dos and I use notecards that I have decorated with #s as a "Countdown" to see how close I am t0 being done!

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PreppyGirl

Totally love the index card idea (I am kind of addicted to them.)When I am at my desk I use a light purple legal pad to make my to-do lists.Yet,for some weird reason I can not stand a month calander so I stick to a planner only.

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Sylvie

Just tried out this technique with memo pad notes (I was trying to find a use for them… bought them a while ago thinking they were post-its!)
They turned out great! Thanks so much for the tip x

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