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DON’T DO! A messy, cluttered desk or device desktop is distracting and can cause you to lose documents, books and other important information . Searching through physical or digital clutter for documents and other stuff is just one big, frustrating, yucky waste of your valuable time. Say no to a messy workspace and device desktop. If your workspace and device desktop are cluttered, your mind probably will be too. DO! Before starting homework, take a couple of minutes to clutterbust and organize your workspace . Toss out trash. File or toss old papers. Stack books and papers neatly. Clear a space large enough to hold an open textbook, open binder, laptop or mobile device. Your digital desktop should also be clutter free and organized. Arrange files, folders and other shortcuts by class or other system that enables you to quickly find and retrieve information. There are plenty of desktop organization programs available, including Fences and Desktop Groups. You can even download a desktop wallpaper with grids, circles, shelves and pin heads to help minimize desktop clutter. Save documents, photos, videos, or other important files to an external hard drive or cloud server such as Dropbox so you can access them anywhere. PRODUCT PREVIEW DON’T DO! Don’t be a homework nomad, wandering from place to place to do your homework – one night in your room, one night at the kitchen counter, one night on the sofa… All that wandering can cause organizational disasters like misplaced papers or lost or forgotten books or homework. DO! Stake your claim! Set up a personal and permanent study zone at home. Make sure it’s well-lit, comfortable, and free from distractions. Keep your school stuff there – and only there. When you get home from school, put your backpack and books at your workspace, not in the entry hall or on the kitchen table. As much as possible, do your homework at the same time and in the same place every day . Setting a regular time to tackle homework may be more difficult as you move into college, since classes may be held at night and schedules change from semester to semester. Try to maintain as regular a routine as possible. Routine is key for avoiding organizational disasters.
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Chapter 8 | That’s My Routine and I’m Stick’n to It!
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