When you consider the end of one grading period and the beginning of the next and try to find ways to make improvements in your study skills, one of the most important things to think about is how becoming more organized can help you make whatever other improvements you need to make. Whether you wish to improve your test scores by starting to study in advance, improve your grades on assignments by making sure they are completed and turned in on time, or improve your class participation by coming to class better prepared and remembering to bring all the materials you need, organization is key. If you are someone for whom organization is particularly challenging, becoming more organized may seem daunting, but it can be done.
There are many different things you can do to become more organized. Different methods work for different people, and while you should strive to do the best you can with whatever organizational methods your teachers may suggest or even require, don’t be afraid to try other methods if you find that assigned methods are not helping you as much as your teachers are hoping, or perhaps even assuming, they will. Though you can’t simply refuse to use assigned methods, especially if doing so will adversely affect your grades, you can certainly take additional steps to improve your organizational skills.
One of the most important things to remember about striving to become more organized is that you will need to make a conscious, consistent effort to do it. While organization is a skill that comes naturally for some students, others really need to work at it. If your teachers have certain expectations about how they want you to organize your work and you are not someone for whom organization comes naturally, remind yourself that just like your academic subjects, organization is something that can be taught. Whenever you feel overwhelmed by your teachers’ organizational expectations, remind yourself that your teachers’ goal is not to make more work for you, even though it may feel that way at first. With time and repetition, what your teachers want you to do is to make being organized a routine that will allow you to save time by increasing your efficiency. If you become more organized with your work, you will be able to avoid the pitfalls of being disorganized that often lead to wasting time – taking longer to study or complete homework assignments because you left needed books at school, looking for and/or redoing lost assignments, returning to your locker for forgotten materials, and more. If you avoid these pitfalls, the time you save can be used to improve your other study skills, which will in turn improve your grades.
In my next post, I will give you examples of how you can make being organized work for you. Whether you make better use of the organizational methods your teachers have assigned, take some of my suggestions, come up with your own ideas, or do a combination of things, just remember that whatever you do to become more organized will pay off as long as you stick with it. It may be hard to be consistent at first, and you may need to change or add methods. That’s okay, as long as you remember not to give up until you discover what works best for you. As I have stated before, that is the most important thing you can do to improve all of your study skills, which will allow you in turn to be more successful.