The environment you work in can play a major role in the success you have in your schoolwork. So how can you create not only a positive environment but one that is structured in a way for you to succeed? Going through school can become hectic with the assignments, projects, and exams but with a consistent schedule, you can become more efficient and on track towards your goals.

More Than Just A Grade

At the start of every school year have you told yourself, “this year I’ll have a schedule and stick to it!” or maybe “I’ll be more organized than ever this year!”. If you’ve said this you’re not the only one. After a bad grade, some of you might decide that that may be the turning point for you and now you’re ready to get on track. Many of you might strive for new beginnings and set goals like this because you know that a consistent schedule of staying organized will benefit you, but where do you start, because it’s easy to say you want to do it, but actually implementing it and sticking to it can be the challenging part.

Starting From Scratch

Analyzing where you are starting from is a key part of building a consistent schedule, whether you are starting from scratch or starting with somewhat of a schedule, it is important to know exactly what you have. The best thing to do might be to start from scratch, so you can build a schedule that is cohesive and fresh.

•          Write out your classes- writing out your classes and the times you have them will give you a visual representation of when you have them and a set time of when you need to attend them or watch them.

•          Write out extra-curricular activities- Mapping out the extra activities your involved in again give you a visual representation of it also reminding you when school schedules get hectic so you never forget.

•          Implementing Hobbies- Writing out times to do your hobby/ hobbies on your schedule is very important. This is so important because it gives you something to look forward to after a long day of school and homework, and also remind you to enjoy the fun things in life.

•          Time for studying/homework- Although you already have your classes on your schedule it is important to also carve out time for studying and homework to remind yourself the time you have to get it done as well as what all you have to do.

•          Time For Physical Activity- Why put this on your schedule and why not just do it? Putting this on your schedule helps remind you that you do have time to work out, it's also important that you make time on your schedule for physical activity because it is healthy for you.

Going The Extra Mile

Now that you have the initial workings of a consistent schedule, how can you develop it further into something you will implement daily as well as something you will enjoy looking at? Customizing your schedule can be one of the first steps to getting it to feel more personal and getting excited about staying consistent. Ways to customize it can include using your favorite colors to coordinate each event that you have from classes, extra-curricular activities, hobbies, physical activity, and study time. Although color coordination might seem like something you did in elementary school, research shows it is a productive way to stay organized. By using certain colors for each category, you will begin to associate the color with that and you will stay more on top of your work and your assignments, seeing the color, automatically recognizing what you have for the day.

Reminders Throughout The Day

Although you might be putting everything you have to do on your calendar, where are you putting your calendar? Where your calendar goes plays a big role in how much you are able to stick to it. If the schedule you create is organized, well thought out, and thorough, how useful will it be if it is tucked away? Implementing this schedule in your daily life by putting it somewhere where you are constantly reminded just makes it easier for you, so what are some ways you can do this?

•          Writing the initial schedule on a large calendar that you can put above your desk or put on your desk puts it in a central place that you will see every day.

•          Writing sticky notes with important dates for exams or big projects and putting those on your bathroom mirror, this can help remind you of those extra important items you can’t forget about, and putting it on your schedule and a sticky note can help you remind of its importance.

•          Creating a schedule on your phone or laptop. You most likely will have your phone or laptop with you everywhere you go as a student so duplicating the schedule on these devices allows you to have it on the go as well.

Seeing A Change Outside Of The Classroom

Staying on top of your school work and following a consistent schedule and staying organized will allows you to see drastic changes in your life. Of course, this doesn’t mean you’ll automatically get a 4.0, that comes with much more, but this can help. Outside of your school life, you’ll most likely become much less stressed, finding that you have much more time for activities you never would have done before. Stressing over things you have to get done as well as stressing over not knowing what’s due or when its due can take up a lot of time but once you take the time to organize a schedule like this and stay consistent with it, you will be able to enjoy things you couldn’t before.

Not Just An Idea

Now that you have created a thorough schedule, it's important to remember why you created it. You didn’t create it just for a suggestion, it's your daily schedule, so it’s important to follow it so it can become a habit for your to remain organized and on top of things. Many times it can be exciting to create the schedule but when it comes time to actually following it day after day many people can struggle in doing so. So when you look at your schedule remind yourself, consistency is key, you made it to improve your grades as well as your life outside of school, and consistently following it may help you with that.

Research has proven that having a consistent organization as well as certain tactics can improve your success in school. When you are unprepared and unsure of the tasks you have, you aren’t able to be effectively organized not only for school but for other activities you’re involved in. Building a consistent schedule will allow you to have a visual representation of the tasks at hand in the classroom, as well as seeing how much time you have for other things. So why is it so important to put so much time into building this schedule and making it so detailed? Color coordination has proven to save time when working as well as keeping you on track and focused. Planning out your time on your schedule will better your time management skills, which will only help you in the future for jobs, exams, and other tasks. Time management is a crucial skill to have and practicing it daily in this way is efficient and useful. School can be challenging at all levels, its important to build a schedule for ourselves so that we can remember the things in our lives that are important. We also can use schedules to ensure we are taking care of ourselves and making sure we make time for things that we can often forget about whether that’s physical activity, self-care, or a hobby, take an afternoon and build a schedule personal to your needs, being consistent with this just might change improve some aspects in your life.

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