Generally, college students aren’t fully prepared to organize the “stuff” in their lives. Dorm rooms can quickly get over-run with clothes, books, computers, CD’s, DVD’s, television sets, completed papers, half-completed papers, and the other effects of the college student’s life.

Maybe you’re still living at home in the same room you’ve been in since you were a child. You still need to make room for the new trappings of college life. Or if you’re a non-traditional student, trying to merge college supplies in with children’s toys and pots and pans can be overwhelming. Try a few of these great organization tips.

If you want to effectively use your time, designate certain spaces for certain things. You have the tools – desk, dresser, bookshelf. What you need from the store is a few supplies. Colored file folders, a portable plastic file holder, a penholder, some colored binders, a 3-hole punch, and a few small bins should get you started. You can alter your plan – and probably will – as you decide exactly what is right for you and what works best.

Designate one color for each class and store pending assignments in them as you work on them. Place these folders inside the plastic holder. Be sure to write on the tab which class each is for to ease identification. You can also use the file folder approach to store important papers and receipts. If the bursar needs to see your birth certificate, you want to make sure you can get hold of it quickly.

The colored binders are used for each class to store all papers you receive in that class. As we talked about earlier, you will get a syllabus – put this in the front. Then, whenever you get a handout from your professor, punch it and place it in the binder. Use section dividers to label what information is contained in which section. You should also keep completed assignments in this binder for easy referral and in case your instructor “loses” one of your grades – then you can prove you did the work!

Keep on hand an ample supply of pens and use the bins for small items you accumulate like paper clips, push pins for a bulletin board, stapler, etc. If you have a computer, place all these items within easy reach. Make this your “center of action” and use this space to complete all your work. It’s a good idea to keep extra of supplies like floppies, CD-RWs, paper, and printer cartridges – just in case!

Now that you have the tools, let’s look at how to keep control. Assignments can disappear in pile of paper. Textbooks can get lost within a mound of laundry. A cluttered college student can even lose their mind! Clutter is something that can pile up anywhere, even in the most scholarly of places, like a college campus. But, there is an answer to this disorder disaster.

The paperwork rule is very simple. There are only three things you can do with paperwork:

• Act on it
  
  
• File it
  
  
• Toss it

For example, if you get a piece of mail, open it. That is actually one huge clutter problem for some- unopened mail that piles up. After it is opened, you must decide what to do with it. If it is a catalog or a piece of junk mail and you know that you are not going to use, toss it. If it is a bill, write it out and mail it, or file it in a “bills due” folder. If you receive a memo or note, after reading it, toss it or file it away. If you get a paper back, file it away. If you don’t, this is how stuff clutters on our desks.

Another important place to de-clutter is your computer. If you can keep your files under control, you won’t be looking in 20 different folders in “My Documents” for that English paper you wrote last week. Here are some suggestions to get rid of computer clutter.

• Delete e-mail that was already read. This will keep your inbox clean.
  
  
• Reply to e-mail right away, so that your inbox does not get built up.
  
  
• Create a filing system- if you cannot reply right away, or need to save an e-mail, place in a folder made for that category. (Needs Reply, or Archives)
  
  
• Watch your “sent mail” folder. Delete things from that as well. Be sure to delete anything unnecessary from there.
  
  
• Add to your address book often. Many times people will keep an e-mail in their inbox so that they have the address when ready to write back. Instead of that, simply save the address. You’ll know where to find it later.
  
  
• Put spam filters on your e-mail account to limit inbox space. Just don’t forget to check your junk mail folder for things to slip through.
  
  
• Keep a disk or CD with your assignments from previous classes. This will keep your “My Documents” folder easier to navigate through, as well as allow for more space. In addition, you will have things backed up in case of failure.

Organization is a skill that can be learned. The most difficult part is breaking your lifelong bad habits (like letting your paperwork pile up). The key to getting better organized is to start with one small step and then take others one at a time. You may find that what you've put off for years takes only an hour to do. And once you see the benefits in one part of your life, you'll be motivated to go on.

All the time management and organization tips in the world can only help if you put them to use. Putting things off can be the biggest mistake most college students make.

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