Why I Chose to be Organized

Welcome to High School!

We all know how it goes…we do what we can do to fit in and get by in order to get out unscathed. Oh the tortures of high school.

In high school, I procrastinated until the absolute last second. I wrote sub-par essays the night before, crammed for the always impossible math tests the night before, and waited until Sunday afternoon (instead of night) for my Monday midterm or final. I always did well, but not great. We were given tiny planners to write our assignments down it. I’d get on a planner kick for about a week and then I wouldn’t be able to find it for a month. I usually forgot the majority of my assignments but was able to cram them in sitting against my locker before the bell rang.

Welcome to College!

Wow, this one is crazy. Never did I believe that’d I’d be able to go to my dream school! Everything was perfect! High school was done, I was basically an adult (or at least close), and I could live on my own with a super awesome roommate.

I was so organized preparing myself to go away. We designated an entire room in our very small house to all the things I needed for school. I spent so much money for that tiny little room, but it looked super cute, so I’m not mad.

Classes started and as usual, it kicked in. This is high school times 20 and it was ridiculously intimidating and stressful. I didn’t have my mom to wake me up in the morning, I didn’t have my dad to make dinner at night, and I was all consumed with stress. Getting work done usually consisted of 3/4 laughter and 1/4 work…oops! I inevitably saw my roommate procrastinate and it made me crazy. She turned me away from my high school procrastinating ways, thankfully. While she was up doing these crazy education major projects (8 hours before they were due), I started papers due months in advance, while watching the sunrise. Her procrastinate helped me a lot. I once had a paper sitting on my desk, completely finished, for 2 weeks before it was due. It was glorious.

Except for the school. I was uncomfortable, I didn’t feel safe, and I didn’t like the people there. Moral of this story is: don’t be afraid to transfer! In high school, you didn’t have the opportunity to change schools like you are in college. Take advantage of it! If you don’t like it, do not subject yourself to it. Be selfish. As long as you’re happy, that’s all that matters.

Welcome to College (Part 2)!

So the story continues 🙂 Very, very last minute, I transferred to a closer school. I was so last minute that I missed a day of classes in order to get completely registered. I was home, I was happy, and I had all my friends, and even some new ones!

Again, like college goes, it all comes at once. This time, I wanted to do it right. So very early on, I told myself I was going to be crazy organized and I was going to continue with my non-procrastinating ways. And I did! I transferred to my new school in the spring semester, so about 1 month in and 5 planners later, I made my own. I planned to the half hour, got a job, and made sure I had time for everything I needed to do. I printed out a semester’s worth of my super fancy calendar pages and I made sure that I wrote down everything I had to do. I even put in a whole section dedicated to homework assignments and grades. I kept this planner out on my desk and open with all my notes so that I could visualize all that I had to do. This also made me write in it more than I usually would.

I still do this everyday 2 years later, and I’m as organized as ever. I got organized in order to keep myself sane. If I don’t write something down, it doesn’t happen. I color code, I include stickers, and I make it very visual…because who wants to look at a boring planner? Lots of color, lots of stickers, lots of photos, and lots of quotes. I’m set, I’m organized, and I’m sane. What more can I ask for?