Please help- Organization!

Pre-College Issues High School Life
1

<p>I'm fairly new to this board, and I thought I could possibly get some help with organization. I'll be going into my junior year, and I've always had excellent test scores and all that, and decent grades, mostly A's, a couple B's here and there.</p>

<p>In those classes which I received B's in, my test average was usually 92-95. It is partially due to the lower test average than I had in most of my classes, but my homework/daily grade averages were in the 70s.</p>

<p>This is not because I didn't do the work, it's usually because I forgot to pack it, forgot to print it, or lost it in my black hole of a backpack. It is also common that I forget about assignments that aren't due the next day and that kind of thing.</p>

<p>I'm just extremely unorganized and I'll be going into my third year of high school, and this is the most important one, and I don't want it to hurt my grades anymore.</p>

<p>Please help guys, I know there are a lot of smart people here who also have the organization.</p>

2

<p>godfather--haha i'm just like you---constantly forgetting stuff for class and leaving notebooks lying around in my house.</p>

3

<p>Yeah sounds just like me. My backpack was so messy that one day I couldn't find an assignment for class, and then I found it the next day and the teacher didn't accept late work for even partial credit, I was so angry.</p>

4

<p>GET
A
PLANNER</p>

<p>NOW!!!</p>

<p>Write down everything in your life going on...plans with friends, homework assignments, paper deadlines, birthdays, etc. It will help you soooo much!</p>

5

<p>i had a planner</p>

<p>and then i lost it</p>

6

<p>Yeah help me with this one man. If I had a planner, I would either lose it, forget to write things down in it, or forget to read what I wrote down.</p>

<p>I may be incurable but I greatly appreciate the help. What about how my binders always end up fat with stuff, if I even use them. Then they start getting sloppy and torn up.</p>

7

<p>Buy one big folder. Put all your loose bits of paper in it and get post it notes and basically put all your stuff to remember on the post it notes and put them on the front of the folder so you will always see them.</p>

8

<p>make a <code>home work folder</code>. this is what i did. i got just a plain folder, and put the homework that was due that day all in that folder. so then when i turn in my homework, i don<code>t have to go looking everywhere in my bag. maybe you could put your planner in that folder too, so you won</code>t lose it and it will also be easy to see if you have all your assignments with you before you leave your house. make the folder you top priority and make sure you always have it with you!</p>

9

<p>That sounds like a decent idea. My binders would carry the stuff that I might need to dig up one day. But the folder would carry things I knew were do that day.</p>

<p>Alright keep bringing in the ideas.</p>

10

<p>Godfather, let me help you!</p>

<p>First thing you need to do is CLEAN YOUR ROOM! Get one of those plastic 3-drawer things and put some crap in there. Paper, pens, hole punch, blah. Get a desk. Make it comfy and attractive. Whatever. As long as your room is clean and organized. Maybe a file cabinet.</p>

<p>Now you have your drawer/cabinent. When you get home, if you're used to dumping your stuff randomly, don't! Put your stuff in that drawer so, even if it gets messy, you KNOW that is in there. I mean things like loose papers, your PLANNER (that you simply must have!), glasses, whatever. Every once in a while then you're not feeling too lazy, throw out all the outdated/stupid things.</p>

<p>Oh yes, throwing things a way is a major must. I throw EVERYTHING away. Unless I think it will help future students (give my brother old tests and what not. Sure, he won't have to work as hard as I did, but he's a good boy. I don't mind helping him out. And a friend of mine who's a grade below me would appreciate it, too.). Don't keep things that you think will help you next year. Just throw it all away! Don't keep clutter! If you're prone to putting papers in your backpack and leaving them there forever, you need to stop. Look in your backpack. Anything that's rumpled needs to be THROWN AWAY.</p>

<p>Now, I'm sure that some of those things that are rumpled will be fairly important. So, to prevent from throwing out important things you need to make sure that those papers don't ever GET rumpled. You seem like the kind of guy who if you actually got a REAL BINDER, it would be a mess. You'd just put the papers in there. Not even care to hole punch them. And if you're really bad, you wouldn't open the binds to actually put the hole punched paper in! If you're this way, either learn to take time to be neat or don't get a binder.</p>

<p>Instead, get those expandable folders. They have dividers. You can just put papers in there and close it. No hole punching required. You can use this as your homework folder and random crap folder, too since it has so many slots in it.</p>

<p>Alright, so your backpack will still probably a bottomless pit. I'll bet you've said "I could have sworn I put my keys in here..." What you need to do is get a backpack with very few pockets. Mine has three and I think that's perfect. THe big, main part for you papers/books, the medium part for medium sized things (for me that's glasses, car keys, make up, blah) and the small pocket for utter crap. That means candy wrappers, pencils I don't really care about, etc.</p>

<p>Now, when you get the urge to put a non-important piece of paper in your backpack instead of in your folder, put it in the medium part. When you go home, you'll see it and throw it away instead of forgeting about it as if you would if you had put it in the main compartment.</p>

<p>Your planner is your best friend! :) Do not loose it! If it helps, put it in that expandable folder I told you to get.</p>

<p>I'll tell you how I do things incase it helps any. I hate having big binders. That expandable folder thing wouldn't work for me. I hate rummaging through a big thing of whatever to find just ONE subject. I put dividers in everything. I just can't stand flipping through pages! I also get those dividers with pockets because I hate spending time in class to put papers in the binds. I do that at home. Anyway, each of my classes has a different binder or folder. A different color for each class, as well. I divide them into sections that work FOR ME. If your teacher doesn't take a binder check grade (in highschool? I mean for God's sake... but I do have some teachers that do that) it is especially important to keep it neat. Now, I hate whenever binders get their plastic ripped off and you can see the cardboard and when folders get torn up because they're made out of paper! I buy those new plastic folders and for binders, I cut open the plastic and take out the cardboard! And can you believe it? Those flexi-binders are starting to come in style. You can make your own for the fraction of the cost plus you don't get those annoying holes since you already cut it open. It comes in handy when you're taking notes. But don't do this with big binders for I suspect that it'd be hard to close it properlly. I'll have to try it myself and see. I also sprits my backpack with girly body mists. And I wash it. Maybe I'm weird, but it does make using my backpack a bit more enjoyable. </p>

<p>Also, I recommend that you join a club. Keep yourself busy with something other than school work. It gives you more incentive. You feel more obligated to be organized and if you fail, you're out of the game.</p>

<p>edit// After reading this whole thread, I feel I should as some more things. I see that you have the binder tearing up dillemna that I have. I don't know if you actually like flexible binders. If you don't spend money on those new hard plastic ones. If you watch any disney show involving highschool students, you know what it looks like. And its clear. The downside is, no pockets. But that's where divers w/ pockets come in, I guess. </p>

<p>Now, if you use your planner correctly, you won't NEED a homework folder or whatever. In your planner, you write the subject and what the homework assignment is. And before I started this strange system of mine, I used to be kind of like you. My stuff all over the place. I'm sure you can't keep up the perfection forever so make sure you write WHERE that homework assignment is. IS it in the folder? Ina binder? Under your bed? WRITE IT! Because I know you will not put your things on your desk like a good little boy all the time. Its alright if the paper was about to be thrown in the trash. You know where it is and you will retrieve it! Now, people tell me to cross out whenever I finish the homework. I don't do that. Because I usually have projects or I procrastinate (damn that procrastination!!) so I don't actually finish it. XD I don't see the point in crossing it out. Its not like you'll 'forget' that you did that homework.</p>

<p>Alright, now how the heck are you rnotebooks all over the house? My advice. Keep everything school related IN YOUR ROOM. so if you loose something you only need to search on place. Maybe I'm lazy, and this works, but I leave all my stuff in my backpack. I take it out for homework and put it back when I'm done or bored. IF I don't have homework out of that binder, I simply don't take it out of my backpack. I have never forgotten a binder yet. Since I have block schedule, I actually have two backpacks so this still works. If you have block schedule and only one backpack, GET A BOOK SHELF and put your school things on it! Put it in the mid section where its easy to get and easy to see. Don't put books on the book shelf that you never read or plan on reading in your free time. YOu know you won't read it and you know it sjust clutter. Put it elsewhere. Or put it at the bottom of the shlef. Otherthings I put on the shelf are aid books that I acutally use. You know. PR, Barron's, 'The complete idiots guide to...' and things like that. I put them on top. Because your school things (your real school things) need to be easy to access.</p>

<p>P.S. IM SORRY FOR ALL THE TYPOS!! XD</p>

11

<p>Thank you dude!!!!</p>

<p>You just reminded me, in 8th grade when I had almost straight A+'s, they were out of those usual three ring binders and I used your type.</p>

<p>Those are great because let's face it, I'm not going to go back there and bother to hole punch my papers when I was up late doing homework or hanging with friends or whatever, and I'm generally lazy lol.</p>

<p>Some teachers at my school do require the three ring binder crap and check it. For other teachers it doesn't really matter. I think maybe if I told them my idea they would be okay with it.</p>

<p>I figure they do all that they do just to force kids to try to be organized, and if I had my own way they'd be fine with that. But then again, I attend the Nazi Academy For Overachievers, so they might not let it go lol.</p>

12

<p>XD So you really aren't the binder type of guy. Well, if it turns out your teachers won't let you use the folder, get the dividers with pockets I keep talking about. And even if you're too lazy to put the paper IN the pocket, atleast flop it in the correct section. Get one of those portable hole punchers and put it in the binder (if it doesn't annoy you. Of course, I'm a weirdo so yeah, those things annoy me to no end! I bring them on special occasions only) so that whenever the teacher goes "pass your binders up front" you can quickly go through and hole punch everything (because i know you won't do it the night before its due, would you :P).</p>

13

<p>The night before it's due is early.</p>

<p>You're talking to a guy who did his creative writing final project the morning it was due.</p>

14

<p>Hehe. XD </p>

<p>OH, and one more thing. Even if you do all this organizing stuff, the planner thing... may still go down the tubes. Because I am suspecting that you'll get it out and write assignments in it during school and when you get home, you won't remember to LOOK at it. </p>

<p>That's a problem for me, too sometimes. I tried taking out the planner and putting it on my desk so I would look at it. Problem was, I never really... used my desk. XD When I did start using my desk, I came so late that I'd remember assignments at 8pm. That's late for me. I'm a morning person and work fastest at that time. When its 8pm, it takes me 2 hours to do something that could take me 1 in the morning. Don't ask me why I study and do homework at night. I think I should do some serious study alterations. I spend too much time studying for crap. Well, anyways, the next time around I tried leaving the binder open or having one of those big, bright clips and put it on there. I stay afterschool a lot. Since my friends like to go home instead of join band and whatever other clubs I'm in, I like to rummage through my backpack and pretend like I actually have something to do. When I see my planner open instead of close, I feel compelled to look at it. And voila, I am instantly reminded of all the work I have to do. When I come home, I remember to do them and open my planner to see exactly what I need to do.</p>

<p>Do you think that would help you (or if you would even have my problem?) I don't know why, but for some reason if the book is open, I am more inclined to look at it rather than if its closed. I said use the big bright thing so if you find that your planner gets rummpled when you leave it open in your backpack, you still have something to catch your attention when you close it.</p>

15

<p>I use calendar pages I print out from <a href="http://www.timeanddate.com%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.timeanddate.com&lt;/a> for a planner. The pages are regular-sized, so will fit in your binder or folder or whatever. I staple a year's worth together with a piece of stiff paper on the back to make a thin booklet. You could have one in your backpack that you jot things down in while you are at school, and a master one that you leave at home (mine lives next to my computer) for actually planning out your work. I make each page a month, so I can see how things are spread out over a fairly long period. You could choose different layouts. I don't like those chubby planners with small pages and fancy covers. They are harder to write in, and I could see how someone could lose one.</p>

<p>I also have one of those huge poster-size academic year calendars that you can write on and wipe off, that I put on the wall. I wouldn't use it for weekly assignments (the boxes are too small), but I have important deadlines and events, vacations, etc. on there.</p>

16

<p>These are all great ideas guys. Keep pouring them in, thank you so much.</p>

<p>I think one of my problems is that I don't take my time. Once I finish my homework I'm done, I don't want to do anything else after that.</p>

<p>I don't want to then think about printing out stuff, neatly packing it, putting it in my binder.</p>

<p>I guess that's life though, I'll have to do it.</p>

17

<p>As for forgetting to print or bring a copy, if your school's computer lab has friendly access, keep a copy of all of your papers on a thumb drive and put that thumb drive in a place that you will never forget (your keys/wallet). If you happen to forget to print, just run into the computer lab and print it out there. (If you manage to lose it between the computer lab and the classroom, then I can't help you there, but at least this shortens the time/distance from "production to release")</p>

<p>If you spend a lot of time in front of your computer, consider putting post-it notes on your computer reminding you to print, pack up, etc.</p>

18

<p>Yeah, I have one of those big month calendars that you can wipeoff markers on. I agree putting some things in the month helps yousee what's going on in your life.</p>

<p>Hm, I know what you mean, but I'm not sure wht to say since I don't feel that way very often. Well, first of all if its printing an essay you need to get in the state of mind that says that when you finish typing the essay your work is still not done. You need to proofread for mistakes and if its an essay for english class, you definately need to learn how to fine tune it. What I do is I finish the essay one day, the next day I come back and edit. Editting is not hard. You won't be too tired to print it and look at it one last time. That means you need to save your essays in some file on the computer.</p>

<p>FOr other homeworks, for the most part, I do my homework in my binder. Because on those occasions when I felt like you did I figured that I should do it in the binder so I won't have to put it back in. The only problem is if your binder is too big, it is not easy to write (rings in the way). If you're gonna use a fulder, pull the homework out of the folder and write on it. That's what I've always done mostly. And then I always put my folder/binder back in the backpack. My backpack is always leaning against my desk. Its a wonderful storage unit.</p>

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<p>WHAT WORKS</p>

<p>Have big ole white board on your wall with your classes listed</p>

<p>Every day, when you come home, either write or mentally think about what is do in each class the next day, before you go to bed, check off each class that the homework is done and IN ITS PLACE and double check...physically spend the time doing this...touch each piece and see it...it takes about 3 minutes to do this</p>

<p>In the morning, do it again....</p>

<p>Every Sunday evening, spend 10 minutes cleaning and organizing back pack, it will save so much time and frustration during the week-remember 10 minutes on Sunday can save an hour a week of irritation, bad grades, late homework and missed forms</p>

<p>And have big folders in your room for each subject to tose old papers in</p>

<p>All the ideas posted by everyone are excellent...</p>

<p>But be consistent and do at least the bare minimum of double checking</p>

<p>Take baby steps and you will find what works...the biggies are:</p>

<p>SPEND 10 MINUTES EVERY EVERY EVERY Sunday night during that fun family bonding time and clean back pack. It has to be done. Just doing that one thing will clean out that black hole and fresh homework will be easier to dig out or spot</p>

<p>NIGHTLY- spend three minutes, that is all it takes, to double check everything is there</p>

<p>What my D does is at night she empties her back pack of its binders and folders, and the folder or binder doesn't get put back in until homework is in its place. If she doesn't have homework in a subject, she spends one or two minutes making sure she doesn't have homework and then puts that binder back in backpack. And she does the Sunday thing. If you are a good little student and you do it every week, you will only have 5 days worth of paper to deal with.</p>

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<p>Another piece of advice...I too often forget to print things at home, or I begin working on an essay and forget that I haven't finished it until the day it is due. So as I'm writing an assignment, everytime i take a break or finish it, I save it on my computer AND save it in a draft in my email account. That way, it is always there and you can open it from any type of computer anywhere and print. It is verrry helpful.</p>