6 Steps to get you ready for the uni semester.

Good morning my friends!

As the lovely holidays are soon coming to an end (#sadface), I thought it would be a good time to talk about tips to organise ourselves week to week during the semester. I will say before I start, I'm not saying these tips are the 'only way' to get through the semester; but they help me a whole lot to stay organised and on top of everything going on.

1. Invest in a good diary

I'll link the one I have here, it's from the 'sweet' collection at Kikki-K. I've gotten this one for the last five years since finishing school and it has everything I like in a diary. In the front it has the whole year in monthly form, then following it has the year in weeks. In the back it also has a section for notes and really cute stickers (always a plus to have a cute design right?). A diary is really important for me as I make sure all my due dates are in there, and use it for my week to week planning. It's also really useful because I take it everywhere with me so if I need to add something or check a date I have it there.

2. A yearly wall calendar

I don't know if its overkill with the calendars but I love having the two, the main reason I like the wall calendar is to be able to see the whole year and how all my dates fit in. I printed one off pinterest here, I would maybe print it on card, my local office works didn't have any when I went in. Another thing is your uni may be giving out semester calendars at your o'week, I also know RedFrogs Australia give them out too, they're so helpful!

3. Colour code your subjects

I'm not sure if this sounds ridiculous but love having a colour for each of my subjects, I mainly use it for highlighting dates in my calendar and on papers to do with the particular subject. I use coloured tags to tab the dates in my diary and information in my textbooks.

4. One drive - Office 365 (or equivalent)

An online storage space is so great to take all your documents with you wherever you go. I personally use One Drive by Microsoft which comes with 1 terabyte of space with an Office 365 account. Most universities in Australia let students have Office 365 for free which gives you not only One Drive but Word, Power Point and Excel. If your uni doesn't provide it I think you can get it for around $10 a month or there are plenty of other online storage solutions you can use for free.

5. Quality stationary

I know we all love our pretty pens and pencils, and I'm the biggest culprit when it comes to buying any stationary just because it looks cute. Here are some things that I found found have actually helped me. Coloured tags, I mentioned these before; they're great for making pages in text books or marking where your due dates are in your diary. A four colour pen, I use the Bic ones because they're so reliable and don't smudge (fellow lefties will understand my dilemma). Large lined post-it notes, these are so great for leaving to-do lists an important paper, in your notebook, or leaving notes with a certain page in your text book. Highlighters, I have the 'swing cool' ones by Stabilo they're long and thin with a clip at the top and fit in my pencil case without being too bulky.

6. Weekly planning

Saving the most important for last! Regardless of having the right stuff for uni, as long as you have a laptop and the right planning you will be fine. I start off (or try to) each Monday morning by sitting down with my diary open on what ever week it is and scheduling out what I need to do each day. You don't have to put everyyyything down (e.g. brushing teeth etc.) but just the important stuff and when you need to get done in the day. One thing to remember is if your an Australian student each of your university subjects requires you to do around 10 hours of study each week including your lectures. I know that people do it with less than that, including me but I still try to stick to this when planning my week. Lastly, don't forget to schedule some time in just for you as well; it's so easy to get stuck feeling guilty for not studying but you need that relaxation time. Even if it just is giving yourself a mini facial or watching some netflix, it'll give you the recharge you need.

I hope these tips helped, let me know what you think in the comments below or add some of your own tips, happy studying.

Talk soon

Kristina xx.

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