School.......

[books16]

so i am home schooled and even though i am supposed to have a flexible schedule the program i use is not flexible at all it is even pretty demanding. but any way next year i will be a junior and want to turn over a view leaf for a successful year ( a year where i don't feel like just being done is a success where i have good grades to show for it.)but i know i need to be organized but don't know where to start. does any one have any tips for a successful year

[Mo]

I know people who swear by keeping a detailed planner as a way to keep track of assignments and deadlines; if that's not something you've tried in the past you could give that a go. There are paper ones available but there are several apps that allow for detailed tracking of schedules and assignments, so this might be something to investigate before school starts. One I've heard of is called My Study Life, but I haven't used it personally so can't endorse it!

Do you have a sense of what you struggle with the most in terms of keeping organized? Is it staying focused, keeping on top of deadlines, starting long-term projects early enough?

[SeQuinn]

Definitely second Mo's suggestion of a planner! I find it helpful to see the deadlines in calendar form, so I can visualize what is due when.

Another thing I've found helpful is post-its and to do lists - I keep a running To Do list in a notebook of all of the things I have on my plate, and then I have special brightly colored post-its that I use for the tasks I really want to prioritize for that day/week. I leave space at the top of the page for this post-it and update it regularly. For the post-it, I like to put a few easy tasks and then one hard one that takes more time - if I can accomplish those, it sets me up nicely for later that week/month.

Hope this helps!

[Onionpie]

I personally am not good with using planners, and instead have a big huge calendar on my desk that I write in the due dates of my assignments on. That way it is there in my face and very clear, and I have a much better visual sense of the spacing and pacing of my assignments.

I also use to-do lists, but often those can be overwhelming, so I have a little whiteboard for broken-down to-do lists -- a "to do today" and "to do tomorrow" list that's a little snapshot of the bigger picture. That way it feels more manageable.

In terms of organizing material from the courses/subjects -- I make sure to have a separate notebook for each subject, with my notes clearly marked with the date, ordered chronologically. I'm a very visual person, so at the end of term I will then make a chart or other visual representation of the key points that I need to study, compiled from going through my notes from the course.

All of those above examples are ones that work for a visual learner, and me personally -- so they may or may not work for you! I think the most beneficial thing you can do is to figure out what kind of learner/organizer you are -- how you best retain information -- and find some techniques that work with that strength. You may also find that when you combine TWO learning/organizing styles together, it makes them even more effective -- for example, I find that simply reading something is okay, but having it read aloud (like with software on a computer) while I read along helps me retain it better. Or, when I just listen to someone talking, I get very lost, but as soon as I pair it with note-taking, I retain a lot more information than I would with either technique by itself.