Tag: staples

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Fun Ways to Organize

How I am Staying on top of my Schedule

Hey hey friends! Happy Tuesday! I hope you all had an enjoyable and fun Labor Day weekend. Although, I was at school, I did have a fun weekend with friends, and it was a great way to say goodbye to summer. Although, school started back last week for me, I’m still trying to find a good routine. Last week was all about getting adjusted to a new schedule, classes, work time and organizing all the appointments. This week is weird since we had off yesterday and tonight I’m going to a concert with friends. I’m trying my best to soak up every moment at school this semester.

I know I’m late to the game, but I am finally on the band wagon with using the calendar on my phone and laptop….I know I know, it’s a long time coming. Before I get started on how and why I am using this system now, I want to give a little bit of background on how I stay organized. 

A few years back, I did a post about staying organized with school. You can read about it here.

Let me break it down for how I stay on top of things, I have a feeling this may change once I graduate from college, but for now this is what works. 

  1. Big Desk Calendar
My desk calendar

I love to see everything laid out in front of my on my desk. I have everything color coded. Certain colors for classes, Green for school things (tutoring, dinners, meetings), Blue for Work (staff meetings, when things are due), Red for when I work, and then purple for anything else that comes up. I like seeing the month as a whole and this helps me plan better when I have new things to put on the calendar. I got this planner from the Simplified Collection by Emily Ley at Target. I put everything on this calendar- it’s basically my master one-school, work, home, family, friends. It all goes here. 

  • Small Planner

This comes in great for assignments and school work. I got this planner from Staples with the At a Glance collaboration with Simplified by Emily Ley (do you see a pattern here?!- You better believe I am getting the 2020 Simplified Planner when they Launch tomorrow!)

This has the week layout. Every day is split in two columns (The My Day and To Do). In the My Day is where I put any meetings, events, test dates or things to remember. In the To Do is where I list all my homework assignments.

What my weekly spread looks like

This is the first year that I used the monthly calendar too. Although, I love my desk calendar I was scheduling things without looking. I only write the important things in the month section like tutoring, meetings, scheduled events just so I have a reference. This planner is mostly used for school things-homework, exams, meetings for school and work things for school. 

The month of September as a whole in the month section of calendar
  • iCalendar 

This past summer, I started to use the calendar app on my phone and laptop to keep track of work things and events happening with family and friends. Since I wasn’t in school I wasn’t using a planner and since I spent most every day on my laptop it made sense to have my calendar in front of me, now I am loving it. It’s so easy to use and I LOVE how you can sync your phone and laptop calendars to be the same. I am also able to customize when I put things on the calendar and color coordinate them too. Also, the best part, by using iCalendar it keeps all my blog posts in order and I can schedule things better too.

For this calendar its divided by four topics: school (blue), blog (purple), personal (yellow) and important (red).

My four categories of what I put on the calendar

For school I only put important meetings, appointment and work commitments( no homework, no tests, no when my classes are), for blog I put down what posts are being published when, personal is activities and things with friends and family, and important are basically when the big things are due like credit card statements. This calendar is the big picture stuff, I refer to this when I am planning an event or meeting to see if I have conflicts and I always have it with me, unlike my desk calendar and planner which aren’t always on me. 

The whole month at a glance

Is it necessary to have all of these? Probably not, but it’s what works best for me. I am a super organized person, so I like to do all this and keep myself on top of everything. I am thinking once I graduate about ditching the desk calendar and just keeping a planner and using the calendar on my phone. Thoughts from any recent graduates about what works best for you? After I graduate, I want to focus on simplifying my life more and I know once I am done with school a lot of these activities will be done too, so for now I am enjoying my life with my three color coordinated calendars!

I hope you have a wonderful week ahead!

Categories
Fun Ways to Organize

Spring Cleaning Tips and Tricks

It’s out with the old and in with the new. Spring is upon us which means Spring Cleaning is right around the corner. Throughout the year, I have been reading Emily Ley’s Simplified Life. It discusses straightforward ways to simplify our homes, families, and lives. Whether you love to organize like myself or don’t even know where to begin when it comes to organizing, this book is for you. When it comes to spring cleaning, you have the power to do as much or as little as you please. For example, I do it little by little when my schedule allows, some others like to get it all done in one day, choose a method that works best for you. Work at your own pace. Here are three easy tricks I have found when it comes to Spring Cleaning and organizing.

  • Clothes

I saw this on pinterest and I couldn’t resist…such great advice.

We all love our clothes and sometimes have a hard time getting rid of things. Since I am in college, it doesn’t hurt to have two closets, one at school and one at home=double the closet space. Haha! Our style should reflect out personality so when we have things in our closest that we don’t like or wear, it’s a waste of space. I make my decision to get rid or donate clothes based on: if I have worn it in the last year, if I feel good in it, and how its quality is. If I have a shirt that is stretched out and stained, then it’s in the trash. If I have dress that I haven’t worn in two years, then its donated. If I half 10 t shirts from high school, I try and weed out which ones I really need and want to keep. I keep this criteria in mind so I can make decisions fast and efficiently.

  • Work Space

Love this motto for organizers and non organizers

Whether it’s a desk in our bedrooms, home office, or work office, our work space is crucial. At school I only have the essentials in/ on my desk. That includes my blotter calendar, writing utensils, post it notes and important papers. I work my best in a clean and organized space so having a clean desk is crucial for me. We all love to see the cute and matching accessories you can get for your desk from Staples or Target but don’t let decorations take away from your desk. Remember, a desk is your place to work, not just another shelf.

  • Clutter

A tidy room is a goal we all can work towards

We all have things in our homes that we don’t have a home for. Or we got something that we don’t need now but we will need in the future. Does that sound familiar? I always like to hold onto things that don’t have a purpose at the moment (or ever). For example, I got mailed a care package a few months ago, yet I still have the box… now I don’t have plans to use it, but I will need it…right?! Wrong! Why hold onto something that has no purpose in your life?! If you don’t use it, toss it.

These tips have helped me make my life more organized and simplistic. Give them a try, if they work, great. If not, try something new. Have a great rest of your week.