Being a college student can be pretty tough. Between tests, quizzes, homework, extra-curricular activities, maintaining a social life and remembering to call your parents on the weekends, things can get pretty crazy. Throw a job on top of all of that and you’ve created the perfect recipe for stress.

I go to school Monday through Thursday and then work Friday through Sunday; I’m busy every single day until the semester ends. Am I stressed out? Absolutely. Do I handle it well? Yes I do, and you can handle it well too with just a little bit of planning.

You’ve heard it before and I’ll say it again, you need to manage your time. Go out and buy a planner and make a commitment to keep yourself organized. I never used to use a planner and looking back, that was such a mistake. When you can look ahead and see what homework is due and what other things you have to do, you feel a great sense of organization and control. As soon as you know you have to do something or go somewhere, write it down.

My greatest word of advice is to prioritize your work. Figure out what will take the least amount of time to do and get it done first. Even if it’s Monday and that homework isn’t due until Thursday, get it done if it’s easy. Come Wednesday, you’ll be so glad you have that much more free time in case something else comes up that you need to finish. Getting things done early is the trick to being able to commit more time to bigger projects or even having no homework at all over the weekend so you can relax.

Another thing I like to do is go into my planner and check off what assignments I’ve done or what activities I’ve gone to. Being able to check things off gives such a great sense of accomplishment and it’s like little weights are lifted off your shoulders. I also like to check my planner in the morning so I can figure out how I want to prioritize and plan out my day. It’s senseless to have a planner if you never look at it; you wouldn’t take notes if you didn’t plan on looking at them, would you?

It’s also important to keep both your physical and digital workspaces neat. A clutter-free workspace will help keep your mind open and clear. Keep pens and pencils in containers rather than scattered around your desk and keep books in stacks rather than strewn about your room. Keep your documents on your laptop organized. Create folders for each semester and subfolders for each class so you can easily keep track of all the work you’ve done. Don’t forget to clearly name your documents. This means not just titling a paper as “paper one” because you’ll never remember what that was about. Create specific titles so you can refer back to your documents and know exactly where each file is.

Procrastinating is a painful habit that is all too easy to succumb to. I used to put the “pro” in procrastinate, but once I started organizing with a planner I was really able to turn myself around. It’s hard to break a habit, but it’s easy to manage your time. If you don’t have a planner already, go out and buy one today. I promise you’ll be glad you did.

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