Let’s get organized
So now it’s week 3 and you feel like you’re getting the hang of this nursing school thing, yet your laptop is filled with miscellaneous documents/powerpoints/syllabi/audio recordings/screenshots/etc,etc.
Shit is just everywhere with no organization whatsoever. Maybe you tried to fill out a planner or calendar with all your tests and assignment dates, but you still feel lost in the mess. My goal this week is to help you see through the fog of all that!
The weeks fly by in nursing school and you can’t afford to not be organized in the beginning. The habits you are forming in nursing school now will carry with you for the next several semesters. Start setting good, solid routines now so later you can focus on the hard scary material that will be thrown your way!
See the big literal picture (or calendar)
I know earlier I told you that you need to see the big theoretical picture in this program. However, as a student with a million tests, quizzes, modules, postings, and presentations to do each week, it also helps to see the big picture – like, an actual calendar. Before you can focus on each little task at hand, I think it’s helpful to know exactly what all is expected and due by which specific date.
What made a huge difference for me in the program was laying out the whole quarter using an 11-week calendar. I tried to use planners and calendars but the choppiness of monthly calendars often made me feel like I had more time to do things when in reality the due date was right on the next page!
After my failed attempt to use a fancy $48 planner, I decided to start using a bullet journal because my day-to-day in nursing school was just too chaotic. This gave me the freedom to make my own pages with colors and designs. If you’re interested in starting your own, this is the bullet journal I used throughout school!
Here’s what my 4th Quarter calendar looked like.
You can download your own blank quarterly nursing school calendar below!
The beauty of this calendar was that it was only school-related tasks and I was able to easily see which weeks were going to be super heavy way before they crept up on me. Nursing school always seems to have assignments and work pop-up out of nowhere, but this was one way for me to have a handle of what was expected of me at the bare minimum just after looking at the syllabi.
Make your calendar make sense
How did I get to that final product?
I went through each and every syllabus, highlighted all the assignments, exams, modules, online quizzes, presentations, and anything that would give me a grade for the class. I picked a color for each class and proceeded to fill in the calendar with all that information.
I used the space on the side of the calendar as a To-Do list for the whole quarter. It was a nice way to see everything that would be due throughout the quarter rather than just class by class. While it may seem overwhelming to see everything you have to do smack-dab in front of your face, I also think it leaves you with no surprises. Surprises stress me out! Surprises leave you with no time to prepare, in a panic at 3am, or even worse with a 0% because you missed a deadline.
While you and I know this program is going to take up a HUGE part of your life, it’s so important to continue to have a real, non-nursing life outside the program as well. Yes, a lot of things may sit on the back burner while you hide away in a hole and study for 40 hours a week, but that doesn’t erase all your responsibilities in the real-world. Let this calendar help you stay organized so you feel like you still can enjoy your friends, family, exercise, sunshine, and fresh air.
Now how do I organize my folders for my actual study material?!
So bare with me as I attempt to share my organization for the semesters. Remember, your job is to focus on one quarter, one class, one test, and one lecture at a time. So let’s set up your folders just like that.
For starters, I made use of the OneDrive app. Totally personal preference – Google Drive gave me the fits. So with OneDrive, you just upload your word docs, powerpoints, recordings, pictures, etc. And one of the cool features is sharing. My classmates and I often shared our accounts so we could access each other’s notes and lecture recordings.
Next, for my recordings, I used the Voice Memo app on the iPad to record all my lectures. I think it cost maybe $2 or so, but it was better quality than the app on my iPhone! And then when I was done recording, I saved it on the app using the same title as the powerpoint lecture.
Share -> Copy to OneDrive -> Upload to OneDrive
Select my folder -> Select this Location.
And bam, all my stuff was able to stay nice and organized!
If you haven’t started recording lectures, definitely ask first and then take advantage of that tool! It’s so important to become an auditory learner now. Relistening to your lecture is going to save you countless hours, you can throw it on in your headphones while you’re walking around, and you’re going to hear the material in a new way every time you listen to it!
*always ask if you’re allowed to record because some professors are super wary of it. Technically the content is owned by the school so you can’t upload it somewhere online and try to profit off of it. So cover yourself and get permission first!
So now onto the virtual folders on OneDrive. I’m going to show pictures of the breakdown from my original “ACE” folder down to each “Exam” folder.
All of my quarters, classes, and exams are organized exactly this way! Do yourself a favor today and find the system that works best for you! I often found myself going back to reference notes from another class to help with the material I was currently learning later on in the program.
My favorite highlighters to make my notes and journal pretty and fun to read!
And my absolute favorite markers that surprisingly don’t bleed through to the next page!
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