Never Miss Another Assignment: 3 Tips to Manage Your Academic Work
As a college student, have you ever totally missed an assignment due date and forgot to turn it in? Do you struggle with procrastination at times? In high school my grades weren’t nearly as good as the grades I’ve made in college. What do I owe my 3.85 GPA in college to? Staying on top of my work and assignments! I found that being constantly reminded of my upcoming assignments allowed me to have no choice but to stay completely on top of them.
To avoid being slapped into confusion and sadness by an unexpected assignment, make sure you expect that assignment! Here are 3 simple tips that will allow you to stay on top of due dates and assignments and allow your GPA to soar!
Syllabus meets Planner
We all know about the helpful guide that is given to us by our professors during the first week of class. Instead of just skimming through it and never referring back to it, plug all important due dates and deadlines into your planner as soon as you get your syllabi.
For bigger assignments or assignments that I have a little bit more time to work on and/or study for—assignments such as research papers, projects, exams, etc.— I like to put those due dates within the Calendar section of each month my courses are in. For example, here’s a page from the monthly section of my planner from last year. Notice how the majority of the assignments listed are larger assignments such as tests and papers. I do include some smaller assignments, such as homework assignments and discussion boards, but I mainly just focus on larger assignments within the full month calendar parts of my planner.
For smaller, weekly assignments, I simply put them under the day of the week I was assigned them, as shown here. You can see here how most of the assignments in the weekly parts of my calendar include only the work that needs to be completed for that week. Most of these assignments include homework assignments and studying for quizzes/tests that I have during that week.
Post them, post them…EVERYWHERE!
We all know about sticky notes, but I don’t think they are used enough by college students. I love sticky notes because I can put them anywhere, anytime in order to remind myself of the assignments I have so that I can stay on top of them. Post sticky notes of little reminders for your assignments on your desk, wall, computer/laptop, notebook/planner cover, and once you have completed and/or turned in the assignment depicted on the sticky note, crumple up the sticky note and throw it away. Ahhhhhhh….how satisfying!
Program upcoming deadlines and due dates in your phone calendar
We are always on our phones, so why not have a notification pop up here and there to remind you to stay on top of your work! I love using the calendar on my iPhone in order to remind me of important due dates. Whether between classes or work, I am forced to see the alerts for the due dates of my upcoming assignments, which allows me to stay on top of them.
Without using these tips, I don’t know where I would be in college. They have helped me so much within my academic career, so much so that I just had to share them with you all. I believe that if you incorporate these tips, you’ll never forget or miss another assignment!
About the author
Sara Powell
Sara Powell is a student at Old Dominion University where she is also a Pearson Campus Ambassador. Sara is majoring in Communications with minors in Dance and Marketing. In her free time, Sara enjoys hanging out with her friends, spending time with her family, participating in community service, dancing, and eating—she is a self-proclaimed foodie! Sara is also a natural hair enthusiast and she aspires to be a Brand Manager for a natural hair-care company after graduation.
Sara is a Pearson Student Insider. To learn more about the program and apply, click here.
