Staying Organised

 Tips on how to stay organised when doing the IB


One of the most important personal skills to maintain and build throughout the IB is the ability to organise your time efficiently. As the course progresses, the to-do list will only get longer, especially when coursework and extended essay deadlines start to build up. Therefore, maintaining your momentum and focus from the start of the year becomes increasingly important, and staying organised and up to date is key to this. Yesterday, I asked fellow students their go-to apps and methods for staying organised and productive. 



Tip #1: Make a to-do list which is all in one place that you can access easily. With a lot of assignments and deadlines, most students I asked said that they used the notes app on their phone to jot down things they needed to do in order to keep track of everything in one place. However, making sure that you are regularly accessing the channels where news and assignments are posted, and then fitting these other things into your routine of lessons and extracurricular activities can be the greatest challenge; tips for this will be given in #2 and #5. 

Recommendations: generic phone ‘Notes’ app, ‘MinimaList’ mobile app, ‘Notion’ mobile app.



Tip #2: Scheduling - make sure that you are planning ahead. This leads to much less stress and allows you to balance school with other activities. Another good skill is being able to prioritise your tasks, so that you can focus your attention on bigger ongoing projects (such as the Extended Essay) while still maintaining a revision schedule and keeping on top of homework. Using your time effectively will give you more free time too, so it is well worth experimenting with different routines and apps to find what works best for you! 

Recommendations: Google Calendar (can be used on computer, tablet or phone), ‘Structured’ mobile app, ‘Notion’ (mobile and computer app), and the website ‘Get Revising’. I also use a paper calendar in a place where I see it often as a visual reminder of the things I need to do.



Tip #3: Use your time wisely! It is tempting to see the free periods in your timetable throughout the week as time off, but they can be very useful for getting homework, CAS, or revision done. Staying in school and utilising study spaces (such as the well-stocked library at Main Site and the Eden Centre, as well as many internet cafes and study spaces in town) will give you more time to relax and do what you like when at home rather than coming home and having to begin homework and assignments then. Also, focussing during lesson time and finishing your notes during that time frees up more time for other things outside of school. 

Recommendations (for productivity): the pomodoro technique, a computer and mobile app called ‘Forest’, the chrome extension ‘Momentum’, and many many more! Find what works for you. 



Tip #4: Filing and revisiting your notes, as well as doing daily maintenance towards completing your to-do list, will pay off: it is much easier to do smaller and easier tasks throughout the week than a big assignment the night before. Filing your notes away in a system which makes sense to you and can be accessed easily is crucial to staying organised, because these are vital to your revision when you will need them throughout the course. 

Recommendations (for notekeeping): For both digital and paper notes, use folders and label everything clearly so that it is easy to find. Digitally, the Google Suite including Docs and Drive is easy to use, especially the automatic backup feature. For paper notes, most students I asked agreed that a book with all your notes for a subject in one place was easy to organise and carry around.



Tip #5: Stay up to date on news and assignments. At Parkside, the key channel for news about assignments and homework is Microsoft Teams; all students I spoke to recommended having Teams downloaded on any device you use for school, as well as your phone, with notifications turned on. Getting to know the various functions of Teams, such as the calendar and ‘activity’ segments is very useful. 



For general news, urgent updates, and a key point of contact between students and the school, including your teachers, Microsoft Outlook is also used. Again, having this installed with notifications on was also highly recommended by students. The weekly Parkside Sixth Bulletin is also sent out via Outlook, and is definitely useful for school news, work experience and CAS opportunities, as well as exam timetables when the time comes.



This article was written by Amy, a second year IB student at Parkside Sixth.



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