How to Prepare for a New Semester: 9 Things to Do Before Heading Back to Campus
Do you ever feel completely swamped in college? I have too! New semesters bring a new schedule, new classes, and new opportunities, but if you don't have systems in place, it can be very easy to fall behind. Today, I'll share how to prepare for a new semester before you even get back to campus!
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There are always so many things to do at the start of a new semester!
If you don't have a plan in place, it can be easy to let things like eating healthy or having a clean room fall to the wayside. Making time for things like studying can be easier to procrastinate!
I love college and learning new things, so I always get really excited about going back to school. However, if you aren't as excited, I've created this easy checklist to help you prepare for the semester ahead!
I start preparing and planning for the next school year before the current school year even ends by creating a to-do list of things to do before I head back to campus for next semester. I don't want to forget anything!
These are all things you can do to prepare for the new semester before you travel back to campus. Let's get right into how to prepare for a new semester!
How to Prepare for a New Semester: 9 Things to Do Before Heading Back to Campus
1. Organize Your Laptop
I'm studying marketing, which means I do homework on my computer a lot! In fact, besides taking notes and reading textbooks, everything is done online.
If my laptop is a mess, doing my homework is way harder than it needs to be!
This reminds me of the time I turned in a blank Excel spreadsheet because I didn't realize I hadn't turned on autosave, or I turned in the wrong saved file. I'm still not sure what happened, but I learned my lesson!
I was really lucky because my professor let me turn in the assignment again, even though the due date was past.
Here are some great things to do to organize your laptop (and phone!) before the school year starts:
- Delete old photos in your gallery
- Delete unnecessary files
- Organize files that you didn't organize from last year
- Create folders for your upcoming classes organized by semester
When your laptop and phone have a lot of available storage and your files are organized, the semester goes smoother. It's harder for files to get lost.
Doing homework might take less time too, which is a plus!
2. Organize Your Email Inbox
Having an organized inbox is so important to me for productivity! If my inbox is cluttered, I feel irritated while doing other things because I almost feel like my inbox is another to-do list.
Organizing my inbox only takes a few minutes a day, but when I know my inbox is nearly empty, it's a lot easier for me to concentrate on the task at hand. Having a nearly empty inbox feels like there is less clutter in my brain.
Here are a few quick tips for organizing your inbox:
- Delete as many emails as possible
- Unsubscribe from all of the newsletters that no longer fit your life
- Make folders for your emails and put all of the emails that you are saving for various reasons into those folders
Your inbox is for emails you need to take action on, not for everything people have sent you. This mindset shift helps me delete and move more emails into folders.
3. Prepare Your Planner/Organizational System
How are you going to finish all of your homework along with a million other things you have to do?
I use a bullet journal (and love it!) to keep track of all my homework and everything else. I also plan on a regular basis to make sure I have a plan to get everything done.
The same planning system doesn't work for everyone, so whatever system you use, make sure you tweak it along the way.
I like to look through all of my bullet journal collection layouts and make sure everything is updated, as well as make new layouts for the upcoming semester.
When I get back to school, I already have my system in place!
4. Set Goals + Intentions for the Semester
Even though I set goals every year, I like to review and revise those goals at the beginning of every new semester.
Some years, I set smaller goals. Other years, I just decide what I want to get out of the upcoming school year, but I don't set specific goals. Do I want to socialize more? Do I need to spend more time studying or working?
When doing this, I like to think about my habits from the previous semester and whether I was good about waking up early or if I spent too much time looking at my laptop.
This is also a great time to make a bucket list of all of the new things you want to try during the semester!
5. Figure Out Your Daily/Weekly Routines
Even though I enjoy variety, I also love my daily routines!
You may not know exactly what your college schedule will look like, but you can still decide what your morning routine and night routine will look like.
Additionally, this is an ideal time to start thinking about when you'll go grocery shopping and do laundry.
Here are some things to include in your college routine:
- Cooking
- Grocery shopping
- Exercising
- Budgeting
- Laundry
My routines always switch up a little bit depending on various things, but these are the tasks I always have to include in my routine somewhere!
6. Map Out Your Budget
When I started college, I was pretty clueless about money and budgeting, but over the past few years, I've learned to track everything I earn and spend to make sure I have enough for everything while continuing to save money.
I like to do some rough estimates at the start of the semester to see how much money I'm going to be spending. This helps me decide whether I'm going to stick to a strict budget or not.
As an aside, when I'm sticking to a stricter budget, I buy the cheapest brown rice and when I'm not sticking to a strict budget, I buy rice that tastes better! 🤣
7. Plan Your Meals
If I didn't plan my meals in advance in college, I would struggle to eat because I hate cooking when I'm hungry. Anyone else?
Before my freshman year started, I made a list with meal ideas for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks so I wouldn't go hungry. I suggest you do the same!
When it comes to food, a little bit of planning can go a long way. Before the semester starts, I like to make sure my online recipe folder is in order (a folder in my phone gallery).
I also decide on some new recipes to try, and I like to stock up on bulk food items before the semester starts!
Whether you like to plan out your meals or prefer to be more spontaneous, having some ideas of what to eat and when can go a long way towards eating healthier and not skipping meals when you are super busy.
8. Go in for Routine Checkups
This is my least favorite thing to do on this list, but it gets them out of the way, so you can enjoy your semester!
I go in for my routine checkups before I go back to school, so I don't have to worry about fitting them in some other time.
You don't want to have to worry about having to fit in a dentist or doctor's appointment if it's not necessary.
9. Make a College Packing List + Double Check It
The first time I flew to college, I forgot to bring my phone charging cord.
I was able to buy a new one pretty quickly, but now I double check that I have all of my charging cords.
A few days before I go back to school, I like to start gathering everything in one place to make sure I don't forget anything.
Additionally, now I start keeping my charging cord attached to my laptop unless it's in the backpack I'm bringing to school with me a few days before as well.
I also start gathering all of the clothes I want to bring back to campus with me in a suitcase.
When I first went to college, I made a list of all of the items I was bringing with me, so I knew what I had packed. This can be super helpful when you are traveling home from college too!
Final Notes on How to Prepare for a New Semester: 9 Things to Do Before Heading Back to Campus
Having systems in place for the everyday tasks I need to do during college helps me stay organized as the semester progresses.
The first week of school is always busy, so doing all of these things before I go back to school helps me have more time to enjoy those first weeks of school.
Here's a quick recap on how to prepare for a new semester.
- Organize your laptop
- Organize your email inbox
- Prepare your planner/organizational system
- Set goals and intentions for the semester
- Figure out your daily/weekly routines
- Map out your budget
- Plan your meals
- Go in for routine checkups
- Make a college packing list and double check it
If you enjoyed this post on how to prepare for a new semester, these posts might be helpful too!
- Become a Morning Person Now: Hacks for Rising Earlier
- My Weekly Planning Routine for Staying Organized in College
- How to Use the Alastair Method to Transform Your Week
- 10 Layouts That Will Instantly Help You Be More Organized
I hope you got some tips on how to prepare for a new semester! Good luck with school!
Don't forget to save this post on how to prepare for a new semester so you can look at it again before your semester starts!
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