Learning how to college - a "series" by me

There's something important I would never have guessed about college: it doesn't matter how much you love your course, the evaluations will always be awful. The end of the semester is the perfect time to complain about life on twitter, put songs to play at maximum volume and ignore all responsibilities, right? Even if you manage to do all the tests without studying, or writing all papers in one day, it's always going to be the worst choice - it keeps you from sleeping and living properly. My third semester was a particularly crazy one, and I finally realized how this way of managing things is actually a damn waste of life. My senior friends say it's totally normal, that everyone goes through it all the time, but I've had enough. Either I learned how to deal with all this properly, or dropped the course (like many friends of mine have already done, actually...).

I started testing some techniques I found online about time management. There were some great ideas, like the using of Freedom (app to cut internet) and GTD (Getting Things Done). But I simply couldn't deal with them. In fact, they all got me even more anxious. I decided to select specific ideas from different sites and authors and, little by little, create my own sense of organization. I got into this in mid-2013, but only now I can say I actually have a system. Hadn't it been for all these things, I'd never been able to do all the things I achieved last year, nor would I have gone through this last semester at college without having a mental breakdown.

This month I had to handle two papers; me-from-the-past would probably have written anything in the very last three days before the deadline, just out of desperation. However, I was able to get everything ready in the very week before! It was still quite difficult and stressful, as I was actually trying to make a good work - so, in the end, the all the time I spent in it turned into something became very satisfied with. I wouldn't have done it without my personal system and my sweet and very helpful planner.

My cute 2015 planner :3

Now that I'm finally on a break and without anything to do, I thought "why not share some of these organization ideas?". They were great for me to survive college doing a good work, and some were a great help for some friends of mine. I thought I could make a good series of posts for desperate college students; I'll talk about writing papers, reading texts, taking tests, etc. So, pay attention to the "How to College" section of this blog!

But before actually giving the tips for you guys, I'll link some important sites that helped me a lot in developing this system; they were also crucial for me to start seeing some aspects of my life and of others in a different light.

 - zen habits, by Leo Babauta; there are texts about productivity, minimalism, and ideas for getting some peace of mind.

 - Vida Organizada (in Portuguese), by Thais Godinho; this was the first site about organization that I came across, and I can safely say I wouldn't be the same today if I hadn't discovered it in that time of my life.

- The Power of Habit, by Charles Duhigg, has some awesome ideas for those who are in need of a change in lifestyle.

- Getting Things Done, by David Allen; I actually haven't read the book, only some texts out there about how his system works. I don't really fit the style of someone using it, but it is really good, and I even took a couple of his ideas to use on my daily life.

- The "planners" tag on tumblr is awesome for inspiration!

That's it for now, then. Stay tuned for part 2: how to write your papers!
(Seriously, if it wasn't for this little guide I created, I wouldn't be okay by now)