Chapter 6
“I Know Where Everything Is”
Organizing

It’s really difficult to talk about procrastination without mentioning organization. They go hand in hand. If you want to stop procrastinating, organize your bedroom or dorm room, study area (if you have one), and even your school supplies. Organizing these zones will help you work more efficiently and stay focused, alleviate the overwhelming feeling of living in a messy environment and avoid the exhausting mantra of “I’m looking for the book I need to read for class, and I have no idea where it is!”

Don’t get nervous. I’m not going to unpack every organizing system imaginable. Since everyone learns differently, everyone organizes differently. I couldn’t possibly know what works best for you. Some of you might take a “clean off my desk” approach when it comes to working, while others find having all their books and papers spread out inspiring and creativity inducing. Some of you might like color to infuse energy into your work, while others need calm, soothing surroundings to be productive.

I’m just going to give you some general rules to follow to make your school supplies more streamlined, your room more manageable and, therefore, your environment more productive.

Your Bedroom

Play out this scenario. The adults in your life tell you to clean up your room. With all good intentions you walk into your room, survey the scene, pick up an item from your floor and realize you have no idea where to begin, what to do, or where to put things. So you close the door and hope they won’t notice. Until they do. And then the accusations start flying.

“You live like a slob!”

“We should hang a condemned sign on the door!”

“You never clean your room when I ask you!”

And the inevitable, “Just one time I would love for you to stop procrastinating and just do it without my having to ask you!”

How many times have you heard these kinds of phrases in your lifetime? About a million, I’m sure.

But here’s what I want YOU to know. The constant struggle between you and your parents about your room isn’t necessarily all your fault. But I’m thinking you feel it might be. When parents ask me how to get their kids to organize their rooms AND keep them that way, I lob a question right back at them.

Evernote has been around for ages, and there is a reason for that. It’s one of the best apps out there for keeping you and your assignments organized. It’s like having electronic binders without all the excess weight! It’s my number one recommended app for a variety of amazing reasons.

It allows you to sync notes across all your devices. So if you are working on your history paper on your laptop and then later switch to your desktop, you won’t lose a thing.

You can take notes in many different formats—text, photos, audio, videos and more.

You can attach word processing documents and PDFs and share those documents with others.

And you can set reminders for yourself.

If it would just call your parents and do your laundry for you too, it would be pretty much perfect!

I ask if your bedroom is set up to make it easy for you to create and maintain an organizing system. If they can’t answer that, I send them on a tour. Of your room. Using YOUR height as the guide. And answering the following questions from your perspective. Go ahead and do it too.

Can you open the closet door easily? Or is it partially blocked?

Can you reach the rod and shelves?

Are the things you need to access frequently or daily in your prime real estate?

Are the dresser drawers hard to open?

Is the dresser crammed full?

Do you have enough room to store all your clothes?

Do you have enough hangers? Hooks? Storage bins and boxes?

Do you have adequate shelf space for books, memorabilia, electronics, and so on?

Do you have a bulletin board or cork squares hanging on the wall?

Trash bin? Laundry basket?

A nightstand for a clock, extra alarm, lamp and water bottle?

Are there clothes or other items that don’t belong to you stored in your room?

Pretty eye-opening, huh?

But wait, I saved the best question for last.

Do you know where everything in your room goes?

The first rule when organizing is, everything needs a home. It’s really that simple. No matter what your organizing style, if you don’t know where something lives, you’re more apt to let it sit wherever it lands. That partially explains the land mine that is your floor!

I’m well aware that you can’t make all the changes on your own. I’m hoping you will show this section of the chapter to the grown-ups in your life and ask them to go on the tour of your room with you. Then perhaps you can all come up with solutions for the items on the list that need to be remedied.

But meanwhile, here are a few guidelines to help you get started on your own:

Ten Tips to a Better Organized Bedroom

Before you organize anything, you need to purge, toss, pitch, recycle or donate. I don’t care what you do with it as long as whatever you don’t use, need or want is gone. Is your room loaded with empty water bottles, food wrappers, cords to electronics you don’t own anymore? Grab a garbage bag and out it goes. Camp sweatshirts from when you were twelve? Donation pile!
And a tip within a tip? Make it fun! Crank your favorite music and throw yourself a dance party. Set a timer and play Beat the Clock by seeing how much you can get done before it goes off! Grab your favorite snack and have a treat while you make it neat! Infusing energy and play into your organizing session is a great way to get moving!
Designate specific homes for all of your belongings. And make sure your areas are clearly labeled. That includes closet shelves and dresser drawers or bins. When you’re tired after a long day, visual reminders make putting your stuff away that much easier.
If you need to see your stuff so you know it exists or the closet door is a real hassle, then remove it! A closet door is a barrier to entry. And we all know that barriers to entry lead right to procrastination’s door! Talk to your family about removing the closet door so you can see what’s inside. If you can’t bear to always look at your crowded closet, hang curtains above the opening so you can close it off at any time.
If folding clothes isn’t your jam, replace your dresser with clear bins lined against a wall to toss shirts, jeans, socks, underwear, and other clothing into. This gives you an easy and simple way to get and stay organized. Detest hanging up clothes on hangers because it takes too many steps? Hang hooks on the closet rod instead. One step and done!
Put your essentials in your prime real estate (between your shoulders and knees) for easy access. If you have to reach up or move several items out of the way to put something away, then the likelihood of your doing it is super slim.
Think air space. If you have ample wall space, hang a bulletin board, cork squares or even a peg board (my favorite). They all come in fun colors, are easy to hang, and provide space for notes, papers, and anything else that is hard to organize.
Clear shoe bags are a great space maximizer. Hang them in your closet or behind your bedroom door. Store small items, cords and wires for your electronics, jewelry, socks and underwear, toiletries or any other loose items for an instant catch-all and to maximize your space. Amazing for dorm rooms!
Clear is king! If you can’t see it, it doesn’t exist. Transparent bins give you a natural way to see what you own and where it goes.
Create a designated area in your room to store your textbooks, extra supplies, resource materials and anything else that you need for school. It doesn’t matter where you do your homework. You still want to have one zone, preferably in your bedroom, as your go-to. Nothing derails a procrastinator more than spending time looking for stuff they need.
Pair like with like. I can’t stress this enough. Make sure you store everything that goes together in one place. So for example, if you have a printer, keep printer paper, ink, toner and even batteries together. The fewer places you need to look for things, the more likely you will be able to find them quickly and efficiently.

You’ll always have a few papers that you need to refer to over and over throughout the semester or year. Think chemistry’s periodic table of elements or your Spanish verb chart. And how many times are they lost to sea? They’re impossible to find! Sheets like these that need to be referenced regularly should be inserted into plastic page protectors and placed in the FRONT of the corresponding binder section. Think of it as a plastic life preserver!

Your School Supplies

Over the years, I’ve seen a staggering number of my high school students struggle with trying to manage folders, binders, spirals and more. It’s overwhelming. And according to their complaints it leads to major procrastinating if they have to wade through endless supplies to find what they need to do.

Therefore, the first order of business is to simplify supplies any way you can. Less stuff to manage = greater organization. Most of you need a simple, manageable solution to organize your school papers so you spend less time on the looking and more time on the doing! Here are a few of my recommendations:

Ditch the Homework Folder

These are dumping grounds where important assignments and papers go to die. I know a lot of experts don’t agree with me on this, but trust me when I say I’ve never met a homework folder that worked. Instead, group all materials by subject. Math homework goes in the math binder. Your science lab in the science folder.

Organize with Binders

I recommend two types of organizing systems.

One organizing system that works well for my students who like to keep each subject in its own individual binder is a combination binder/pocket folder system. Each binder combines a loose-leaf section for taking notes AND a folder/file system for housing homework, tests and other loose papers. Extra bonus? This takes three-hole punching out of the equation!

My second organizing system, for those of you who like to have everything in one place, is a master binder system. This all-in-one system houses all your subjects in tabbed sections in a zippered binder.

First, purchase a zippered binder that also contains an accordion folder. I prefer the ones that have two sets of rings, since the double rings allow you to customize the binder in a way that works for your schedule. Think “A/B” days, or morning/afternoon classes. The accordion folder is where you keep all papers, handouts, returned tests and related things. Label each section in the accordion by subject name (English, math, science and so on).

All papers will be filed BEHIND the corresponding subject tab and the most recent papers always go in the front. Schedule weekly clean-outs, as papers tend to build up quickly.

The three-ring section should be used for notes you take in class. Divide this section by subject by using two-sided translucent divider folders with tabs for each subject. Label the sides of each folder “Homework to-do” and “Homework done.” This takes the guesswork out of where homework will live each night!

The goals of a master system like this are to keep everything in one place and make finding what you need a breeze. This all-in-one system is easy to create and easy to manage.

In college, your workload is at a higher level than in high school. According to my students, the right supplies and organizing system can make all the difference in your productivity and success. Here are their top five must-haves:

Surprise! College professors, TAs and advisers DO NOT HOLE PUNCH. My best advice? Make sure to have a folder for each class (preferably color-coded) so that all important papers and handouts can be stashed immediately. Keep a hole punch and binders in your dorm room to file later if you like.

The best way to keep notebooks and folders together is to use big metal rings, available at any office supply store. For large lecture classes, it’s much easier to use a notebook and a folder in corresponding colors, held together by a ring, than to try to keep a binder under control.

The transition from taking paper notes in high school to being able to use a laptop in college can trip students up. Make sure to establish a workable system, whether it is Google Docs, Evernote or just plain old Word docs. Set up subject folders on your computer BEFORE THE SEMESTER BEGINS, so notes can easily be categorized, saved and accessed as needed, anywhere and at any time.

And a tip within a tip? Don’t forget to back up EVERYTHING to the cloud or use an external hard drive. Trust me. A time will come when you will spill ginger ale on your computer, and you will thank me!

Designate a notebook (doesn’t have to be huge) and a folder for anything handed out at academic advising meetings. Often these papers have key info and deadlines, so make sure you write any key dates in your planner before you file papers away.

Keep a small notebook in your backpack or have the Notes app handy on your phone for jotting any notes or questions specific to academic advising. When appointments with your adviser come up, these notes can make those meetings much more productive.

Magazine files are your best friend when you are short on surface space. If your dorm room desk has a hutch, place the magazine files on top, label one for each class and place all your books and folders there when not in use. This makes grab-and-go time a breeze.

Maintain Your Systems

If you use any of these systems, you will have to clean them out regularly to prevent them from becoming unwieldy. A good rule is to empty them after a unit or chapter test or when a project or paper is completed. But what to do with all that paper?

Figure out what you can toss and then find the best way to store what you need to hold on to. Don’t make it complicated. There are many creative and out-of-the-box ways to keep paper contained. Pretty bins, magazine files, binders, or even just a box will do just fine. The important thing is to make sure you maintain your system, so you don’t get buried under all that excess paper.

Years ago, I was working with Matt, a high school senior, whose parents were worried about his procrastination. They complained that it took him way too long to complete his homework. What should have taken him two hours in their estimation took him twice as long. They thought he had problems budgeting his time (Matt didn’t really disagree with that assessment) and wanted me to work with him to develop his time management skills. After observing Matt, I noticed that he was highly disorganized. He never wrote down any of his assignments or remembered what was assigned. He always seemed to have trouble finding things he needed to do his work. He would spend precious time looking for lost papers and misplaced textbooks. He constantly texted his friends to ask what was due the next day. And then waited for them to text back. All of this took hours out of his designated homework time.

Was Matt procrastinating because he couldn’t manage his time (as he and his parents assumed) or because he was chronically disorganized? Only after we were able to zero in on the fact that being disorganized was what was causing the procrastination were we able to brainstorm some appropriate solutions.

I worked with Matt on some much-needed organizing systems so that he could access his assignments and materials quickly and efficiently. After that, he was able to begin and finish his homework in an efficient and timely fashion.

Color-Coding

Do you have trouble keeping track of class assignments, your day-to-day gear and everything in between? You might want to try color-coding to make things a little easier and more streamlined. I’m a huge fan!

Color-code school supplies, designating a color for each class. Use that color for every binder, folder and notebook needed for that class. Follow the color scheme for storage bins and magazine files used for class-specific supplies. (For example, if math is red, then the calculator goes in the red bin.) To color-code your to-do list, use sticky notes in different colors to keep track of tasks like school assignments or chores. Or let the color of the sticky note convey how urgent an assignment or chore is.

Some of my students find it helpful to distinguish what they learned in class from what they learned reviewing at home. To differentiate easily, use color-coding to distinguish class notes from home-study notes—use a blue pen for class notes and a black one for home. This way, if a question comes up, at least you’ll know where it originated.

Color can help you coordinate your nonschool stuff too. Organize your activity equipment by color. Use large totes in different colors—red for dance, blue for tennis, green for club soccer and so on.

Multiple devices mean lots of chargers and cords. They were always disappearing at my house until we color-coded our devices by individual (with permanent marker or a strip of colored tape on the cable). No more getting away with stealing chargers!

Creating a Motivating Environment

Always looking internally for motivational inspiration to get something done is ineffective and exhausting! And generally leads us down the path of not getting anything accomplished. Setting up your environment so it communicates to you that it’s time to get moving removes the pressure of always relying on yourself.

Let me explain.

I believe that to get motivated, people need to create positive energy around their tasks. Your environment plays a huge role in encouraging you to initiate and complete your work. If you don’t like where you spend your time, you’re not going to get down to business, no matter what that business is.

Aim to create an environment that will make you happy and motivated so you can finish strong every time. Think of it like a caffeine boost.

I want you to open your bedroom door or head to your favorite study spot and have it send a message to you that it’s time to get work done. Right now. And here’s the good news: when it comes to setting up your environment so that it elicits a motivating response, YOU have a ton of control.

Some find the college search to be a massive undertaking. It’s an enormous, drawn-out project with so many moving parts that it’s easy for a procrastinator to go into shutdown mode.

My best advice is to treat it as you would any of your school subjects. Make “College Application” a subject in your planner. This way, you are sure to incorporate the work necessary for college applications with the rest of your studies. Here are a few more suggestions:

Use a planner or calendar. If you think you can do this without one, you’re kidding yourself. You need to keep track of all application deadlines, financial aid and scholarship dates, campus visits, alumni interviews, in-school meetings with your guidance counselor and a million more things. If you need to be on top of a deadline or date, write it down.

Set up a special organizing system just for your college search. It’s easy to get overwhelmed by the college mailers, supplements, essays and recommendations that take over your life during senior year. Use a milk crate or desktop filing system to make materials easily accessible, portable and visual. Create a file for each school so you can easily drop in any brochures, supplements or financial aid information specific to each college.

Break down your essay writing. Don’t think that you’re going to get all your essays or even the one for the Common Application done in one sitting. Set realistic expectations as you go. It’s a lot easier to plan to write two paragraphs in one afternoon than a whole essay.

Check it off. Staple a checklist to the front of each folder that includes the school name, application due dates, and the requirements for references, essays, portfolio, financial aid and anything else. Transfer all important dates to your master calendar or planner so you stay on track.

Organize your campus visits. My daughter, Maddie, a college graduate, offers this advice: “Create an evaluation sheet to use as a Brain Dump after each visit. It will help you differentiate the information you receive from each info session and campus tour. Immediately after each visit write down your thoughts while they are still fresh in your head. It also helped to organize my notes so they would be usable when writing my supplemental essays.” And bring a notebook and the school’s file folder with you on your campus visit. Place any handouts you receive directly into your folder so that nothing gets lost between your visit and home. You can put the folder back into the file box when you arrive home.

Color. Color is a great way to infuse energy and fun into your space. I’ve never met a student who likes staring at a sea of blank, boring walls every day. So if bare is blah, then it’s time to go to town and literally paint the town red. Or in your case, it might mean painting your bedroom walls orange, neon pink, striped or even zebra print. The only thing that matters is that you use your favorite color or pattern. (And that you get permission from whoever owns those walls!) If painting a room is not in the cards, then hang colorful tapestries, fabric or even removable wallpaper stickers to achieve the same effect.

And don’t forget that rugs, furniture, throws, pillows, room accessories, picture frames and even knickknacks can all add that burst of color you crave.

Print multiple copies of the Common Application and any supplements required by the colleges you are applying to. Answer all the questions FIRST in a word processing document, and then transfer your answers to the computer form. Remember, there is no going back once you hit Submit!

And a tip within a tip? Be mindful of word and character count. Some essays require a certain number of words, while others count characters.

Light. Situate your desk or work area near a window. Research shows that natural light increases productivity, creates less stress and improves overall health. (I’m literally sitting outside as I write this!)

And here’s a fun fact. Studies also show that overhead cool-white fluorescent lighting (the kind you find in classrooms) ricochets off the surface of assignments into your eyes, a reflection that causes a type of unintended glare called veiling reflection, which interferes with your ability to read words on paper. Poor lighting reduces the effectiveness of the brain’s power to gather data. Imagine bringing that excuse to your teacher or professor!

Cool tools. Some of you love the beginning of a new school year for the sole fact that you get to buy new supplies. Oh, come on. I know you’re out there. If you have favorite pens, love pretty folders or even can’t get started on a paper or project unless you have neon sticky notes or index cards by your side, then use that to your advantage. If these kinds of tools make you happy, then you’ll be more productive.

Eye candy. Posters, artwork, old album covers, a collage of your hometown friends, your college banner, sports memorabilia, memorable sayings. The list goes on. Anything that promotes positive imagery and gets you to work in the space you create will do.

Noise. I know we discussed music in the homework chapter, but this is more about controlling or canceling the noise in your environment. Invest in a good pair of headphones or a white noise machine to drown out distractions. Or check out apps that give you different sounds to listen to. My favorite is rain forest sounds.

When you’re working alone, it’s super easy to procrastinate. You don’t have anybody holding you accountable and no consequences are hanging over your head. StickK to the rescue! It lets you put your money where your mouth is. Literally! You actually lose money if you don’t do what you commit to doing! Here’s how it works:

You set a goal and commit to doing it over a period of time. (I’m going to study for my econ test for the next five days, or I’m going to clean and organize my room every Tuesday evening.) Set a sum of money that you are willing to lose if you don’t reach your goal. Make sure to pick a sum that will be painful enough to motivate you but doesn’t leave you penniless if you fail. You can even invite supporters for extra accountability and a referee who confirms whether you succeed in reaching your goal.

You decide who gets your money if you fail. And here’s where it has got to hurt. You want to pick a cause you don’t believe in or a person you deeply dislike! Because no one wants to lose money that way!

Scent. Don’t laugh. Many of my students swear by aromatherapy or even lighting candles to help them get their motivation mojo. And they’re on to something! Aromatherapy is an easy and effective way to soothe the brain, improve your mood and increase your energy levels, leading to greater productivity. Try scents such as peppermint, lemon, cinnamon, eucalyptus or lavender to calm and center you.

Food. Now I’m speaking your language! There is no greater magic elixir when it comes to getting moving than when food is involved. Can you think of a time when pizza helped you out of a massive procrastination fix? Or frozen yogurt? (That’s mine!) In the routines and rituals chapter we discussed which foods actually give your brain the much-needed energy boost it needs to get work done. But for now, I just want you to think about which foods I could bribe you with, so you get working.

I have a fun story to share with you about the power of popcorn. Yes, popcorn.

Sam was a high school junior when we first met. Not only did he not like working, he also didn’t like working with me. And he wasn’t shy about telling me so. So, in the beginning, we didn’t get very much done during our sessions. He wouldn’t budge. And I was frustrated. Until one time, I asked him, for no other reason than I was trying to connect with him, what his favorite food was. He told me popcorn. So doing everything I could to get him to like me (I do that from time to time), I asked him if he wanted to go to the kitchen and make some to munch on while we had our session. He brought back a big bowl and we got started.

I quickly noticed that something had changed. Sam was more alert, willing to listen to my instructions and could keep his energy level up throughout the session. Not knowing if he was just being polite because I had suggested a fun activity, I mentioned the popcorn again at our next session. And the same results happened. Wanting to build on Sam’s success, I asked Sam to do a little experiment for me when he was working alone. For the times in between our sessions, when Sam sat down to study, I wanted him to have popcorn by his side and to record the results. As you might imagine, it worked. Sam felt it was easier to do a task that he detested (studying) when it was paired with something he loved (popcorn). This perfect pairing lasted all the way through Sam’s college years, and it still gets him through some critical deadlines at his job.

Chapter 6
“I Know Where Everything Is”
Organizing

Your Bedroom

The Digital Download