how to keep track of homework in college

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How to Easily Stay Organized and Productive in College

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I used to be a terribly disorganized person.

Even as late as high school, my backpack was a mess of crumpled papers, broken pens, and cracker crumbs. It didn’t hurt my academic performance, but it certainly hurt my sanity.

When I got to college, however, I had the good fortune of discovering this website. This led me to become more serious about organization, particularly when it came to my calendar and digital materials. I’m still no Marie Kondo, but these days I would consider myself “more organized than average.”

In this guide, I’m going to take you through the entire process of getting yourself organized in college. As you’ll see, getting organized is the easy part, so I’ll also address the thing that really matters: how to stay organized throughout the semester.

So open up your favorite calendar app , pull out your notebooks, and let’s get organized!

Why You MUST Stay Organized in College (It’s Not Why You Might Think)

“Your brain is for having ideas, not storing them.” — David Allen, Getting Things Done

I knew a lot of really smart people in college who barely got any sleep , mainlined caffeine , and seemed to exist in a constant state of low-grade panic.

You might assume this is because they were taking a heavy course load and were just overcommitted. While that was part of the problem in some cases, more often than not the reason for these people’s hectic lifestyle was that they were severely disorganized .

They were still able to perform well because they were smart, paid attention in class, and could study effectively when they needed to. But their overall quality of life was less than it could have been.

This is the number one reason to get organized: it will drastically reduce your stress levels .

And when you’re less stressed, you’ll feel better and perform better on assignments. You’ll also have more time for the things you enjoy doing, and you’ll just be a more pleasant person to be around.

Note that getting organized will not automatically improve your GPA . You still have to study the material, go to class, take good notes , do the homework assignments, and get help from a professor or tutor when necessary.

But if you’re organized, you’ll also have more time to do the above things…instead of operating in panic mode and feeling like you never have the extra time to study difficult concepts.

P.S. – This guide is really detailed and will definitely get you up and running. However, if you want to see  exactly  how to set up each system we’re about to cover, you might want to take our founder Thomas’ productivity masterclass:

With a proper productivity system, nothing ever slips through the cracks. In just one hour, you'll learn how to set up your to-do list, calendar, note-taking system, file management, and more — the smart way.

How to Get Organized: 5 Key Areas of Focus

Okay, so now that you understand the value of organization, let’s take a look at the key areas that every student needs to organize. If you can get the following aspects of your life organized, then you’ll be off to a strong start for the semester.

And even if you’re reading this halfway through the semester, this advice will still apply — it just may require a bit more work to implement since you’re in the midst of your classes.

1. Your Calendar

If I had to give just one piece of productivity advice for everyone to implement, it would be “use a calendar.” It’s quite shocking to me how disorganized many professionals are, and the issue generally stems from not using (and maintaining) a calendar.

Calendars free up so much space in your head. Instead of having to remember appointments, classes, or due dates using post-it notes or scraps of paper in your wallet, you can have everything organized in a convenient, visual format. And if you use a digital calendar, you can automatically get reminders of important events before they sneak up on you.

What you use for your calendar doesn’t matter. We’re big fans of Google Calendar here at College Info Geek, but you can also use any number of other calendar apps. You can even go old-school with a paper planner, as long as you look at it regularly enough.

Once you’ve chosen a calendar, the next step is to make a big brain dump of every important event for the semester. Here are some key things to include:

• Your class times
• Important due dates from your syllabi (exams, term papers, etc.)
• Exercise times (you do have a workout schedule , right?)
• Meetings with professors/tutors
• Club/extracurricular meeting times
• Dorm/apartment move-in/move-out dates
• Your work schedule (if you have a part-time job )
• Payment due dates (credit card, rent, any other important expenses)

An Example from My Real College Calendar

Once you have a list of all this stuff, it’s time to put it on your calendar.

Here’s an example of a typical week from my calendar during my senior year of college:

As you can see, I have all my classes blocked out. Not only did this make sure that I would never forget a class, but it also ensured that I would never schedule a meeting or other event during class time.

Note: If you’re using a digital calendar, I highly recommend you set your classes to repeat. This way, you’ll never forget when a class happens. Here’s how to create recurring events in Google Calendar.

You’ll also notice I have meetings, rehearsals, time for freelance work, and plenty of blank spots. I didn’t schedule my study time, as I was pretty good about getting that work done, but you could also include study blocks for particular classes if you want.

Of course, your calendar is just part of the equation.

How do you keep track of all the things you need to do on a daily basis?

How do you keep track of homework, tasks around your living space, and other goals you want to accomplish?

For this, you need a to-do list…

2. Your To-Do List/Task Manager

While having a calendar is the bare minimum for being organized, having a to-do list will really take things to the next level.

At first, you might wonder if a to-do list is even necessary at all. After all, can’t you just put all the things you have to do on your calendar?

While this method can work, it tends to fall apart if you have more than a couple things to do each day.

Plus, mixing your calendar and to-do list ignores the fact that each tool is better for different organizational tasks:

• Your calendar is for keeping track of events . That is, things that occur at a specific day and/or time that generally require you to physically be somewhere.
• Your to-do list, on the other hand, is for keeping track of tasks . Tasks are things you need to accomplish (sometimes on a specific day), but they generally don’t require you to be in a specific place or keep an appointment of some kind.

I realize the difference between events and tasks can sometimes be murky, so here are a few examples:

• A meeting with a professor
• A class you have to attend
• A music ensemble rehearsal
• Drafting an essay to bring to a meeting with a professor
• Completing a problem set for a class
• Learning how to play a piece of music for a rehearsal

How to Set Up a To-Do List

Now that you understand the difference, how do you actually set up a to-do list?

Again, you have a variety of options, and what you choose will depend if you want to use a digital or physical system.

On the digital side, we recommend Todoist . It’s free, intuitive, and easy to set up.

If you want a physical method, the bullet journal system is a great option. You can even create a hybrid digital-physical system, as Thomas discusses in this video:

But ultimately, it doesn’t matter what system you use. You could use a whiteboard or a blank notebook if you want. What matters is that you keep an updated list of the tasks you need to accomplish, as well as, you know, actually doing said tasks.

To make your to-do list, you should first create a brain dump of everything that you need to do on a regular basis. Here are some tasks that most college students need to do:

• Homework assignments
• Cleaning your dorm/apartment
• Preparing meals
• Club tasks (particularly if you’re an officer)
• Anything you’re learning outside of class

Next, you’ll need to put all of these tasks into your to-do list system. If you’re using a digital system, you can set certain tasks to recur (think “take out the trash” or “complete calculus problems for the day”). And then, as you think of new tasks, you can add them to your system.

Here’s an example of what my to-do list looked like in college:

3. Your Notes

Taking good notes is key for comprehending and retaining any lectures or presentations that your professors give.

But taking notes on its own isn’t enough — to get the most value out of your notes, you need to keep them organized.

For some people, this could be as simple as having a different notebook for each class and referring back to it when you need to study for an exam.

While this can work, it’s not ideal. This is particularly true when you’re studying for a midterm or final and need to refer to weeks of notes.

To keep your notes extra organized, we recommend using a digital system such as Evernote . With Evernote, you can create a different digital “Notebook” for each class and type your notes there.

If you prefer to take notes by hand (which some studies indicate can help you better process information ), then you can also digitize your notes afterwards. To make this simple, just do it after all your classes are done for the day, before you start your homework.

When you use this system, you’ll be able to review material much more easily. You can even search for key terms and Evernote will help you find them in your notes, saving you the trouble of flipping back through a physical notebook.

4. Your Class Materials and Files (Digital and Physical)

In addition to your notes, each of your classes will likely have a syllabus, handouts, and presentations that you need to keep track of. You’ll also likely have assignments that the professor (or their grader) has returned to you, which can be valuable materials to review when you’re studying for an exam.

It’s key to keep all of these materials organized. Sure, you can probably get the syllabus, handouts, and PowerPoint presentations online. But that’s one extra step you have to go through when it comes time to study. Plus, you never know when the internet or school website might be down.

To be safe, I recommend you keep all of your class materials organized either in a physical three-ring binder or in some kind of digital system.

You could put all of the material in Evernote along with your notes, or you could have dedicated Google Drive folders for each class (other cloud sync apps like Dropbox and OneDrive work here as well, but Drive offers the best value for students unless you specifically need Microsoft Office).

Here’s an example of the Google Drive file system I used for my classes during the first semester of my junior year:

For extra redundancy, you could also keep folders on your computer with these materials in case the internet is down and you can’t access them.

Want more info on how to keep your files organized? Check out this guide Thomas created .

5. Your Backpack

We couldn’t talk about organization in college without discussing something that almost every student has: a backpack .

Even with an increasingly digital world, you still need to carry around your computer. And many classes will still have physical textbooks that you need to bring, as well as assignments that you have to complete on paper.

Your backpack (or briefcase or purse or whatever you use) is key for keeping all of these materials organized and at the ready.

Organizing your backpack isn’t hard — the key step is to remember to fill your backpack with the things you need for the day.

After all, there’s nothing worse than showing up in class, only to get that sinking feeling in your stomach as you realize that you don’t have the book or paper you need.

In some cases, not having the right materials could even hurt your participation grade, so organizing your backpack is something you must not overlook.

To make sure you bring everything to class, pack your bag the night before . This was the advice my mom gave me when I was in elementary school, and it still applied in college.

Packing the night before ensures that you don’t forget anything due to being in a hurry. And it also allows you a night of sleep to recall something you forgot.

If you’re really having trouble remembering to bring everything you need to class, you can add a task to your to-do list that says something like “Pack bag for [day of the week] classes.” Under this task, write a list of the things that you need to bring. This way, you can check off the items as you’re packing.

Here’s an example of what this would look like in Todoist:

Curious what should be in your backpack for college? Check out this list .

How to Stay Organized with Weekly Productivity Planning and Reviews

If you went through all the steps in the previous section, you should now have a system for keeping all aspects of your life organized. However, creating the organizational system is actually the easy part.

The challenge comes from keeping things organized. So in this section, I’ll show you two crucial habits that will help you maintain your organizational system:

• Weekly planning
• Weekly review

These two habits are complementary, and they take 30 minutes a week at most. Yet they can have a massive effect on whether or not you actually stay organized:

1. Review Your Previous Week

So you put your organizational system into place, and you now feel more motivated than ever.

However, what you’ll quickly realize is that real life isn’t as neat and precise as your beautiful to-do list and calendar.

Inevitably, unexpected things will come up that will prevent you from completing certain tasks or even attending certain events.

It’s tempting to get frustrated when things don’t go as planned, but it’s more effective to accept that this will happen and correct your system accordingly.

One of the best ways for dealing with unexpected changes or challenges to your organization is to create a weekly productivity review habit.

This 3-step process only takes a few minutes:

1. Compare what you planned to accomplish with what you actually accomplished.

We start each week with the best intentions, but then life happens.

You planned to spend an hour each day practicing integral calculus, but you only did that 3 days out of the week.

You signed up for a Thursday evening yoga class, but then you ended up having too much homework to attend.

You get the idea. The point is to look at the gap between what you planned and what actually happened.

2. Use this information to make changes to your system.

Recognizing the gap between your plans and accomplishments means nothing if you don’t use that information to inform your future plans.

Once you’ve identified what you didn’t accomplish, you need to examine why. Then, you can adjust what you plan for the coming week.

For instance, if you didn’t get in your hour of integral calculus practice each day, what prevented you?

You might realize that it was because you were studying in the student center and kept getting distracted by friends passing by. Recognizing this, you could plan to do your studying in the library basement, a place with no distractions except some dusty geological survey maps.

As you make this process a habit , you’ll get better about planning realistic goals and schedules. Which brings us to the next habit…

2. Plan Your Upcoming Week

Once you’ve reviewed the previous week, it’s time to plan for the week to come.

If you’re adjusting what you do based on the previous week, then you’re already on the right track. But in addition to reviewing the previous week, I recommend the following weekly planning steps:

1. Clean up your task management system and calendar.

During the course of the week, there will be tasks on your to-do list that you either forget to check off or just don’t do. Your calendar may also end up with stray events that are no longer relevant, or with things that you need to reschedule for the coming week.

When you’re planning the week to come, first make sure to clean out all the existing junk in your organizational systems.

Find new, realistic due dates for tasks you didn’t get to last week, and make note of any rescheduled events on your calendar. This could also extend to organizing any binders you have for class, securing loose papers, and digitizing any notes you haven’t gotten around to.

2. Plan for the week to come.

Once you’ve cleaned out everything from the previous week, you can turn your attention to the upcoming week.

To start, make a list of any upcoming tasks you can think of. I recommend looking at the syllabus for each of your classes, as well as any online systems that your professors use to post assignments. Then, transfer your tasks into your to-do list system.

Next, take a look at your calendar. See what events are coming for the week, and add anything that isn’t currently on your calendar. Check your syllabus for impending due dates, and review your work schedule to make sure it’s accurate.

Finally, make sure that your backpack is organized and packed for the following day. This will help you avoid forgetting an assignment or book you need to bring to class.

This weekly review and planning process may sound time-consuming when you read through it, but in reality, it should take no more than thirty minutes.

And if you do it every week, you’ll find that it takes you less and less time as you become more organized . To make sure that you go through the process each week, block off time for it on your calendar (man that just got meta).

Staying Organized Sets You Up for Success

This ended up being a massive guide, so here are the key takeaways for easy reference:

• Use Google Calendar (or another calendar app) to keep your events organized.
• Organize your task with a to-do list system such as Todoist .
• Digitize your notes for easier review.
• Keep your physical and digital class materials organized using a three-ring binder and Google Drive .
• Keep your backpack clean and stocked with the materials you need to bring to class.
• Take 30 minutes each week to review the previous week and plan the week to come.

And above all, don’t let your organizational system get in the way of what really matters: accomplishing the things you want to do .

The right organizational system will help you do the things you want without getting too stressed. But at the end of the day, you still have to sit down and do the work.

So go out there this semester and do something epic!

Need help staying organized while taking online classes? Check out this guide .

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How to keep track of homework assignments

Katie Azevedo December 29, 2016 good habits , homework , productivity , study skills , time management

The first step to getting a good grade on an assignment is to … wait for it … do the assignment!

Simple, right?

Maybe, but only if you remember to do the assignment. For some students, knowing how to keep track of assignments and their due dates is a huge challenge. Here, I’m going to explain how to keep track of assignments and projects, and give you some tips for staying organized. A cool angle to this is that what I’m going to be talking about is completely applicable outside of school. So if you’re not a student, but you still have due dates and project deadlines – pretty much like any human – then this system is for you, too.

1.  Find a planner system and use it multiple times every day.

The KEY step for keeping track of homework, which I’ll get to next , is to write everything down. But before that happens, you need a place to write it all. You have three options here. 1) paper 2) digital 3) a combination of both. Personally, I use a combination of both. While I am a pen and paper person at heart, I do use Google calendar in addition to my paper calendar. I have a family and a business to run, so I need the digital aspect to be able to share calendars with other people. For my paper calendar I use the Staples Arc system . It’s cheap, simple, and super customizable.

I advise you to pick a system based on what’s convenient and easy, and not on what is cool. There are a gazillion list apps out there with fancy features — some of you may have heard of Evernote , the king of task management apps — but the goal is to keep it simple and use a system that you don’t have to stress about. If it’s too complicated, you won’t want to be bothered to even take it out when you need it. Whatever you pick, be sure it includes a monthly calendar and a daily calendar/agenda. Here’s why:

A monthly calendar allows you to see, at a glance, what assignments and appointments are coming up over the next few days or weeks or months. It’s key for long-term planning.

A daily calendar/agenda allows you to see and plan for what’s coming up tomorrow and in the very near future.

Whether you go for a dated calendar or an undated one (one you have to date yourself) is up to you. What size is up to you. (I use a half-sized one and a full-sized one!) Here’s a picture:

The cover and paper inside your planner is up to you. Whether you color-code your entries is up to you. (I do!) Make it something you’re excited to use, while keeping it simple.

It’s important to use your system multiple times a day because the more you use it, the more you trust it. And the more you trust it, the more it will work.

I’ve heard so many students say “I’ve tried using an assignment notebook and calendar, but it doesn’t work.” But when I ask them if they write everything down, they say no. And that’s why. So you’ve got to commit to your system. Use it multiple times every day. Get in the habit of checking it every morning or every night before bed so you know what’s on your agenda.

2.  Write everything down. And the operative word here is EVERYTHING.

I have a theory that I’ve lived by for the longest time: Our brains weren’t made for storing information, but are instead made for creating and processing information. (Lol … it turns out that I’m not a genius and that I didn’t invent this theory.) Several scientific studies actually support the idea that to a degree we have a maximum brain capacity. And if we use up all that capacity for storing information and trying to remember everything … then there will be no brain energy left to create, think and process. So by writing things down, we get them out of our heads, which frees up space for us to be smarter and more creative.

Plus, there is just no way on earth that we can remember every little detail of what’s due when, as well as the time and date of your next doctor’s appointment. If something comes up and you’re not sure whether to write it down, write it down!

Here’s what you should be keeping track of:

• Daily homework assignments (short-term)
• Project due dates (long-term)
• Upcoming tests/quizzes
• Books that have to be read by a certain point
• Appointments (doctor, dentist, guidance counselor, coach, etc.)
• Things you’re supposed to remember to do (ie: talk to math teacher)
• After-school activities, sports (even if you have practice every day from 2:30-5, block out that time on your calendar)
• Weekend activities

Here’s another important tip: write assignments down the moment their assigned, and write appointments down the moment their scheduled. Do NOT tell yourself that you’ll remember to write it down later. Doesn’t work! Plus – that defeats the purpose: you don’t want to use your brain to remember . If you don’t have your paper agenda with you when something comes up, then set a reminder in your phone to write it down later, or write the assignment down on a sticky note and put it somewhere you won’t forget. Then, transfer the information into your planner the moment you get home.

3.  Set up reminders.

Let’s say you have a project due in one week, so you write down “biology project due” on your calendar on the date it’s due. Sound good? No! No, because you don’t want to end up checking your calendar on the project’s due date and realizing “Oh crap! It’s due today!” So the hack for remembering to do the assignments you write down is this: remind yourself along the way.

You can do this several ways, depending on your system. If you’re using digital, like a phone, use the default reminder app to remind yourself of the project at least a few days before it’s due. You can even set up several reminders throughout the week. If you’re using a good old paper calendar, then in addition to writing down “project due” on the actual due date, write in several reminders to work on the project on the days leading up to the due date.

A reminder system also helps you manage your time for long-term assignments because it encourages you to work a little bit each day towards the larger goal.

4.  Keep your planner/calendar accurate and up-to-date.

Your homework management system is only going to work if it’s accurate. So you’ve got to be sure that you update your calendar and your agenda as things change. So if your teacher gives an extension or changes the due date of a project, or if your band concert or meeting is rescheduled, make those edits in your calendar. (Try to keep it neat if you’re using a paper system, so that might mean using whiteout. Messy on paper equals messy in the head.) And remember the rule: make these changes immediately if possible.

If you end up using a combination of a digital system and a paper system, make sure you sync the two systems daily. I have run into the problem where I’ve added an appointment in my phone, but then forgot to add it to my paper calendar, and then I totally forgot about it. Oops! So I make it a habit to review both calendars/agendas every night to make sure they both contain the same information.

How to keep track of homework assignments: Extra tip

There are going to be times when you fall off the bandwagon and let your system slip. You might go a few days or even a week without writing things down – either because you forget or you keep telling yourself that you’ll do it later. But don’t give up on your system. Just pick up where you left off and get back to writing down every little detail. Whenever you wander away from your system, bring yourself back to it, and don’t judge yourself.

Also, these moments can be learning opportunities! Whenever you stop using your agenda or calendar, ask yourself why? Why did you stop? What part of the system wasn’t working? If the system was easy enough to use, you wouldn’t have stopped. Is your notebook so big that it’s annoying to bring with you? Then get a smaller one. Are you not writing assignments down because you don’t have enough space in the “Daily Agenda” part of your notebook? Then get a notebook that gives you more room to write down your daily tasks. Did you think you were a techie, but find the app stuff too complicated? Or vice versa? Then switch systems. Modify as you go. You won’t come up with the perfect system right away, but you will instead figure out what works for you as you go. Be open to change.

So those are my 4 strategies for how to keep track of homework assignments. If you have some strategies of your own, then please share them in the comments below!

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5 ways to organize your college assignments.

BY JANE HURST

Weekly assignments, midterms, final papers… all piling up each day, making every year of your college life seem more difficult than the previous one. But it doesn’t have to be this hard.

There are several different ways to help you sort out your assignments and actually get started with completing them. Whether you prefer putting all your notes and ideas on paper or would rather reduce your carbon footprint and go all in for tech, here are 5 ways to organize your student assignments:

• Assignment binders and planners

Perhaps the most accessible method for organizing your student assignments is creating a binder to hold all your papers, reminders, and auxiliary materials. You can either create one for each class or a separate binder for your assignments only. Alternatively, you can put together an up-to-date semester agenda with assignments and their due dates so you can check it out each week to see what’s next for you to prepare and if you’re on track with college work.

These two options are strong organization tools you can reach out to at any time. Try color-coding or sorting them in a specific order of your choice to find the files you need more easily. For instance, you can divide your assignments binder into 3 parts: a red folder for assignments you have to complete, a yellow one for the ones you’re working on, and a green folder for any papers you’ve already delivered. Be careful here not to put an assignment you’re done with into the green folder until you’ve delivered it to your teacher.

• Digital Kanban boards

If you’d rather have a tool remind you when your assignments are due, try digital Kanban boards. A Kanban visual board is a practical method that lets you track all assignments and college work through 3 simple stages: To Do, In Progress, and Finished/Delivered.

You’ll receive email notifications or alerts whenever an assignment’s deadline is approaching. The best part is that these tools can also be used together with your classmates in case you’ve got group projects to work on.

Free project management software options like Paymo often offer a Kanban feature in addition to simple to-do lists that will also allow you to keep track of any other duties you have be they personal or college related.

• Consider a cloud-based file storage solution

If you’re always on the run going from one class to another, you probably won’t want to keep all your files, binders, and notes with you. Online file storage options like Dropbox or Google Drive help you store all of these in a single place.

This way, you’ll be able to access your assignments and class notes from anywhere whether you’re on your laptop, smartphone, or classroom computer. You can also become a power user of these digital solutions by learning how to organize your files into folders so you’ve got every structured according to your year of study, semester, and class.

• The classical desktop folders

For those of you who like taking their laptop to class and writing down all notes digitally, you might want to stick to organizing all files in your computer. This is an accessible and free method that will also allow you to get started with an assignment without having to download any external files.

An example for this filing system could be: Assignments -> Molecular Foundations -> Midterm Assignments -> To Do -> DNA recombination paper (file).

To make sure you don’t miss a deadline, just pair this method with a project management tool or your calendar app to send you regular reminders in time.

• The Big6 Organizer 

Now that you’ve got your files sorted, you need a strategy to get started with working on your assignments. The Big6 method is a 6-step process that helps you conduct your research through a series of clear stages. This way you’ll never be stuck again wondering what you’re supposed to do next.

The 6 stages are:

• Task definition – Define your information-related problem and find the facts and figures you need. 2. Information seeking strategies – Identify all potential information sources and establish the best ones. 3. Location and access – Locate these sources and find the info you need within them. 4. Use of information – Engage with the information you found by reading any written content, watching a video, or experimenting and extract only the information that is relevant to your research. 5. Synthesis – Organize the info you found in your multiple sources and present it in a structured manner. 6. Evaluation – Judge the effectiveness of your results and analyze if the research process was efficient and you’ve covered all of the assignment’s aspects.

Test a few of these methods for organizing your student assignments before you decide to rigorously follow one. Pay particular attention to how stress-free you feel when using one or another of these techniques. For example, if you’re feeling anxious at all times thinking you’ll forget to hand in an assignment, then perhaps it’s better for you to go for one of the digital methods that will notify you whenever a due date is approaching.

Jane Hurst has been working in education for over 5 years as a teacher. She loves sharing her knowledge with students, is fascinated about edtech and loves reading, a lot. Follow Jane on Twitter.

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How To Keep Up With College Assignments (Ultimate Guide)

Keeping up with college assignments can feel like trying to swim upstream with your hands tied behind your back. Even though this can feel impossible sometimes, there are many things you can do to make your semester go as smoothly and successfully as possible.

Here’s how to keep up with college assignments:

• Keep a weekly planner.
• Take notes by hand.
• Form an accountability group.
• Avoid burnout at all costs.

This article is meant to guide you through your college courses and to help you keep up with your college assignments. You will learn how to keep up with your studies, and how to avoid burnout at the same time. So let’s keep going.

1. Keep a Weekly Planner

If you’re always unsure of what you need to complete in a given week or what’s coming up in your classes, then you’re setting yourself up for failure. Get yourself a weekly planner and organize your thoughts and schedule for the week. 

People who use planners are usually much more organized and are able to tackle the events of a week efficiently and effectively. Take an hour at the start of the week, such as Sunday or Monday, and write out everything that you are responsible for that week.

Plan out the best days to complete each so that you’re not crunched for time.

Most weekly planners also have monthly pages, so you can also plan ahead for assignments that may require more than a week’s work. A larger project or final paper might need two or more weeks, so keeping up with the monthly portion will set you up to plan these types of assignments accordingly.

My favorite undated planner is the Clever Fox Undated Weekly and Monthly Planner (link to Amazon). This planner is great because you can pick it up and start whenever since there are no set dates on the pages. 

It helps break down large tasks into smaller, more doable ones and helps keep your priorities for the week in order. 

I usually recommend this planner for people who are new to using a planner because if you miss a week or struggle to get into the habit of filling it out, you aren’t left with a bunch of blank pages killing your motivation. 

Just pick up where you left off.

If you prefer a dated planner, then the Moleskine 12 Month Weekly Planner (link to Amazon) is my go-to, which is what I use for everything. The pages are clean, simple, and easy to keep up with. 

There are a few different sizes and colors, but I find that the pocket size in plain black is classic and fits everywhere I need it to. 

Things To Avoid in a Weekly Planner

It’s both a blessing and a curse that planners have absolutely skyrocketed in popularity. There are so many to choose from, with a million different sorts of goals in mind. Planners for fitness, water consumption, beer-drinking, inspirational quotes, or knitting progress all exist now. 

Being able to pick a planner that fits you best is great. However, these planners are bloated with useless pages and sections. Okay, maybe not useless but not incredibly useful either.

If your planner is meant to help you keep your assignments straight and limit your time procrastinating, then a planner with pages to list all of your favorite moments from the previous day, month, and year won’t help you. 

If you want a planner to help practice positivity and gratitude, that’s great. Just keep them separate, and put on one on your nightstand for pleasure and one in your backpack for work.

Schedule a Weekly Catch-Up Day

It can be very helpful to have a day or half-day schedule that’s always reserved for just catching up on work that you have fallen a bit behind on. This isn’t to be scheduled for anything else so that you can always count on some time to just sit and catch up before things get out of hand.

If you’ve been able to keep up that week, having that day completely free is something to look forward to. You can use that time to do whatever you love most.

2. Take Notes by Hand

Your classes are probably full of students typing out their notes on their laptops. This trend has been such a detriment to students being able to retain what they heard in their classes.

One widely cited study concluded that those who take notes on their laptops were much less likely to comprehend the content they were typing. Instead, they were unable to form the concepts that would help them understand the material ( source ).

In addition to laptops inviting a whole host of distractions into the classroom, typed notes are usually more like shallow transcriptions of the lecture. The hand-written notes would help them process the information that was communicated instead. 

Students who wrote out their notes with pen and paper were more likely to write out the lectures in their own words . When you take the lecture and translate it into a language that makes the most sense to you, then you’ll have a deeper understanding of the material and the ability to recall the concepts you learned. 

If you’re working through your assignments and are able to easily recall the lectures, you’ll be much faster than if you’re staring blankly at the script you wrote out on a laptop. 

Leave the technology at home. You’ll have less distraction and will find that you actually need less time to complete your assignments since you’ll have actually learned the material you’re working on.

3. Form an Accountability Group

Something that students report as being a huge help with keeping up on college assignments is having a group of other students keeping them accountable. Some of the different ways that students have formed accountability groups are with group messaging, tackling assignments together, and weekly work meetings.

The best way to form an accountability group will depend on who you have that would be interested in joining. If there’s enough interest in a particular class, then you might find that getting together and working on the weekly assignments together is very helpful. 

However, it can be just as helpful to form a weekly group even if the members are in different classes. 

In my own undergraduate years, I would form a group of a handful of other students, and we would meet up twice a week to work. Everyone was in different classes and had different work to do, but working together made it much more enjoyable.

4. Avoid Burnout at All Costs

The most important thing you can do to keep up with your college assignments, by far, is to avoid burnout. It doesn’t matter how on top of things you are the first few months if everything falls apart in the last weeks when assignments tend to be worth much more. 

Many other articles and academic advisors will stress that you must always put your college classes and their assignments first before anything. However, that’s bad advice. 

That’s the advice that led to a generation of burnt-out students and young adults. 

Burnout results from long exposure to stress, when you’re under the impression that you’re failing to keep up with your responsibilities or are just barely making it. It’s made up of physical, psychological, and relationship effects on the person ( source ).

Thankfully, the prevalence of burnout is becoming recognized as a serious problem, and universities are beginning to take notice of the effects it has on their student population.

Ultimately, before anything, the thing that should always come first is your own health and well-being. If you’re taking good care of yourself, then getting your work done throughout the whole semester will be much less stressful than if you’re overworking, undersleeping, and at your wits’ end on most days. 

The best way to get through the college semester and keep up with your assignments is to prevent burnout from happening in the first place. However, if you do feel as though you’re beginning to have some symptoms, then tackling that and getting your health in order should become the top priority. 

Once you’ve recognized that you’re experiencing burnout, if you ignore it and try to keep on trudging through the semester, then you can end up much worse off, both in your health and in your college classes.

Recognizing Warning Signs of Burnout

If you’re worried about whether or not you’re experiencing burnout, look back on the last few weeks of your life and make an honest assessment of how you felt on those days ( source ).

Additionally, begin to keep a journal where you can just quickly write down how you’re feeling physically and mentally. This can be a great tool for reference when looking for symptoms of burnout since memory isn’t always the most reliable guide. 

If you’re feeling some of these early signs, then you should seek some help before things begin to snowball:

• You’re feeling drained and exhausted most days.
• Having consistent body and headaches.
• Loss of appetite.
• Problems sleeping.
• Problems with feeling motivated.
• Easily feeling overwhelmed.
• Becoming apathetic towards school, work, and other pastimes.

If you’re experiencing some or all of these signs, then it’s time to seek some outside help. Most colleges provide free counseling services and support groups specifically for burnout since it has become such a burden on students. 

Additionally, it might not hurt to reach out to the professors of your classes. 

More often than not, they’ll be very empathetic and be willing to create a timetable for you to get back on track in a way that also allows you to recover from the effects of burnout at the same time. 

Ways To Combat Burnout

The best offense against burnout is a super strong defense. Taking care of yourself throughout the semester before things get out of hand will be incredibly helpful in keeping your stress levels at a manageable level. 

Taking a holistic approach to your life has been shown to do a lot of good when it comes to combating burnout in chronically stressful settings, such as college. 

Some of the best things you can do to stave off burnout are:

• Adopting a consistent exercise routine.
• Taking the time to eat well every day.
• Avoid alcohol and other drugs.
• Maintain your friendships and other relationships.
• Give yourself time to relax.

These are just some of the things you can do to try and keep up with your health and well-being. This is super important and will directly translate into further success in college as well ( source ).

Habits To Help Keep Up With College Assignments

Once the semester really begins to pick up, it can feel like you’re drowning in assignments, papers, and studying for exams. Once you start to fall behind, catching backup can be very difficult and exhausting. 

Keeping up with college assignments is a lot of hard work. 

Everyone struggles to keep up sometimes, so it’s not just you. Many college students feel alone in the struggle, so a good place to start is with the knowledge that this is something that all people at college struggle with from time to time, even the professors.

With this in mind, the difference between students who manage to keep up and those who don’t are usually the implementation of good habits. They have learned how or were taught how to study and work efficiently and have used that knowledge to make good habits to help succeed in college and later in their career too.

By learning what these habits are and practicing them in your own life, you’ll also start to see results in your success at college. 

Even when you stumble one week and find yourself procrastinating on an assignment, it’ll be much easier to get back on track if you’ve been practicing the following nine habits for keeping up with college assignments.

Final Thoughts

College is often talked about as some of the best and most exciting times of a person’s life. However, there’s a lot of stress and responsibility in college that isn’t talked about near enough.

Hopefully, with the habits I have discussed in the article, you’ll be able to have all of the fun the college experience has to offer while still keeping up with your college assignments and being successful in your classes!

Recommended Reading:

• Passing Grades in College: Understanding the Impact of a D
• Curved Grades – A Complete College Student’s Guide
• Unweighted vs. Weighted GPA Explained

Emily is an engineer at a Fortune 100 company. Her degree is in Chemical Engineering with minors in Mathematics and Chemistry. She completed 4 internships in college and graduated Summa Cum Laude in 2020. She is from Texas and currently lives in Seattle, WA. Emily loves hiking, traveling, and playing guitar. She is a very proud dog mom to her fur baby, Oliver.

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Coursework/GPA

Everyone struggles with homework sometimes, but if getting your homework done has become a chronic issue for you, then you may need a little extra help. That’s why we’ve written this article all about how to do homework. Once you’re finished reading it, you’ll know how to do homework (and have tons of new ways to motivate yourself to do homework)!

We’ve broken this article down into a few major sections. You’ll find:

• A diagnostic test to help you figure out why you’re struggling with homework
• A discussion of the four major homework problems students face, along with expert tips for addressing them
• A bonus section with tips for how to do homework fast

By the end of this article, you’ll be prepared to tackle whatever homework assignments your teachers throw at you .

So let’s get started!

How to Do Homework: Figure Out Your Struggles 

Sometimes it feels like everything is standing between you and getting your homework done. But the truth is, most people only have one or two major roadblocks that are keeping them from getting their homework done well and on time. 

The best way to figure out how to get motivated to do homework starts with pinpointing the issues that are affecting your ability to get your assignments done. That’s why we’ve developed a short quiz to help you identify the areas where you’re struggling. 

Take the quiz below and record your answers on your phone or on a scrap piece of paper. Keep in mind there are no wrong answers! 

1. You’ve just been assigned an essay in your English class that’s due at the end of the week. What’s the first thing you do?

A. Keep it in mind, even though you won’t start it until the day before it’s due  B. Open up your planner. You’ve got to figure out when you’ll write your paper since you have band practice, a speech tournament, and your little sister’s dance recital this week, too.  C. Groan out loud. Another essay? You could barely get yourself to write the last one!  D. Start thinking about your essay topic, which makes you think about your art project that’s due the same day, which reminds you that your favorite artist might have just posted to Instagram...so you better check your feed right now. 

2. Your mom asked you to pick up your room before she gets home from work. You’ve just gotten home from school. You decide you’ll tackle your chores: 

A. Five minutes before your mom walks through the front door. As long as it gets done, who cares when you start?  B. As soon as you get home from your shift at the local grocery store.  C. After you give yourself a 15-minute pep talk about how you need to get to work.  D. You won’t get it done. Between texts from your friends, trying to watch your favorite Netflix show, and playing with your dog, you just lost track of time! 

3. You’ve signed up to wash dogs at the Humane Society to help earn money for your senior class trip. You: 

A. Show up ten minutes late. You put off leaving your house until the last minute, then got stuck in unexpected traffic on the way to the shelter.  B. Have to call and cancel at the last minute. You forgot you’d already agreed to babysit your cousin and bake cupcakes for tomorrow’s bake sale.  C. Actually arrive fifteen minutes early with extra brushes and bandanas you picked up at the store. You’re passionate about animals, so you’re excited to help out! D. Show up on time, but only get three dogs washed. You couldn’t help it: you just kept getting distracted by how cute they were!

4. You have an hour of downtime, so you decide you’re going to watch an episode of The Great British Baking Show. You: 

A. Scroll through your social media feeds for twenty minutes before hitting play, which means you’re not able to finish the whole episode. Ugh! You really wanted to see who was sent home!  B. Watch fifteen minutes until you remember you’re supposed to pick up your sister from band practice before heading to your part-time job. No GBBO for you!  C. You finish one episode, then decide to watch another even though you’ve got SAT studying to do. It’s just more fun to watch people make scones.  D. Start the episode, but only catch bits and pieces of it because you’re reading Twitter, cleaning out your backpack, and eating a snack at the same time.

5. Your teacher asks you to stay after class because you’ve missed turning in two homework assignments in a row. When she asks you what’s wrong, you say: 

A. You planned to do your assignments during lunch, but you ran out of time. You decided it would be better to turn in nothing at all than submit unfinished work.  B. You really wanted to get the assignments done, but between your extracurriculars, family commitments, and your part-time job, your homework fell through the cracks.  C. You have a hard time psyching yourself to tackle the assignments. You just can’t seem to find the motivation to work on them once you get home.  D. You tried to do them, but you had a hard time focusing. By the time you realized you hadn’t gotten anything done, it was already time to turn them in. 

Like we said earlier, there are no right or wrong answers to this quiz (though your results will be better if you answered as honestly as possible). Here’s how your answers break down: 

• If your answers were mostly As, then your biggest struggle with doing homework is procrastination. 
• If your answers were mostly Bs, then your biggest struggle with doing homework is time management. 
• If your answers were mostly Cs, then your biggest struggle with doing homework is motivation. 
• If your answers were mostly Ds, then your biggest struggle with doing homework is getting distracted. 

Now that you’ve identified why you’re having a hard time getting your homework done, we can help you figure out how to fix it! Scroll down to find your core problem area to learn more about how you can start to address it. 

And one more thing: you’re really struggling with homework, it’s a good idea to read through every section below. You may find some additional tips that will help make homework less intimidating. 

How to Do Homework When You’re a Procrastinator  

Merriam Webster defines “procrastinate” as “to put off intentionally and habitually.” In other words, procrastination is when you choose to do something at the last minute on a regular basis. If you’ve ever found yourself pulling an all-nighter, trying to finish an assignment between periods, or sprinting to turn in a paper minutes before a deadline, you’ve experienced the effects of procrastination. 

If you’re a chronic procrastinator, you’re in good company. In fact, one study found that 70% to 95% of undergraduate students procrastinate when it comes to doing their homework. Unfortunately, procrastination can negatively impact your grades. Researchers have found that procrastination can lower your grade on an assignment by as much as five points ...which might not sound serious until you realize that can mean the difference between a B- and a C+. 

Procrastination can also negatively affect your health by increasing your stress levels , which can lead to other health conditions like insomnia, a weakened immune system, and even heart conditions. Getting a handle on procrastination can not only improve your grades, it can make you feel better, too! 

The big thing to understand about procrastination is that it’s not the result of laziness. Laziness is defined as being “disinclined to activity or exertion.” In other words, being lazy is all about doing nothing. But a s this Psychology Today article explains , procrastinators don’t put things off because they don’t want to work. Instead, procrastinators tend to postpone tasks they don’t want to do in favor of tasks that they perceive as either more important or more fun. Put another way, procrastinators want to do things...as long as it’s not their homework! 

3 Tips f or Conquering Procrastination 

Because putting off doing homework is a common problem, there are lots of good tactics for addressing procrastination. Keep reading for our three expert tips that will get your homework habits back on track in no time. 

#1: Create a Reward System

Like we mentioned earlier, procrastination happens when you prioritize other activities over getting your homework done. Many times, this happens because homework...well, just isn’t enjoyable. But you can add some fun back into the process by rewarding yourself for getting your work done. 

Here’s what we mean: let’s say you decide that every time you get your homework done before the day it’s due, you’ll give yourself a point. For every five points you earn, you’ll treat yourself to your favorite dessert: a chocolate cupcake! Now you have an extra (delicious!) incentive to motivate you to leave procrastination in the dust. 

If you’re not into cupcakes, don’t worry. Your reward can be anything that motivates you . Maybe it’s hanging out with your best friend or an extra ten minutes of video game time. As long as you’re choosing something that makes homework worth doing, you’ll be successful. 

#2: Have a Homework Accountability Partner 

If you’re having trouble getting yourself to start your homework ahead of time, it may be a good idea to call in reinforcements . Find a friend or classmate you can trust and explain to them that you’re trying to change your homework habits. Ask them if they’d be willing to text you to make sure you’re doing your homework and check in with you once a week to see if you’re meeting your anti-procrastination goals. 

Sharing your goals can make them feel more real, and an accountability partner can help hold you responsible for your decisions. For example, let’s say you’re tempted to put off your science lab write-up until the morning before it’s due. But you know that your accountability partner is going to text you about it tomorrow...and you don’t want to fess up that you haven’t started your assignment. A homework accountability partner can give you the extra support and incentive you need to keep your homework habits on track. 

#3: Create Your Own Due Dates 

If you’re a life-long procrastinator, you might find that changing the habit is harder than you expected. In that case, you might try using procrastination to your advantage! If you just can’t seem to stop doing your work at the last minute, try setting your own due dates for assignments that range from a day to a week before the assignment is actually due. 

Here’s what we mean. Let’s say you have a math worksheet that’s been assigned on Tuesday and is due on Friday. In your planner, you can write down the due date as Thursday instead. You may still put off your homework assignment until the last minute...but in this case, the “last minute” is a day before the assignment’s real due date . This little hack can trick your procrastination-addicted brain into planning ahead! 

If you feel like Kevin Hart in this meme, then our tips for doing homework when you're busy are for you. 

How to Do Homework When You’re too Busy

If you’re aiming to go to a top-tier college , you’re going to have a full plate. Because college admissions is getting more competitive, it’s important that you’re maintaining your grades , studying hard for your standardized tests , and participating in extracurriculars so your application stands out. A packed schedule can get even more hectic once you add family obligations or a part-time job to the mix. 

If you feel like you’re being pulled in a million directions at once, you’re not alone. Recent research has found that stress—and more severe stress-related conditions like anxiety and depression— are a major problem for high school students . In fact, one study from the American Psychological Association found that during the school year, students’ stress levels are higher than those of the adults around them. 

For students, homework is a major contributor to their overall stress levels . Many high schoolers have multiple hours of homework every night , and figuring out how to fit it into an already-packed schedule can seem impossible. 

3 Tips for Fitting Homework Into Your Busy Schedule

While it might feel like you have literally no time left in your schedule, there are still ways to make sure you’re able to get your homework done and meet your other commitments. Here are our expert homework tips for even the busiest of students. 

#1: Make a Prioritized To-Do List 

You probably already have a to-do list to keep yourself on track. The next step is to prioritize the items on your to-do list so you can see what items need your attention right away. 

Here’s how it works: at the beginning of each day, sit down and make a list of all the items you need to get done before you go to bed. This includes your homework, but it should also take into account any practices, chores, events, or job shifts you may have. Once you get everything listed out, it’s time to prioritize them using the labels A, B, and C. Here’s what those labels mean:

• A Tasks : tasks that have to get done—like showing up at work or turning in an assignment—get an A. 
• B Tasks : these are tasks that you would like to get done by the end of the day but aren’t as time sensitive. For example, studying for a test you have next week could be a B-level task. It’s still important, but it doesn’t have to be done right away.
• C Tasks: these are tasks that aren’t very important and/or have no real consequences if you don’t get them done immediately. For instance, if you’re hoping to clean out your closet but it’s not an assigned chore from your parents, you could label that to-do item with a C.

Prioritizing your to-do list helps you visualize which items need your immediate attention, and which items you can leave for later. A prioritized to-do list ensures that you’re spending your time efficiently and effectively, which helps you make room in your schedule for homework. So even though you might really want to start making decorations for Homecoming (a B task), you’ll know that finishing your reading log (an A task) is more important. 

#2: Use a Planner With Time Labels

Your planner is probably packed with notes, events, and assignments already. (And if you’re not using a planner, it’s time to start!) But planners can do more for you than just remind you when an assignment is due. If you’re using a planner with time labels, it can help you visualize how you need to spend your day.

A planner with time labels breaks your day down into chunks, and you assign tasks to each chunk of time. For example, you can make a note of your class schedule with assignments, block out time to study, and make sure you know when you need to be at practice. Once you know which tasks take priority, you can add them to any empty spaces in your day. 

Planning out how you spend your time not only helps you use it wisely, it can help you feel less overwhelmed, too . We’re big fans of planners that include a task list ( like this one ) or have room for notes ( like this one ). 

#3: Set Reminders on Your Phone 

If you need a little extra nudge to make sure you’re getting your homework done on time, it’s a good idea to set some reminders on your phone. You don’t need a fancy app, either. You can use your alarm app to have it go off at specific times throughout the day to remind you to do your homework. This works especially well if you have a set homework time scheduled. So if you’ve decided you’re doing homework at 6:00 pm, you can set an alarm to remind you to bust out your books and get to work. 

If you use your phone as your planner, you may have the option to add alerts, emails, or notifications to scheduled events . Many calendar apps, including the one that comes with your phone, have built-in reminders that you can customize to meet your needs. So if you block off time to do your homework from 4:30 to 6:00 pm, you can set a reminder that will pop up on your phone when it’s time to get started. 

This dog isn't judging your lack of motivation...but your teacher might. Keep reading for tips to help you motivate yourself to do your homework.

How to Do Homework When You’re Unmotivated 

At first glance, it may seem like procrastination and being unmotivated are the same thing. After all, both of these issues usually result in you putting off your homework until the very last minute. 

But there’s one key difference: many procrastinators are working, they’re just prioritizing work differently. They know they’re going to start their homework...they’re just going to do it later. 

Conversely, people who are unmotivated to do homework just can’t find the willpower to tackle their assignments. Procrastinators know they’ll at least attempt the homework at the last minute, whereas people who are unmotivated struggle with convincing themselves to do it at a ll. For procrastinators, the stress comes from the inevitable time crunch. For unmotivated people, the stress comes from trying to convince themselves to do something they don’t want to do in the first place. 

Here are some common reasons students are unmotivated in doing homework : 

• Assignments are too easy, too hard, or seemingly pointless 
• Students aren’t interested in (or passionate about) the subject matter
• Students are intimidated by the work and/or feels like they don’t understand the assignment 
• Homework isn’t fun, and students would rather spend their time on things that they enjoy 

To sum it up: people who lack motivation to do their homework are more likely to not do it at all, or to spend more time worrying about doing their homework than...well, actually doing it.

3 Tips for How to Get Motivated to Do Homework

The key to getting homework done when you’re unmotivated is to figure out what does motivate you, then apply those things to homework. It sounds tricky...but it’s pretty simple once you get the hang of it! Here are our three expert tips for motivating yourself to do your homework. 

#1: Use Incremental Incentives

When you’re not motivated, it’s important to give yourself small rewards to stay focused on finishing the task at hand. The trick is to keep the incentives small and to reward yourself often. For example, maybe you’re reading a good book in your free time. For every ten minutes you spend on your homework, you get to read five pages of your book. Like we mentioned earlier, make sure you’re choosing a reward that works for you! 

So why does this technique work? Using small rewards more often allows you to experience small wins for getting your work done. Every time you make it to one of your tiny reward points, you get to celebrate your success, which gives your brain a boost of dopamine . Dopamine helps you stay motivated and also creates a feeling of satisfaction when you complete your homework !  

#2: Form a Homework Group 

If you’re having trouble motivating yourself, it’s okay to turn to others for support. Creating a homework group can help with this. Bring together a group of your friends or classmates, and pick one time a week where you meet and work on homework together. You don’t have to be in the same class, or even taking the same subjects— the goal is to encourage one another to start (and finish!) your assignments. 

Another added benefit of a homework group is that you can help one another if you’re struggling to understand the material covered in your classes. This is especially helpful if your lack of motivation comes from being intimidated by your assignments. Asking your friends for help may feel less scary than talking to your teacher...and once you get a handle on the material, your homework may become less frightening, too. 

#3: Change Up Your Environment 

If you find that you’re totally unmotivated, it may help if you find a new place to do your homework. For example, if you’ve been struggling to get your homework done at home, try spending an extra hour in the library after school instead. The change of scenery can limit your distractions and give you the energy you need to get your work done. 

If you’re stuck doing homework at home, you can still use this tip. For instance, maybe you’ve always done your homework sitting on your bed. Try relocating somewhere else, like your kitchen table, for a few weeks. You may find that setting up a new “homework spot” in your house gives you a motivational lift and helps you get your work done. 

Social media can be a huge problem when it comes to doing homework. We have advice for helping you unplug and regain focus.

How to Do Homework When You’re Easily Distracted

We live in an always-on world, and there are tons of things clamoring for our attention. From friends and family to pop culture and social media, it seems like there’s always something (or someone!) distracting us from the things we need to do.

The 24/7 world we live in has affected our ability to focus on tasks for prolonged periods of time. Research has shown that over the past decade, an average person’s attention span has gone from 12 seconds to eight seconds . And when we do lose focus, i t takes people a long time to get back on task . One study found that it can take as long as 23 minutes to get back to work once we’ve been distracte d. No wonder it can take hours to get your homework done! 

3 Tips to Improve Your Focus

If you have a hard time focusing when you’re doing your homework, it’s a good idea to try and eliminate as many distractions as possible. Here are three expert tips for blocking out the noise so you can focus on getting your homework done. 

#1: Create a Distraction-Free Environment

Pick a place where you’ll do your homework every day, and make it as distraction-free as possible. Try to find a location where there won’t be tons of noise, and limit your access to screens while you’re doing your homework. Put together a focus-oriented playlist (or choose one on your favorite streaming service), and put your headphones on while you work. 

You may find that other people, like your friends and family, are your biggest distraction. If that’s the case, try setting up some homework boundaries. Let them know when you’ll be working on homework every day, and ask them if they’ll help you keep a quiet environment. They’ll be happy to lend a hand! 

#2: Limit Your Access to Technology 

We know, we know...this tip isn’t fun, but it does work. For homework that doesn’t require a computer, like handouts or worksheets, it’s best to put all your technology away . Turn off your television, put your phone and laptop in your backpack, and silence notifications on any wearable tech you may be sporting. If you listen to music while you work, that’s fine...but make sure you have a playlist set up so you’re not shuffling through songs once you get started on your homework. 

If your homework requires your laptop or tablet, it can be harder to limit your access to distractions. But it’s not impossible! T here are apps you can download that will block certain websites while you’re working so that you’re not tempted to scroll through Twitter or check your Facebook feed. Silence notifications and text messages on your computer, and don’t open your email account unless you absolutely have to. And if you don’t need access to the internet to complete your assignments, turn off your WiFi. Cutting out the online chatter is a great way to make sure you’re getting your homework done. 

#3: Set a Timer (the Pomodoro Technique)

Have you ever heard of the Pomodoro technique ? It’s a productivity hack that uses a timer to help you focus!

Here’s how it works: first, set a timer for 25 minutes. This is going to be your work time. During this 25 minutes, all you can do is work on whatever homework assignment you have in front of you. No email, no text messaging, no phone calls—just homework. When that timer goes off, you get to take a 5 minute break. Every time you go through one of these cycles, it’s called a “pomodoro.” For every four pomodoros you complete, you can take a longer break of 15 to 30 minutes.

The pomodoro technique works through a combination of boundary setting and rewards. First, it gives you a finite amount of time to focus, so you know that you only have to work really hard for 25 minutes. Once you’ve done that, you’re rewarded with a short break where you can do whatever you want. Additionally, tracking how many pomodoros you complete can help you see how long you’re really working on your homework. (Once you start using our focus tips, you may find it doesn’t take as long as you thought!)

Two Bonus Tips for How to Do Homework Fast

Even if you’re doing everything right, there will be times when you just need to get your homework done as fast as possible. (Why do teachers always have projects due in the same week? The world may never know.)

The problem with speeding through homework is that it’s easy to make mistakes. While turning in an assignment is always better than not submitting anything at all, you want to make sure that you’re not compromising quality for speed. Simply put, the goal is to get your homework done quickly and still make a good grade on the assignment! 

Here are our two bonus tips for getting a decent grade on your homework assignments , even when you’re in a time crunch. 

#1: Do the Easy Parts First 

This is especially true if you’re working on a handout with multiple questions. Before you start working on the assignment, read through all the questions and problems. As you do, make a mark beside the questions you think are “easy” to answer . 

Once you’ve finished going through the whole assignment, you can answer these questions first. Getting the easy questions out of the way as quickly as possible lets you spend more time on the trickier portions of your homework, which will maximize your assignment grade. 

(Quick note: this is also a good strategy to use on timed assignments and tests, like the SAT and the ACT !) 

#2: Pay Attention in Class 

Homework gets a lot easier when you’re actively learning the material. Teachers aren’t giving you homework because they’re mean or trying to ruin your weekend... it’s because they want you to really understand the course material. Homework is designed to reinforce what you’re already learning in class so you’ll be ready to tackle harder concepts later.

When you pay attention in class, ask questions, and take good notes, you’re absorbing the information you’ll need to succeed on your homework assignments. (You’re stuck in class anyway, so you might as well make the most of it!) Not only will paying attention in class make your homework less confusing, it will also help it go much faster, too.

What’s Next?

If you’re looking to improve your productivity beyond homework, a good place to begin is with time management. After all, we only have so much time in a day...so it’s important to get the most out of it! To get you started, check out this list of the 12 best time management techniques that you can start using today.

You may have read this article because homework struggles have been affecting your GPA. Now that you’re on the path to homework success, it’s time to start being proactive about raising your grades. This article teaches you everything you need to know about raising your GPA so you can

Now you know how to get motivated to do homework...but what about your study habits? Studying is just as critical to getting good grades, and ultimately getting into a good college . We can teach you how to study bette r in high school. (We’ve also got tons of resources to help you study for your ACT and SAT exams , too!)

These recommendations are based solely on our knowledge and experience. If you purchase an item through one of our links, PrepScholar may receive a commission.

Ashley Sufflé Robinson has a Ph.D. in 19th Century English Literature. As a content writer for PrepScholar, Ashley is passionate about giving college-bound students the in-depth information they need to get into the school of their dreams.

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Articles & Advice > Majors and Academics > Blog

How to Stay on Top of Your Classes (and Life) in the First Weeks of College

There are major differences between high school and college schedules. As your course load grows and changes, so should your ways of keeping up with it!

by Emily Rogan CollegeXpress Student Writer, Morehead State University

Last Updated: Jul 31, 2023

Originally Posted: May 7, 2016

When it comes to the first few weeks of college, you’re probably going to have a lot of things going through your mind, not the least of which is how to keep track of everything on your new busy college schedule. New friends, new student events (both required and not), finding time to keep up with everyone back home, not to mention the whole reason you’re in college: your classes and getting an education. Unfortunately, there are some major differences between your schedule in high school vs. college. As your course load grows and changes, so should your ways of keeping up with it. Here are my top tips for staying on top of everything!

Get to know your syllabi

In nearly every class you take in college, your professors will give you a piece of paper (or several) at the beginning of the semester with things like textbook information, their office hours, and an outline of what you'll be doing every day in their class. This is their syllabus, and you should hold on to it! Unlike high school, where in some classes it was anyone’s guess what you were doing that day, most college professors let you know what you’re doing every day—which means you are responsible for being prepared. This makes your syllabi all the more important, so be sure to keep all of them in one place or keep the syllabus with your notes for that class—wherever you know you will always be able to find it!

Related: 5 Easy Ways to Get Organized in College

Read (no, seriously—do the reading)

Yes, you do actually have to read what’s assigned to you in college . Unlike high school, you can’t coast by on Sparknotes or Wikipedia alone to get you through. Even if a professor never discusses what you read outside of class, they may very well put it on a test later, and when you sit down to take that test, you’ll wish you’d read what was in the syllabus—trust me.

Take advantage of your professors’ office hours

One of the recurring pieces of advice you might hear from older students when you get to college is to use your professors' office hours . Take this advice! Especially if you're in a larger class, this allows you to get to know your professor and their teaching style a little better—plus, your professor can then connect your face with a name on the roster. Professors have office hours specifically so that students can come in and ask questions about the coursework, the next test, or maybe even what other classes to take if you've found their class enjoyable. It may seem intimidating to sit down with a professor at first, but it’s important to remember that your professors are people too, so don't be shy! 

Related: 6 Simple Ways to Impress Your College Professors

Schedule your time wisely

One of the things that many new college students look forward to the most is not having to go to class for seven hours a day. However, while most college students spend an average of 12–18 hours in the classroom each week, the schoolwork definitely doesn’t stop there. The good news is that because you’re not in class for extended periods, you can get most of your homework done during the time that you would have been in class in high school. The bad news? It requires a lot more self-discipline to sit down and do homework when you live down the hall, or at the very least across campus, from your friends and lots of fun things to do. However, if you block out this time to do homework, you'll have plenty of free time once you finish. Keep in mind that the most important thing here is not that you necessarily work on schoolwork or are in class from 8:00 am–3:00 pm every day (which works for many people simply because that’s what they’re used to), but that you block out sufficient time to sit down and work , regardless of when that is, rather than going to class for several hours and spending the rest of your day socializing and watching Netflix.

Keep a calendar

When you start college, chances are your schedule is going to be a lot different than it was in high school. Most high school students go to school during the morning and early afternoon, go to club meetings or sports practices after class, go home, do homework, maybe go to a job in the evenings, and do the same thing again the next day. In college, things usually aren’t as structured. You may have class for a couple hours, then have some time off to do homework, work at a part-time job, or do nothing at all. This drastic change is why it becomes so important in college to keep track of everything you do —and to actually write things down. Whether you use the calendar on your phone, buy a fancy planner, or keep a calendar on your desk, keeping track of classes, clubs, meetings, and social engagements is much easier if everything is in one place.

Related: Inside an Average Day in the Life of a College Student

Navigating the first few weeks of college can be overwhelming, especially as you adjust to a new, busy schedule. As you transition from high school to college, it's crucial to adopt new strategies for academic success. Prioritize reading assigned materials, get familiar with syllabi to stay organized, and schedule your time wisely to balance academics and social activities. Don't hesitate to take advantage of professors' office hours, as building connections with them can be beneficial. Finally, keeping a calendar to track classes, club meetings, and social engagements will help you stay on top of everything and make the most of your college experience. Embrace these five tips, and you'll be well-prepared to excel in your college journey.

Nervous about starting college or going back to campus? We can help! Get excited with our article on  How to Be Awesome at College: A Student's Cheat Sheet .

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About Emily Rogan

Emily Rogan is a student at Morehead State University , where she's studying Communications and Theater. When she's not in school, she is an actor, musician, singer, and writer.

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• EXPLORE Random Article

How to Stay on Top of Homework

Last Updated: May 6, 2024 Approved

This article was co-authored by Emily Listmann, MA . Emily Listmann is a private tutor in San Carlos, California. She has worked as a Social Studies Teacher, Curriculum Coordinator, and an SAT Prep Teacher. She received her MA in Education from the Stanford Graduate School of Education in 2014. There are 11 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. wikiHow marks an article as reader-approved once it receives enough positive feedback. This article received 12 testimonials and 89% of readers who voted found it helpful, earning it our reader-approved status. This article has been viewed 201,161 times.

It's sometimes tough to keep up with excessive amounts of homework each week. You might enjoy a subject, but feel overwhelmed at the same time. To stay on top of your assignments, it is a good idea to log all of your work details into a planner or calendar. Maintaining a regular study schedule will make it easier to finish everything on time as well. If you are stuck, you can always approach your teacher, classmates, parents, or even a tutor for additional help.

Making the Most of Your Time

• Lunchtime is a great opportunity to work on an assignment and so is the commute home, as long as someone else is driving. If you have a part-time job, take advantage of the slow moments.
• If your instructor gives you time during the class period to study, take advantage of it. It is especially important to make good use of study halls if you are an athlete. [2] X Research source

• This system only works if you keep up with it. Spend time each Sunday evening looking over your planner and making sure that all dates and assignments are entered in correctly. Estimate if you've allowed yourself ample time for each activity.
• Some people prefer to schedule their week down to the hour. Others prefer to create a basic “to-do” list for each day. Try a few different approaches to see what works the best for you. [4] X Research source
• Consider using an app, such as iHomework, to keep track of your assignments and deadlines. These apps can alert you when an assignment is almost due. Many homework apps are free or inexpensive. [5] X Research source
• Alarms or alerts can also be useful for reminding you to sit down and go over your work schedule or update your planner at a designated time (e.g., every Sunday evening after dinner).

• For example, if a paper is due tomorrow, it gets priority over a worksheet that you must complete by next week. Don't get distracted by the idea of multitasking—try to focus your attention on 1 project at a time.

• When creating your schedule, consider when you work the best. Some people prefer to work late into the night, while others enjoy working in the morning. There is nothing wrong with getting up early to get a jump on homework as long as you can stick to that schedule.

• Get up and move around during your breaks. You're probably sitting while working, so now is the time to get the blood flowing and re-energize. Take a quick walk. Eat a healthy snack, like some almonds, and drink a bit of water too.

• When a major research project is due, a good goal would be to complete the research part of the process well in advance of the final deadline, giving you time to write. This is a realistic goal and it breaks up a larger project, making it seem more doable.
• Part of setting goals is keeping your priorities in order. Recognize those activities that can wait until the weekend, such as shopping, and do them then. Also, keep an eye on your extracurricular activities to make sure that you can still achieve your academic goals while participating. [9] X Research source
• Your phone can be a major source of distraction. Consider turning it off while you're studying, or put it on airplane mode so that you can't browse the web or receive notifications.

Doing Quality Work

• Try to find something interesting within the subjects that you might consider “boring.” For example, if you dislike history but enjoy fashion, you might find the history of fashion and dress really exciting. Ask your teacher about it and see if you can use this interest in your homework.

• This is a good practice to follow as it will help you on most tests as well. It is usually better to leave nothing blank on an exam, as your instructor may be able to award you partial credit for the attempt.

Joseph Meyer

When doing practice problems, promptly check to see if your answers are correct. Use worksheets that provide answer keys for instant feedback. Discuss answers with a classmate or find explanations online. Immediate feedback will help you correct your mistakes, avoid bad habits, and advance your learning more quickly.

• Have a designated area where you put projects that are “in progress” so you don't confuse them with homework that needs to be turned in.

Getting Help from Others

• For example, if your teacher normally assigns 5 chapters to read over the weekend and she didn't say anything about it this time, you might want to ask her. You could say, “Do we need to do our usual chapter reading this weekend?”
• If your teacher is okay with it, you could also ask how long a certain assignment should take to finish. This will help you to better schedule your time for the week. [13] X Research source

• You might approach your teacher and say, “I'm just not getting that math worksheet. Is there a time this week when we can sit down and look it over together?”
• If you ask for help in this way, make sure that you've started the work yourself. Don't expect your teacher to do the work for you.

• If you live and study at home, your parents could also help to create a good study space by keeping the area quiet and preventing other family members from interrupting you. [16] X Research source

• Make sure that you are only working together on projects that given the “okay” for group work by your teacher. Otherwise, you could be committing a version of academic dishonesty by not following the rules of the assignment.
• You can also meet with your group virtually thanks to various programs that allow you to video chat with numerous people at once, such as Google Hangouts.

• Libraries are a great source of information about tutoring and other resources. Just call your local library and ask what programs they have in place to help students. [19] X Research source

Expert Q&A

Reader Videos

• Make sure to eat right, get a good amount of sleep, and exercise regularly. Taking care of your body will lead to better work and it will also help to counter the stress of constant assignments. [20] X Research source Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• Choose a few designated study spaces where you feel the most productive. They should be quiet and comfortable, allowing you to concentrate all of your attention on your work. If you are in public, wear headphones to cut down on distractions. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• If the homework is on previously covered material, use your notes to aid you with it. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• Be careful when doing your homework on a computer. Make sure to save your work regularly and have a back-up plan in case your technology fails. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• Try not to take on too many classes at once, if you can. Every class will add to your homework burden and can create a very stressful scenario for you. [21] X Research source Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

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• ↑ https://www.collegexpress.com/interests/performing-and-visual-arts/blog/sketching-margins-how-stay-top-homework-art-major/
• ↑ https://kidshealth.org/en/teens/homework.html
• ↑ https://blog.jjc.edu/3-tips-for-staying-on-top-of-homework
• ↑ https://money.usnews.com/money/blogs/my-money/2013/08/20/6-homework-help-apps-students-will-love
• ↑ https://centerforparentingeducation.org/library-of-articles/school-and-learning-issues/time-say-homework-management-101/
• ↑ https://writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/understanding-assignments/
• ↑ https://www.parents.com/kids/development/intellectual/establish-good-homework-habits/
• ↑ https://kidshealth.org/en/teens/homework.html#
• ↑ https://www.ritzvillelibrary.com/homework-help-kids
• ↑ https://time.com/41981/six-ways-to-end-the-tyranny-of-homework/
• ↑ https://www.oxford-royale.co.uk/articles/top-advice-sixth-formers.html

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The 5 best academic planners for college students

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• Keeping track of homework assignments, events, and goals in college can be overwhelming.
• A physical planner can make it easier to stay organized, set goals, and jot down quick notes.
• Below are the 5 best academic planners for college in 2022, from brands like Moleskine and Blue Sky.

When it comes to juggling classes, weekend plans, and long-term goals in college, using a paper planner is never a bad idea. For one, physically writing down information is shown to improve your memory , which comes in handy for keeping track of due dates and extracurricular events throughout the year.

The other benefit of writing in a physical academic planner is it gives you a screen-less space to reflect on your goals, cross off finished homework, and organize your life. With the variety of planners out there, you can find everything from simple daily planners for easy scheduling to journals focused on time management or habit-tracking. And if you decide to get one in the middle of the academic year, there are plenty of undated versions, too.

The 5 best academic planners for college students in 2022:

Best college academic planner overall: Blue Sky Academic Year Weekly & Monthly Planner, $20 at Amazon Of all the planners out there, we consider the Blue Sky Academic Planner the best one overall because of its weekly and monthly layouts, which are great for both quick calendar planning and more in-depth notetaking for each day of the week.

Best college academic planner for scheduling: PAPERAGE 17-Month Academic Planner, $14.95 at Amazon If you prefer to use your planner strictly for scheduling, the PAPERAGE 17-Month Academic Planner comes with weekly and monthly overviews as well as a class schedule tracker.

Best customizable college academic planner: Moleskine Spiral Academic Planner, $28.99 at Amazon While Moleskine is most famously known for its classic minimalist notebooks , this spiral academic planner boasts the same high quality but with more guidance on its pages.  

Best college academic planner for self-reflection: bloom daily planners Academic Year Goal & Vision Planner, $26.95 at Amazon When it comes to planners set around specific goals, bloom daily planners is our favorite for its themed planners, such as its Academic Year Goal & Vision Planner.

Best undated college academic planner: BK Undated Weekly/Monthly Planner 2022-2023, $14.50 at Amazon The Perfect Planner from BK makes it easy to jump in, no matter where you are in the year.

Best college academic planner overall

Blue Sky 2022-2023 Academic Year Weekly & Monthly Planner, $20, available at Amazon

Of all the planners out there , we consider the Blue Sky Academic Planner the best one overall because of its weekly and monthly layouts, which are great for both quick calendar planning and more in-depth notetaking for each day of the week. It also comes with a yearly goal section to write down broader reflections.

Additionally, the Blue Sky Academic Planner comes in a huge variety of colors and sizes , making it feel more customizable.

Best college academic planner for scheduling

PAPERAGE 17-Month Academic Planner 2022-2023, $14.95, available at Amazon

If you prefer to use your planner strictly for scheduling, the PAPERAGE 17-Month Academic Planner comes with weekly and monthly overviews as well as a class schedule tracker. Its lay-flat layout makes it easy to simply leave it open on a desk, and its 100 gsm acid-free paper is thicker than typical planner paper, so you're less likely to have any pen bleed-throughs that mess up your calendar.

There are also extra pages for miscellaneous notes such as holidays, birthdays, and other big events to remember.

Best customizable college academic planner

Moleskine 2022-2023 Spiral Academic Planner, $28.99, available at Amazon

While Moleskine is most famously known for its classic minimalist notebooks , this spiral academic planner boasts the same high quality but with more guidance on its pages.  

On top of its weekly and monthly calendars, class schedule, GPA tracker, project tracker, and habit tracker, it also has select prompts like "this year, I will:" and "why was this year memorable?". 

The number of journaling options available in this one notebook makes it a great planner to customize. You can use it for remembering assignments and grades, or add elements of goal-setting and daily journaling to the mix, adding creative elements like sticky notes or drawing to truly make this planner your own.

Best college academic planner for self-reflection

bloom daily planners 2022-2023 Hardcover Academic Year Goal & Vision Planner, $26.95, available at Amazon 

When it comes to planners set around specific goals, bloom daily planners is our favorite for its themed planners, such as its Academic Year Goal & Vision Planner. On top of weekly and monthly calendar pages, this planner includes pages for in-depth goal-setting in all areas of life, including relationships, fitness, finances, family, and fun. 

Beyond promoting a healthy balance between academic study and other important things like friendships and health, its layout encourages breaking down bigger goals into actionable steps so you're not overwhelmed with tasks during an already busy time.

Best undated college academic planner

BK Undated Weekly/Monthly Planner 2022-2023, $14.50, available at Amazon

If you're months into college when you realize you could really use a planner, it can be frustrating to pay for one when you can't use all the pages. Undated planners, like the Perfect Planner from BK, make it easy to jump in no matter where you are in the year.

It has all the same benefits as a dated planner, including monthly and weekly pages. But it also has 68 extra pages for notes, with dotted paper that makes it great for bullet journaling . As an added bonus, it comes bound with a sleek vegan leather cover for a stylish touch.

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Tips and Tools to Help Students Study, Take Notes, and Focus

With a new academic year rolling around, students of all ages will be looking for help and guidance with their work—and there are a wealth of options on mobile app stores and the web to help you succeed.

Here we've picked out some of the best apps and services across multiple categories, including time management, homework help, note-taking, and more. Put them together and you've got a comprehensive toolkit for making sure that this year is a good one.

No matter what your requirements, courses, or study habits are, there should be something here for you (or for the young student in your life). You might be surprised at just how much difference the right app can make.

Trello can adapt itself to whatever purpose you have in mind.

The main appeal of Trello is its versatility: You can adapt the simple card-based interface in whichever way you want—whether to keep track of individual homework assignments or to log multiple research strands in an essay—and the software will adapt accordingly.

You can assign categories and deadlines to cards, attach files to them, and drop in to-do lists. However you decide to use Trello, you're going to find it straightforward to get around the app with easy drag-and-drop operations and a ton of options and features.

Trello (freemium for web, Android, iOS)

Get help from Socratic with just about any topic.

Powered by Google's artificial intelligence engines, Socratic is here to answer any question on any topic, whether you need step-by-step math explanations, a quick overview of a historical event or work of literature, or details of a particular set of biological processes.

Gabrielle Caplan

All you need to do is ask a question (or even in the case of a math or geometry problem, take a photo). You might be surprised at the comprehensiveness of the answers that Socratic can give you, and the app comes with a variety of curated study guides as well.

Socratic (free for Android, iOS)

There isn't much that WolframAlpha doesn't know.

WolframAlpha is a search engine and knowledge library that makes Google look plain and dumbed down by comparison: It covers everything from mathematical equations to political geography, and it's a resource that you'll find yourself turning to again and again.

Using a finely tuned set of algorithms, the WolframAlpha engine can tell you the plots of novels, the histories of countries, the solutions to algebra problems, the compositions of materials, and much more—check out the examples it gives you for some tips.

WolframAlpha (freemium for web, Android, iOS)

Google Keep is one of the best note-taking apps around.

When it comes to note-taking apps, you've got a wealth of options to pick from, but Google Keep can hold its own against the best. It looks simple to begin with—and is very simple to use—but there are plenty of advanced features to make use of if you dig a bit deeper.

Whether you're tracking lessons or study assignments, you can associate times, dates, tags, and pictures to your notes, and you can even collaborate on notes with other people if you need to. There's also the option to quickly convert notes into documents in Google Docs.

Google Keep (free for web, Android, iOS)

Keep track of everything academic with myHomework Student Planner.

The name of this app tells you pretty much all you need to know about it: myHomework Student Planner gives you a well-designed, flexible, intuitive suite of tools to make sure you're always on top of everything you need to do academically throughout the year.

You can track classes, homework, larger assignments, and tests through the app, and everything syncs seamlessly across whatever devices you happen to be using. Some of the useful features here include deadline reminders and customizable theme options.

myHomework Student Planner (freemium for web, Android, iOS)

Headspace has meditations specifically for kids.

You may well have come across the Headspace meditation app, and Headspace for Kids is the part of the main app dedicated to younger people. It covers the fundamentals of meditation with scaled-down sessions specifically made for those who are still growing up.

These sessions cover breathing exercises, showing kindness to others, and staying focused. And of course, as kids get older they can move on to the adult sections. There is a monthly fee, but you can try it for free, and it gives you a big return on your investment.

Headspace for Kids ($13 a month with a free trial for Android, iOS)

Keep study sessions on track with Bear Focus Timer.

Staying concentrated and on task can make the difference between success and failure when it comes to study sessions, and Bear Focus Timer is one of the best apps around when it comes to making sure your mind doesn't wander when you need to be working.

You set a customized session time, and then Tom the bear will keep you on course with encouragements, reminders, and white noise if necessary. It's one of the more unusual focus apps out there, which is what makes it particularly effective in doing its job.

Bear Focus Timer ($2 for iOS)

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Top 7 Homework Planner Apps for Students

Whether you are attending classes, completing your assignments, studying for a quiz, project work, extra-curricular activities, or squeezing some time for friends and family. You’d agree that organizing and planning goes a long way. That’s why a homework organizer or a homework planner app can be a lifesaver to keep track of all your assignments, tests, submission deadlines, and exams. I did the research and shortlisted the perfect homework planner apps for Android and iOS. Let’s check those out.

Read:  Best Notes App for Windows to Increase Productivity

Homework Planner Apps for Students

1. student planner- homework agenda & notes.

The first app on the list is a simple homework and notes management app. It keeps track of homework, assignments, projects, and to-do lists. The layout is minimal, all the tasks are neatly organized with a colored bookmark for easy identification. You can mark a task complete and remove it from the pending list.

Courses can be added easily and color-coded as well. The calendar shows any upcoming deadlines so you can prioritize accordingly. The tasks have a progress bar that you can adjust as you make progress which enables you to get a quick summary without actually opening every task.

You can also break your assignments in small chunks as subtasks that would make finishing a task much easier and the progress bar will fill automatically. It also allows you to attach media files to your assignments or projects for easy access to the important information in one place.

• Progress bar
• Deadline Reminders
• Calendar View
• No option to sync data to the cloud

Student Planner is a great app for all the students, it has all the necessary features like Deadline reminders, subtasks, progress bar, color-coded tasks, and courses. It can significantly increase your productivity when used regularly. You can get this app for free in the Play Store.

Install Student Planner- Homework Agenda ( Android )

2. Student Planner

Student Planner is another fast and simple homework management app which is wrapped by a beautiful and intuitive material designed UI. What Student Planner adds to the table is the inclusion of a schedule or time table which you can use to either store your class schedule or it might even be a study schedule for your exams.

You first start by adding your subject and the schedule then you can add an assignment or set a reminder. The due assignments are arranged as separate cards and can be swiped away once done with.

•  Simple and easy to get started with
•  Fast and small in size
•  Beautiful Minimal UI
•  Option for Schedule
• No sync/backup
• Timetable implementation not perfect

I would recommend this app to anyone who is looking for a simple homework management app with timetable support and a minimal UI.

Install Student Planner ( Android )

Egenda is simple. Open the app, add all the classes or subjects to the app, and once that is set up, you have the option of adding a new Homework, Quiz, Project, or Test and choose the respective subject deadlines. The app also arranges the due work in cards that can be swiped away when done. But what I love the most about this app is that the fact it allows you to go subject-wise and view all your upcoming tests, projects, or pending assignments which is a huge convenience for planning your schedule ahead of time instead of the previous day.

Unfortunately, the app doesn’t have a timetable option, but in its latest update, it added a  Calendar View  where you can see your whole month at a glance with your assignments, tests, and projects.

•  Subject-wise sorting
•  Calendar View
• No timetable support

Egenda provides some great tools for Homework and Test planning and I am sure anyone would find them extremely convenient and useful. But keeping its single con in mind, go for this app if you are not too keen on having a schedule or timetable.

Install  Egenda  ( Android  |  iOS )

4. ChalkBoard

The next app on our list is ChalkBoard, which I found out to be a pretty smart homework planner app. Chalkboard strikes a perfect balance between simplicity and features.

Although the setup process is a little longer than the previous three apps, as you have to feed meticulous details about the classes, teacher, and schedule. It is worth the effort.

On the home screen, you are shown upcoming classes, events tab, and upcoming tests. ChalkBoard fetches the dates for every subject from the Timetable for your future classes. Little features like these make the app stand out from the rest and give an overall great experience. You can also view classes and assignments subject wise.

• Proper Timetable
• Ability to add teachers for subjects
• View tomorrow’s classes as well as assignments/tests/quizzes
• Smart features
• Little longer to set up
• No calendar view

If you are looking for a homework planner as well as a school planner, Chalkboard is the app as it strikes a great ground with almost all the features one might need while not being too bulky.

Install ChalkBoard ( Android )

5. School Planner

School Planner is a full-fledged planning application designed for students to manage their career as a student. Along with your homework and timetables, School Planner offers you to keep track of your grades and attendance, add contacts for teachers, add recorded lectures, and even multiple planners.

The app supports backing up of all your data via Google Drive, Calendar View along with a weekly report, attaching snapshots to your assignment reminders, student accounts from ClassViva, and a lot more. In spite of so many features, the app doesn’t feel slow at all and delivers a powerful performance with its beautiful design.

• Full-fledged student companion
• Feature-packed and free
• Supports sync and backup
• Widget Support
• Tedious setup procedure
• Big in size
• Complex, not so smooth learning curve

While it is not for someone who is looking for a fast and easy way into homework management, School Planner is a great student companion app and serious students will surely get the most out of hit.

Install School Planner ( Android )

6. My Study Life

My Study Life comes with its own web app and syncs with the Android app, essentially making your data accessible from any device as long as it has a browser.

It implements a goal-centric circular tracker that shows your progress. The Calendar view combines your timetable, deadlines, and shows all your classes and assignments, projects in a single place.

• Refreshingly new UI
• Access from anywhere through its web app
• Sync and Backup
• Lengthy setup process

If you study from your computer or laptop, My Study Life makes it easy to access your homework planner on your phone from your computer, while not compromising on features and being completely free. What more can you ask for?

Install My Study Life ( Android  |  iOS )

7. iStudiez Pro

Like School Planner, iStudiez Pro includes grading and subject wise organization of tasks. iStudiez Pro takes it further with the integration of Google Calendar that allows you to directly get all your holidays, exam schedule, routine from Google Calendar itself.

It also offers separate apps on all platforms including iOS, Mac, and Windows. All the apps sync seamlessly between themselves, so studying on your computer consulting your planner won’t be an issue.

• Google Calendar Integration
• Cross-Platform
• Cumulative Price

If Google Calendar integration and cross-platform support is a must for you, iStudiez Pro is definitely the app you want.

Install iStudiez Pro ( Android   |  iOS )

So this was our roundup of the best homework planner apps for Android. We genuinely think that there is an app for every need and we hope that you found a Homework Planner that suits your need whether you are a high school student or a college senior. So which one was your favorite or did we forget to add yours? Let us know in the comments below.

Also Read:  Take a Picture of Handwriting And Convert to Text – Android Apps

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Academic Planner 101: How to Use a Planner for School

What Is a Planner for School?

A school planner, or academic planner, is an organizer book designed to help students stay organized, track projects and exams, follow class schedules, meet deadlines, take notes, and more.

Why Use a Planner for School?

There are many reasons why you should use a planner for school:

A school planner makes organization easier all academic year long. In school, it's easy to get behind or forget about important items on your to-do list because there's so much going on every day. You need something that will remind you of all the things that need doing — and make sure they get done!

With an organizer for school, you'll see everything in one place: class assignments, homework due dates, and meeting times with teachers. You can also schedule study sessions into your planner so that nothing slips through the cracks!

An academic planner helps you manage your time effectively. Students often feel like they don't have enough time in the day — especially when they're juggling academics with other obligations (work, family commitments). By writing down all their assignments in one place, students can plan how much time they need for each task, and put a stop to the feeling of being overwhelmed.

A school agenda can help you stay on track and reduce stress. If you have a busy schedule, it's easy to get frazzled, forget things, or lose track of assignments that are due soon, which can cause student stress and anxiety to spike. When everything is written down in your planner, you'll know exactly what needs doing and when — so you can avoid any unnecessary stress!

How to Organize Your Planner for School

Organizing a school planner is the best way to stay on top of your busy schedule and one of the 11 habits of organized students . This handy tool can help you organize all of your assignments, tests, and exams, as well as all of your personal commitments and appointments.

School planner organization doesn't have to be difficult, but setting up your organizer does require a bit of preparation. First, you want to determine what information you to include in it.

Include Your Class Schedules and Breaks

The first thing that you should do when organizing your planner includes all of the important dates for school events, such as when classes start and end, when vacations are scheduled, and any breaks between semesters or quarters. This will help you plan out when it is convenient for you to take exams, attend study sessions or meet with teachers about upcoming assignments.

Assignments and Due Dates

Another important aspect of organizing your planner for school is including any upcoming assignments or projects that will be due in the near future. You may want to include both short-term assignments such as essays or reports as well as longer-term projects such as term papers or lab reports. Also, consider whether there are any special instructions related to these tasks that need highlighting in order for you to complete them properly.

Upcoming Exams and Study Sessions

There will likely be some tests scheduled throughout the year that you will need to study for, as well as exams to take at the end of each semester. Use your planner's projects and exams trackers to organize it all. Organizing your planner in this way can help you better prepare for these tests and ensure that they aren’t unexpected surprises.

Teacher Contact Information

If you need to contact your teachers, put their contact information into your planner so it's easy to find when they're needed. This could include phone numbers, email addresses, office hours, and more.

Personal Commitments and Appointments

Put all of your personal commitments into the planner so you can keep track of them throughout the semester or school year. These could include meetings with professors, meetings with clients at work, or family obligations like birthdays and anniversaries. These are things that shouldn't be forgotten about because they're important to both yourself and others around you.

Free Time and Hobbies

Next up is free time — this is where you can plan out what activities will be done during your free time. This could include watching movies, hanging out with friends, or anything else that's planned for the day. If you plan to do something outside of a school setting, be sure to note it down in your planner so you don't forget about it!

How to Use a School Planner

Use your academic planner to stay organized. Your planner should be a place where you can jot down everything that has to do with school. This can include deadlines, exams, projects, and even things like tests and quizzes. Here are some tips to help you make the most of yours:

Use the monthly calendars for big-picture academic planning.

Start off strong by filling the academic year calendars with important school dates like school breaks, exams and standardized testing, extracurricular events, and more. Then, go ahead and add in any other dates that have personal significance, such as birthdays and other special occasions, important appointments, and so on. If there are any holidays during the month that are not already on your calendar, add them there as well.

Use the planning pages for weekly tasks.

Use the weekly calendars for to-dos like homework and other class assignments. Add as much weekly information as you have to the planning pages. It could be anything from classwork to due dates to reminders and to-do lists. You can even use the weekly pages to break up study sessions and big projects into smaller, more manageable tasks. You can also use this section to write down any appointments that need to be made with professors outside of class time.

If you don't have a lot of your weekly tasks available more than a week in advance, don't worry! The weekly calendars are designed to help you plan at least one week in advance; so you can still set up each weekly spread the weekend before and be prepared for an organized, productive week come Monday morning.

Review your school agenda regularly.

You should also set aside some time each day (or week) to review what needs doing and when — this will help prevent any missed assignments or deadlines from sneaking up on you!

Write down the most important tasks first.

When it comes to actually getting things done, try writing down on your planner to-do list the tasks that are most important first — then work down the list until everything is complete. This will help you stay productive and manage your time efficiently.

Keep important class notes in your organizer.

The best planners for school also function as a notebook in addition to a homework planner , exam tracker, and school year calendar. Utilize the note pages in your agenda book for class notes. You'll learn more and recall the information better when you write your notes by hand versus typing or recording them on a laptop or digital planner .

Use additional school trackers, if needed.

A good academic planner will have a built-in tracker for projects and exams. But if you need additional school trackers, add on a reusable, wet-erase snap-in dashboard to track more assignments, due dates for papers, presentations, and more. This way, you can track everything in one place instead of having to search through multiple files on your computer, phone, or in other notebooks .

For more planning tips, for school, work, and life, check out How to Start Planning .

How to Use a Planner for College

If you're in college, or collegebound, it's a good idea to use your college planner to organize your full college life. A top-notch college planner will accommodate your academic tasks and goals, your personal information, and even your work schedule (if this applies to you). This way, you can keep track of homework assignments and other school-related tasks while also keeping up with your social life, extracurriculars, and career path.

Some college students, trade school students, and post-grads prefer to use multiple planners to organize each area of their life separately. From daily planners to weekly LifePlanners to monthly planners , there are so many ways you can create your own organization system that fits your schedule, style, and planning needs. Visit Best Planners to explore the top agendas this year for organizing everything from A to Z.

Take college organization to the next level with 8 Proven College Organization Tips to Maximize Productivity and How To Organize & Decorate Your Dorm Room .

Choosing the Best Academic Planner

Students and educators alike prefer the Erin Condren Academic Planner because it has proven layouts that help students with scheduling, time management, weekly and monthly planning, project management, productivity, stress reduction, and makes organization easier.

What should be in an academic planner?

An academic planner should have monthly and weekly planning pages, trackers for projects and exams, productivity pages, class schedule section, note pages, and more. An excellent student planner will also include extras that keep students motivated and make planning fun like customization and personalization options, beautiful design elements, included stickers, and even inspirational quotes!

As a leader in the student planner space, the Erin Condren Academic Planner includes key fun and functional features honed over years of customer research, input from educators, and feedback from students, including:

• Dated 12-month school year calendar
• Monthly motivational quotes
• Monthly notes and productivity pages
• Class schedule pages
• Detailed pages for projects and exams
• Dated monthly and weekly spreads
• Option to add on additional 40 lined note pages
• Durable and personalizable covers
• Coiled-in sticker sheets
• Enhanced holiday & heritage celebrations sticker sheet
• 2 binding options: coiled or softbound
• 3 layout options: colorful (coiled or softbound), minimal (softbound), or Star Wars (special edition)

How Does the Academic Planner Help Students?

The Erin Condren Academic Planner was featured on NBCNews.com as one of the "best planners to keep you organized in 2024." And here's what students shared in our 2023 Academic Planner Survey:

• 98% said it helps them stay organized.
• 96% said it helps them manage their workload.
• 96% said it helps them meet deadlines and due dates.
• 93% said it helps them manage their time.
• 93% said it helps them reduce stress.
• 92% said it helps them develop good habits.

Shop the full Academic Planner collection to customize and personalize the perfect student planner for you!

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5 Amazing Homework Planner Apps For College Students

Homework Planner apps are super helpful tools allowing you to keep track of your homework assignments, quizzes and exams.  Some of these apps sync with external calendars like Google calendar and Outlook and can be used to replace your traditional paper-based agenda books and planners.  

If you are looking for a digital planner to keep your academic life organized, you should check out the following apps.

Popular Homework Planner Apps 

1. power planner: homework grades.

Power Planner: Homework Grades is a robust app the enables you to enter classes by time schedule, organize them by color, add your own details to each class (like a professor’s contact info), link it with google calendar and track your overall GPA. You can manage semesters, add assignments and exams and receive notifications about upcoming due dates.  A great feature is the to do/checklist which has an option to slide the progress bar when you begin work and make some progress but have not yet completed the entire task.  The app prioritizes your checklist by due date so that you can always stay on top of your assignments. 

Power Planner: Homework Grades is free and contains a lot of functional features while the paid version (one-time purchase of $1.99) unlocks the ability to add more than five grades per class, use multiple semesters/years, and more. It is purchased through an in-app purchase, and when you buy Power Planner once, you unlock it everywhere. Available on iOS ,  Android and Windows plus it syncs with your desktop using powerplanner.net website.

2. myHomework Student Planner

The myHomework student planner app allows you to track your classes, homework, tests and assignments.  The app syncs across other platforms and you can receive homework reminder notifications.  You can upgrade to a premium version for $4.99 a year which unlocks a number of features including file attachments, enhanced app widgets, external calendar access, ability to share the planner and import homework. Available on iOS , Android and Windows .

3. My StudyLife

My Study Life is a simple, intuitive cross-platform student planner integrating multiple areas of academic life.  It is described as a turbocharged digital version of a paper planner. You can enter your classes and exams, track homework assignments and receive reminder notifications. The app supports weekly and day rotation schedules and all of the apps data is stored in the cloud so it can be accessed by any device and any location. Available on iOS , Android and Windows platforms.

4. Egenda - School Planner & Assistant

Egenda is billed as an agenda made by students for students.  It is free with no in-app purchases or subscription fees.  The app allows you to color code classes and homework that appears on the calendar section is coded to match the corresponding class.   You can easily organize and sort by class, due date on task completion.  Egenda is versatile and can be used as a calendar, shopping list and general to do list along with a homework planner.  Available on iOS and Android .

5. Chipper: Free Daily Study Planner for College

Chipper is a multifaceted app functioning as an organizing tool, to do list and planner.  It can be used to track assignments, due dates, exams and projects. Chipper also allows you to add your job schedule, social events and appointments.  Unlike similar apps, Chipper adds a Pomodoro study timer where you can customize your study time duration and break times. Another unique function offered by Chipper is a study motivation feature whereas you check off your completed events/items, Chipper shows estimated "earnings" for your future salary just for sticking to your study schedule.  It shows how working hard now pays off in the future. Available on iOS and Android.

Homework Planners Apps are Game Changers

Using a homework planner app can ensure you stay organized and less stressed during the school year.  These apps are game changers when it comes to keeping track of your assignments and staying on top of all your academic to do’s.

Photo Credit Header Image: Ready Made  

Homework Planner

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Unlock your potential and manage your classes, tasks and exams with mystudylife- the world's #1 student planner and school organizer app..

School planner and organizer

The MyStudyLife planner app supports rotation schedules, as well as traditional weekly schedules. MSL allows you to enter your school subjects, organize your workload, and enter information about your classes – all so you can effortlessly keep on track of your school calendar.

Homework planner and task tracker

Become a master of task management by tracking every single task with our online planner – no matter how big or small.

Stay on top of your workload by receiving notifications of upcoming classes, assignments or exams, as well as incomplete tasks, on all your devices.

“Featuring a clean interface, MyStudyLife offers a comprehensive palette of schedules, timetables and personalized notifications that sync across multiple devices.”

” My Study Life is a calendar app designed specifically for students. As well as showing you your weekly timetable– with support for rotations – you can add exams, essay deadlines and reminders, and keep a list of all the tasks you need to complete. It also works on the web, so you can log in and check your schedule from any device.”

“MyStudyLife is a great study planner app that makes it simple for students to add assignments, classes, and tests to a standard weekly schedule.”

“I cannot recommend this platform enough. My Study Life is the perfect online planner to keep track of your classes and assignments. I like to use both the website and the mobile app so I can use it on my phone and computer! I do not go a single day without using this platform–go check it out!!”

“Staying organized is a critical part of being a disciplined student, and the MyStudyLife app is an excellent organizer.”

The ultimate study app

The MyStudyLife student planner helps you keep track of all your classes, tasks, assignments and exams – anywhere, on any device.

Whether you’re in middle school, high school or college MyStudyLife’s online school agenda will organize your school life for you for less stress, more productivity, and ultimately, better grades.  

Take control of your day with MyStudyLife

Stay on top of your studies. Organize tasks, set reminders, and get better grades, one day at a time.

We get it- student life can be busy. Start each day with the confidence that nothing important will be forgotten, so that you can stay focused and get more done.

Track your class schedule on your phone or computer, online or offline, so that you always know where you’re meant to be.

Shift your focus back to your goals, knowing that MyStudyLife has your back with timely reminders that make success the main event of your day

Say goodbye to last minute stress with MyStudyLife’s homework planner to make procrastination a thing of the past.

Coming soon!

MyStudyLife has lots of exciting changes and features in the works. Stay tuned!

Stay on track on all of your devices.

All your tasks are automatically synced across all your devices, instantly.

Trusted by millions of students around the world.

School can be hard. MyStudyLife makes it easier.

Our easy-to-use online study planner app is available on the App Store, the Google Play Store and can be used on desktop. This means that you can use MyStudyLife anywhere and on any device.

Discover more on the MyStudyLife blog

See how MyStudyLife can help organize your life.

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The 10 Best Study Planner Apps For Students

Ever considered a study planner app to help keep track of your studies? Technology has made studying way more convenient, especially for those who may need an extra helping hand at keeping organised.

Are study planners effective?

Study planners, especially digital study planners are highly effective for those struggling to keep up, or for wanting an easy-to-access place for study-related notes and deadlines.

As a student, keeping organised is one of the keys to acing your studies. One of those ways is having a student planner or diary to hand. But let’s be honest, how often do you really use it? Does the thought of having to write out all of your tasks make you eye-roll?

What if you could keep your studies organised in just a few thumb taps and away you go?

If studies are getting on top of you, then a student planner app really can’t hurt to try.

Gone are the days of getting lost in hand-scrawled notes and trying to hunt down missing sheets of paper. Add one of the 10 best study planner apps to your university checklist , or simply keep your current studies and life schedule organised.

But of course, if you prefer keeping track of your studies the good old-fashioned way – why not check out our study and stationary discounts ?

Top 10 study planner apps

The Chipper app was built specifically with uni students in mind. Plan everything you’ve got going on, from exams to outings, to keep your life and studies on track. Here’s just some of its features:

Its digital planner lets you organise every aspect of your life

Set reminders

It can remind you to complete homework, notify you of exam days and other events you set

If you like making lists then this app is a dream! You can list out each step for your assignments and exams using their Subtasks feature

Set study timers

Its built-in alarm feature means you can set study timers

Motivational tools

Chipper helps you build healthy studying habits thanks to its progress tools.

Get Chipper for free on iOS or Android .

You can probably guess what this app is about purely from the name. It’s a simple app that acts as your to-do list!

The simplicity of it gives it its charm. You may argue you could just use your Notes app to write your to-do list, but the tick box next to each task on Todoist makes things all that more satisfying.

Break each task down into subtasks, add due dates, assign peers to tasks and much more. Much like Chipper, you can also set timers for each task too, which is great for keeping you on track with assignments.

Download Todoist on iOS or Android .

Focus To-Do: Pomodoro & Tasks

Tons of studies show how the Pomodoro technique is fantastic for productivity. If you’ve never heard of it before, the Pomodoro technique is named after the classic tomato timer you have in your kitchen.

It works by setting a timer to 25 minutes and focusing on a single task. When the timer ends, you take a 5 minute break. After four “Pomodoros†(25-minute work-intervals), you take longer breaks in 5 minute increments.

This app is literally based on science, so who can argue with that? Manage your to-do list, time your tasks, set reminders, track what you work on the most and much more!

Why the Pomodoro technique works

It helps those who get distracted easily and lose track of time

Keeps goals and task completion realistic – i.e, stops you biting off more than you can chew

It’s especially useful for those who enjoy gamified task completion

Focus To-Do: Pomodoro & Tasks is available for free on iOS or Android .

Read: 20 apps for boosting your productivity .

My study life

Students, teachers and lecturers have all highly praised the My Study Life digital planner app for managing tasks and assignments in one place. Plus, there’s no ads that’ll distract you whilst using the app, despite it being totally free to use!

The app lets you synchronise all of your data between apps, so if you’ve forgotten your laptop or tablet, you can still use the app on the go with your Smartphone — even in offline mode. It’s one of the best study planner apps out there if you ask us!

Get My Study Life for free (and ad-free) on iOS or Android .

iStudiez Pro Legendary Planner

iStudiez has garnered a huge reputation over the years. Pop everything you need, like lessons, lecturers, contact details and assignments into your digital planner. Plus, if you’re into colour coding things, then this app is definitely for you.

View your planner in daily, weekly and monthly views to see what’s ahead. Viewing by day lets you see what tasks you have coming up and you can move things around at the drop of a hat.

If like most students you have alternating weeks, you can set your study planner to reflect this!

Get iStudiez on iOS only.

Taskheat — Visual To-Do List

Taskheat — Visual To-Do List, wasn’t specifically designed for students. But in terms of how visual it is, it would work fantastic for those who need to organise their tasks in an interesting way.

The app makes use of flow charts and colours to keep things looking neat and organised. It also lets you see which tasks are connected to each other for easy organisation. If you’re bound to forget about deadlines, its handy notification feature will make sure you stay on track too.

Use Apple products? All of your data automatically syncs with iCloud, meaning you can access Taskheat on any Apple device you own.

Everyday – Track Habits & Goals

Yet another app that wasn’t specifically designed for students. Everyday isn’t a planner as such, but more of a habit and goal tracker.

Why would a habit tracker be useful for students? It helps form discipline and visualises your progress with colours you input on each day. Overtime, whether that’s over the week, month or year, you can see how habits and positive changes have been formed.

Simply add all the habits or goals you wish to track, and pop a colour in to indicate whether you worked towards it.

Get Everyday on iOS , Android and Google Chrome .

Think of Trello as a virtual pinboard without the extra weight and stationary. It’s a visual tool that allows you to create lists and cards (your tasks) underneath those lists.

It’s fantastic for team projects, making it a good student planner, but also works as a handy self-organiser for all sorts of things. It’s totally free to use and available on both Apple and Android devices too.

Assign cards to peers, add deadlines, add a cool background to keep you motivated and use coloured labels to categorise your cards. The beauty of Trello is that it’s completely customisable. Make organisational boards about pretty much everything!

Get Trello on iOS or Android .

myHomework Student Planner

Get access to assignments anywhere and anytime with the myHomework Student Planner. It’s been on the block since 2009 and is a popular go-to for students and teachers.

The developer of myHomework insisted on a very minimalistic and simple interface, making it easy to hit the ground running and organising your study schedule. Whilst the app offers a paid feature, its free one comes with tons of features:

Track assignments, projects, tests and more…

Track classes

Receive due date reminders

Sync between devices

Cloud storage

If you prefer working in blocks or periods, myHomework can be used as such.

Get myHomework on iOS or Android .

Egenda – Homework manager

If you struggle to complete homework on time, then Egenda is your next best friend. Designed specifically to keep you on top of your homework, Egenda lets you manage your homework, tests and assignments in one place.

The app also has a notification feature to keep you on track about what’s due the next day. Plus, you can add notes to your assignments and add users to specific tasks that involve group work.

Filter your homework by class, due date and colour. It really is that simple – and simple is always good!

Get Egenda on iOS and Android .

How to create a good study plan

Downloading a study planner app, even if it’s the best study planner app out there, it’s kind of useless if you don’t use them in a way that’s productive and beneficial for your studies.

Here are some really simple yet super effective ways to create a study plan that works for you.

Be honest about your study habits (or lack thereof)

There’s no shame in not having had a study plan before. What better time than the present to get started!

If you’ve noticed you burn out easily, or things are going through one ear and out of the other, it might be time to switch up your learning style too.

Look at your current schedule

Do you actually have time to study during the week? Are there any gaps where you can fit in study time? See where you can make room and plan accordingly.

Plan how much study time each class or assignment needs

Some classes, homework, and assignments will take longer than others to complete. If you know you need the extra time, see where you can cut back on other commitments.

Develop a study schedule using one of our recommended study planner apps

We recommend giving them all a go! At the end of the day, one of them may work better for you than the other. So why not give them a download, have a play around and see which one you want to make a concrete schedule with?

Stick to your study plan

This is a given, but once you’ve found something that works for you, make it a point of sticking to it. Not only will this help propel your studies, but you’ll ultimately feel far less stressed out.

Plus, the benefit of study planner apps is most, if not all, have notifications enabled. Meaning you can set notifications for when you need to complete your tasks or study!

Which apps do you like the look of? If you’re on the lookout for new courses to study, check out our New Skills Academy student discounts and get a few of these apps to get your studies organised!

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How-To Geek

Keep track of homework assignments with soshiku.

Today we will take a look at Soshiku, a free online service for high school and college students that helps schedule and keep track of homework assignments.

Today we will take a look at Soshiku, a free online service for high school and college students that helps schedule and keep track of homework assignments.  Soshiku will send you reminder notifications via email and SMS to your cell phone. Go to their site and create an account which is free and easy. After you sign up for an account you will receive a verification email and start using the service right away.  The first thing to do is create a list of the subject or courses you’re currently studying.

Scheduling assignments is a simple process as well.  Just type in the assignment name, pick a course, date due, then how you want to be reminded. 

You can also add notes for the assignment, specific tasks that need completed, and upload documents that will help you or partners finish projects.

To be reminded by SMS on your cell phone just fill in your cell number and carrier.  After saving the info you will get a code texted to you that you type in to confirm your number.

After you get everything set up simple go to your home page to get a quick overview of what needs to be worked on.

Keyboard Ninja’s will love the fact there are some keyboard shortcuts that can be used while setting up assignments.

You can also color code courses which can be handy when you have a large amount of work or are sharing assignments.

Overall this is a very promising service that allows you to easily keep track of homework and other course projects.  You can share tasks with other members by searching for their profile and sending an add request.  The ability to upload and share documents makes research and collaboration very simple.  Reminder notifications are sent to your email on your selected schedule, and if that is not enough you can even have reminders sent to your cell phone.  While this service is designed for students, you could use it for any projects or collaborations you might need reminders for.  Of course the best feature of this service is it is Free!

Sign Up for the Free Homework Reminder Service

An Age-By-Age Guide to Helping Kids Manage Homework

D o you ever wonder whether homework is gauging the child’s ability to complete assignments or the parent’s? On one end of the spectrum, a parent might never mention homework and assume it gets done independently; on the other end are the parents who micromanage to be sure every worksheet is absolutely perfect.

Being too laissez faire about homework might deny a child the support they need to develop executive functioning skills, but being too involved could stifle their independence. So how much parent participation in homework is actually appropriate throughout a child’s education?

Basic homework tips

According to Scholastic , you should follow these rules of thumb to support your child during homework (without going overboard):

• Stay nearby and available for questions without getting right in the middle of homework.
• Avoid the urge to correct mistakes unless your child asks for help.
• Instead of nagging, set up a homework routine with a dedicated time and place.
• Teach time management for a larger project by helping them break it into chunks.

Child psychologist Dr. Emily W. King recently wrote about rethinking homework in her newsletter. King explains at what ages kids are typically able to do homework independently, but she writes that each child’s ability to concentrate at the end of the day and use executive functioning skills for completing tasks is very individual. I talked to her for more information on how much parental involvement in homework completion is needed, according to a child’s age and grade level.

Kindergarten to second grade

Whether children even need homework this early is a hot debate. Little ones are still developing fine motor skills and their ability to sit still and pay attention at this age.

“If a child is given homework before their brain and body are able to sit and focus independently, then we are relying on the parent or other caregivers to sit with the child to help them focus,” King said. “Think about when the child is able to sit and focus on non-academic tasks like dinner, art, or music lessons. This will help you tease out executive functioning skills from academic understanding.”

Elementary-age children need time for unstructured play and structured play like music, arts, and sports. They need outside time, free time, and quiet time, King said. For children who are not ready for independent work, nightly reading with another family member is enough “homework,” she said.

Third to fifth grades

Many children will be able to do homework independently in grades 3-5. Even then, their ability to focus and follow through may vary from day to day.

“Most children are ready for practicing independent work between third and fifth grade, but maybe not yet in the after-school hours when they are tired and want to rest or play. We need to begin exposing children to organization and structure independently in late elementary school to prepare them for more independence in middle school,” King said.

Neurodivergent kids may need more parental support for several years before they work independently.

“Neurodivergent children, many of whom have executive functioning weaknesses, are not ready to work independently in elementary school. Children without executive functioning weaknesses (e.g., the ability to remain seated and attend to a task independently) are able to do this somewhere between third and fifth grade, but it’s very possible they can work independently at school but be too tired to do it later in the afternoon,” King said. “We need to follow the child’s skills and give them practice to work independently when they seem ready. Of course, if a child wants to do extra work after school due to an interest, go for it.”

For students who are not ready to work independently in middle school, it is better to reduce the amount of homework they are expected to complete so they can practice independence and feel successful.

Middle school

In sixth grade and later, kids are really developing executive functioning skills like planning, organizing, paying attention, initiating, shifting focus, and execution. They will still need your encouragement to keep track of assignments, plan their time, and stick to a homework routine.

“Middle school students need lots of organization support and putting systems in place to help them keep track of assignments, due dates, and materials,” King said.

High school

By this point, congratulations: You can probably be pretty hands-off with homework. Remain open and available if your teen needs help negotiating a problem, but executing plans should be up to them now.

“In high school, parents are working to put themselves out of a job and begin stepping back as children take the lead on homework. Parents of high schoolers are ‘homework consultants,’” King said. “We are there to help solve problems, talk through what to say in an email to a teacher, but we are not writing the emails or talking to the teachers for our kids.”

What if homework is not working for them (or you)

There are a number of reasons a child might not be managing homework at the same level as their peers, including academic anxiety and learning disabilities.

If your child is showing emotional distress at homework time, it might be a sign that they have run out of gas from the structure, socialization, and stimulation they have already been through at school that day. One way to support kids is to teach them how to have a healthy balance of work and play time.

“When we ask students to keep working after school when their tank is on empty, we likely damage their love of learning and fill them with dread for tomorrow,” King wrote in her newsletter.

King said in her experience as a child psychologist, the amount of homework support a child needs is determined by their individual abilities and skills more than their age or grade level.

“All of these steps vary for a neurodivergent child and we are not following these guidelines by age or grade but rather by their level of skills development to become more independent,” she said. “In order to independently complete homework, a child must be able to have attended to the directions in class, brought the materials home, remember to get the materials out at home, remember to begin the task, understand the task, remain seated and attention long enough to complete the task, be able to complete the task, return the work to their backpack, and return the work to the teacher. If any of these skills are weak or the child is not able to do these independently, there will be a breakdown in the system of homework. You can see why young students and neurodivergent students would struggle with this process.”

If you and your child have trouble meeting homework expectations, talk to their teacher about what could be contributing to the problem and how to modify expectations for them.

“Get curious about your child’s skill level at that time of day,” King said. “Are they able to work independently at school but not at home? Are they not able to work independently any time of day? Are they struggling with this concept at school, too? When are they successful?”

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