No matter what the size or layout of a dorm room - organization is a must! With small spaces, there is no room for disorganization. Here are some organizing tips for dorm rooms.
If you are planning to visit home after the start of the school year, bring summer clothes home and take winter clothes back to college. Taking just the clothing suited to the current season will help save space. Contact your roommate before arriving to avoid possible duplication of larger items such as a television, fridge, microwave, iron, ironing board, etc.- which take up a lot of space.
Bunk or loft your beds to create more living space. Bed risers also work great to maximize storage underneath your bed. Increase your space by utilizing back of doors, inside closet doors and wall space. Most colleges do not want their walls damaged by new holes so remember to bring lots of sticky tack and Rubbermaid's line of wall adhesive hooks.
Late night snacks are inevitable at college. Ziploc bags and sealable containers go a long way. Keep all crackers, snacks, etc. in these to prevent ants or other bugs from invading your dorm room. A plastic tote is a great way to store and carry items to and from the communal showers. This keeps all items in one place and prevents leaving items behind. Do not forget a pair of flips flops for the showers and your robe!
With new friends and new experiences, comes much memorabilia. Think ahead and plan on one memorabilia box per school year. This limits all the paper and knick knacks you save- start off with a large shoe box, and if you must grow to a larger container, ok, but remember to limit it to one container.
Keeping track of classes, assignments, and campus events/dates seems daunting. Some colleges offer pocket calendars with preprinted campus dates. Definitely purchase one either from the college or a generic one from an office supplies store. After getting syllabuses from your professors, take time to enter in all assignment due dates.
Paper during college will soon pile up if it is not contained. Here are two ideas- create a labeled binder for each course which would contain pockets, sheet protectors, and blank paper. Three-hole punch incoming paper and add it to the corresponding course. OR get one 2 inch binder that will contain all courses. Separate courses by insertable labeled index dividers. Include blank paper and sheet protectors as well.
Christmas lights are a fun, yet cheap way to dress up and decorate a dorm room. Do not forget a strand of two while packing, along with adhesive hooks to hang them.
Do not Forget the essentials while organizing dorm rooms! Organizational Gear and Products:
Dorm Room Closets
Over the Door Pocket Organizers
Shoe Rack/Cubes
Hangers and Hooks
Over door Towel Racks
Laundry
Mini Drying Rack
Pop Up Hamper
Stain Sticks
Desks in Dorm Rooms
Extension Cords and Surge Protectors
Bulletin/Message Board
Desktop Organizers for Accessories
Three-Hole Punch/Stapler
Storage
Set of Bed Lifts
CD/DVD Storage
Stackable Crates or Cubes (for books)
Under bed Storages Boxes
Memorabilia/Photo Boxes
Bath
Shower Tote/Caddy
Cosmetic Trays/Organizers
Okay, when you hear "study skills," you probably immediately want to take a nap, but, seriously, these things are important. Here's a little secret: college isn't really all about learning about certain subjects. It's actually more about figuring out how to deal with information that you're given. Sure, you're building up a base of knowledge that you'll eventually use in your job, but learning how to manage your time and the information you need to know effectively will prepare you for the workplace way more than acing all your tests will. Of course, having the right study skills won't hurt your test scores, either. Here are the top five study skills that you should master this year.
1. Take notes. It's a proven fact that when you process information through your fingers, you remember it better. Learn how to take good notes on your reading and on lectures, and you'll actually end up needing to study less because more information will stick the first time around. Whether you prefer to take notes with a pencil and paper or your laptop doesn't matter, just as long as you take detailed notes.
2. Ask the right questions. Learning a subject inside and out has a lot to do with the questions you ask. If you're in a lecture and you don't understand something, it's important that you ask questions so that you can gain some clarity. At first, you might ask vague questions that don't get you the answers you need right away, but with some practice, you'll figure out how to ask questions that get straight to the point more often than not.
3. Study in groups. Okay, so not everyone likes to study in groups, but knowing how to work with a group can be really important for college and your future career. Find at least one class where a study group would be useful, and then take the initiative to form it. You can memorize things faster when someone's quizzing you, and you can also learn a lot from other people, who probably understand things differently than you do during class.
4. Learn to practice. Whether you're practicing problems before your math exam or practicing essays before a major philosophy test, practice definitely makes perfect. There needs to be a balance here, though. Don't go overboard so that you get bogged down by too many practice questions. Teach yourself to recognize when you need more practice with a particular lesson and when you've got it down pat and will just need to skim a quick review before the next quiz or test.
5. Manage your time. Time management is probably the single most important study skill that you'll need to get through college and, really, the rest of life in general. Whether you need to set a timer to help you focus on important tasks in half an hour chunks, create a detailed to-do list, or make some sort of daily flowchart, you need to figure out how you best manage your time. If you're having trouble getting all your work done, talk to some professors or friends about how they manage to fit everything in. Everyone gets twenty-four hours a day, but some people use those hours a little better than others. Learn from those people!
