How to organise notes when at university

I’m going to be studying politics at university and have no idea how to organise notes and, if I’m being honest, I don’t really know what I’m in for at university. My current organisational skills can be described as horrific and I procrastinate terribly as I’ve traditionally rarely studied for A level politics and left Btec coursework to the last minute successfully. How best should I organise notes (Online document vs just writing them down) and how challenging will university be for someone who has largely been content with procrastination with school work?

Original post by Anonymous

I’m going to be studying politics at university and have no idea how to organise notes and, if I’m being honest, I don’t really know what I’m in for at university. My current organisational skills can be described as horrific and I procrastinate terribly as I’ve traditionally rarely studied for A level politics and left Btec coursework to the last minute successfully. How best should I organise notes (Online document vs just writing them down) and how challenging will university be for someone who has largely been content with procrastination with school work?

Hi there

I would recommend trying out both methods. :smile:

During the first few weeks of Uni, I tried to handwrite my notes initially, however I found this quite challenging as some lecturers spoke at a faster pace. Though I did find that I remembered things better when written down.

For the past two years, I have changed to typing my notes on laptop. This does allow me to keep up with the speed of lectures better. You could try both note taking methods and see which works best for you. At University it is really about how you study and what works the best for you.

In terms of organisation, try to be organised from the start of the year. Just doing the simple things like labelling your notes and filing them correctly can help you towards the end of the year.

Procrastination can get worse at University, I have experienced this myself. Mainly because you are given the freedom and independence to study. It is really completely up to you how you allocate your time. One way that I have overcome it is by making a to-do list for each day and ticking off the tasks as I go. Alternatively, you can also create a timetable so you can allocate your studying times efficiently.

Hope this helps.
Chloe
-University of Kent Student Rep

Reply 2

gjd800

20

In the end, I used a separate pad for each course unit.

Before that I used the same pad for it all but it got chaotic quickly.

Original post by Anonymous

I’m going to be studying politics at university and have no idea how to organise notes and, if I’m being honest, I don’t really know what I’m in for at university. My current organisational skills can be described as horrific and I procrastinate terribly as I’ve traditionally rarely studied for A level politics and left Btec coursework to the last minute successfully. How best should I organise notes (Online document vs just writing them down) and how challenging will university be for someone who has largely been content with procrastination with school work?

Hi there !

For university, One Note can be really helpful as it's like having a multi-section binder but online. I found this super helpful for keeping notes in the right place. It also helps as you can import lecture slides into them and annotate on the side!
I also get a big wall planner at the start of each year so that I can keep a track of deadlines and due dates. I find having it in front of me really helps to keep an eye on things!

I hope this helps :smile:

.

Rebecca, UCLan

How to organise notes when at university

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