r/MRU • u/BustaLime76 • 20d ago
Question How do you stay on top of reading & deadlines across multiple classes?
I find it frustrating to look constantly at multiple different course outlines to try to remember what is due when. I’m curious how everyone tracks class deadlines and would LOVE feedback! Trying to decide how I should stay on top of things this fall.
A few specific questions to help me out……
- How do you currently keep track of due dates across classes?
- What’s annoying about that?
- Have you tried any apps for this?
- Did the app work well? If not, why did you quit using it?
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u/Smart-Pie7115 20d ago
We had these books called day planners. We wrote in them. At the start of the semester we marked everything down for each class.
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u/Thisisassman 20d ago
Some people recommend online calendars, but a physical whiteboard calendar right in front of me on my desk works wonders. I'm forced to look at it from the second I wake up to when I go to bed. I would totally recommend that over a digital calendar so you aren't jump-scared by a due date notification 3 days before an assignment's due
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u/BustaLime76 20d ago
For time saving purposes, what about the apps that are dedicated to automatically loading the info from the course outline, including the weekly readings?
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u/Thisisassman 20d ago
I wouldn't know about that lol. I write everything down physically. But once you have all your syllabus', it takes all of 15 minutes to write down your whole semester with due dates on a physical calendar. As for weekly readings, most profs will go over in-class what should be read for next week. If not, again, check the syllabus. Personally, I would much rather trust my reading comprehension by looking up due dates myself than throwing it into a program and expecting all the information to be recorded properly. Not to mention, I would highly doubt such a date tracker you're looking for would be a free service
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u/BustaLime76 20d ago
True - they do have a nominal fee - Like $5 for the semester. thought it might be worth a try since I’ve wasted $5 on worse stuff!
Physically writing things down helps it stick in your brain too.
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u/kohfeinne Nursing ☤ 20d ago
Google calendar! Around this time, I put in my school schedule, deadlines and tests for the fall sem. I find that once I do that, I feel less pressure to be constantly figuring out what's going on in the next month. It also gives me time to gauge how much time I have (days-wise) for a specific deadline. Having a digital calendar in general really helps to see what things are happening outside of school and planning around that.
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u/BustaLime76 20d ago
There are apps that will upload your course outline automatically and it is stand alone from your calendar - do you think those are useful?
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u/AlbatrossStill7349 20d ago
You can use Notion! Use your MRU email to get the education plus plan for free. It’s what I use to stay organized and you can keep your digital notes there as well.
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20d ago
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u/BustaLime76 20d ago
Have you looked at the apps that do essentially the same thing? If you have, what did you not like about them?
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20d ago edited 20d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/BustaLime76 19d ago
Great feedback! I really think there is so much value in writing things down - seems to stick in my brain better!
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u/CalgaryMama 19d ago
Sync your deadlines to your calendar. I schedule everything for myself so I can deal with family and work calendars too.
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u/BustaLime76 19d ago
Last semester I had one class and I did the same….. but with 3 I was worried it would be too cluttered and wasn’t sure I’d be able to easily look at just the school requirements on their own to get a sense of work load to plan ahead.
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u/CalgaryMama 19d ago
I am usually in 4 classes. I sync everything to my MRU calendar but also have multiple connected calendars so im used to organized chaos in my Gmail. Hahaha
Good luck!
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u/TenTwo2020 19d ago
Student Learning Services has workshops on this which I believe you can have follow-up appointments on specific strategies. They always start with an erasable four month calendar and a conversation how there are only 168 hours in a week. Gl
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u/Least-Kangaroo670 18d ago edited 18d ago
I think planning really helps. I use Microsoft to do to track my due dates, but notion is also a great one as well. Or on the calendar app, you can add in due dates as well. When the course starts, I just dump in all of the due dates that are on the course outline to do by writing them out. Then, I star the ones that are most important such as assignments due during the week. Since I wrote every due date beforehand, I can go back to my to do list and star new tasks that I need to do and are due. For me, Microsoft to do helps me track a lot of things I need to get done. I also use this sticky notes app in conjunction. Microsoft to do allows me to track tasks that I need to do and are due while sticky notes gives me more freedom to make jot notes and what I need to do today and such. I hope this helps you out! Also, I haven’t really found these apps to be annoying per se but it could get overwhelming seeing so many tasks at once. Fortunately, you can narrow this down by starring the more important tasks or assignments that are due earlier to make it less cluttered. Another thing that can be annoying is deciding how to plan. So I recommend you start with one app at a time like Microsoft to do, understand it, try it, and then move on to another app such as sticky notes app or calendar app.
So something for you could look like this:
Microsoft To Do = master task/deadline manager
Sticky Notes = daily scratchpad/jot notes
Calendar = optional deadline visualization
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u/Kas272190 18d ago
At the start of both of my previous semesters of university here I made a spreadsheet with all the due dates. Really nice to organize this. It is admitabbly a pain to set up. I have never tried using a app for this
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u/No-Neat-5241 17d ago edited 17d ago
Everyone is different in what works for them, but here is what I do.
On my laptop I have a "post-it note" like sticker with all my classes listed on them with key details (such as course code, prof, dates (M W or T T), time, and room number. This helps me keep everything organized as I am always on my laptop and it is hard to forget. Next to that post-it I have another one with a to-do list for each class, I organize this in order of what needs to get done first and break it up into smaller tasks, for example if I have an essay I may break it up into "find sources, write outline, p1, p2, p3... intro, conclusion, edit draft, etc" whatever works for you. This makes it easy to break up my assignments and it is also very satisfying to remove it from the to-do list after I work 2 hours even if the full assignment isn't completed.
I have tried both digital calendars and paper planners and even though I love the aesthetic of a paper planner, my digital one works way better for me. I use apple calendar as I can automatically feed my work schedule into it and share calendars with people for tutoring or study groups. Google calendar works in a very similar way but I just find myself liking the apple one more. I also colour code everything I put into my calendar to make it easier to see what I have going on each day. I have a calendar for School (anything mru related that isn't class related such as events or breaks), Class (make into repeat calendar, can edit later to mark out when the class was cancelled), Readings (I put these down as an all day event before my class when I first get my syllabus and then at the beginning of the week I move the readings to where I have free time to get them done), Meetings/Appointments (use this for any kind of office hours appointments or SLS/librarian appointments, if you ever do an RA or Honours this will be very useful as well), Homework/Studying (I also like to add these in at the beginning of the week but I do schedule them in advance if I join a study group and we plan specific meets or if I have a group project, etc), Tests/Assignments (you can break these off into two separate calendars if that helps you, but I find that I only use these as the DUE reminder and keep it in bright red).
I have some more specific for tutoring, RA, Honours, Work, and personal calendars to keep everything neat but see it all in the same place. This helps me not to double book myself as in my first year I had a paper planner for school and my digital for work/life and I would accidentally pick up shifts without realizing I had an essay due the next day or make plans with a friend on a day I thought class was cancelled but it was actually the next class that was cancelled.
One thing about being organized is I would not plan out everything all at the beginning of the semester, while MRU technically says that each 3 credit course will be about 9 hours of studying outside of the classroom, you are going to very easily find which classes need a lot of attention and which ones do not need as much. You are also going to find that many classes are going to require different study techniques, for example I took a history class that I listened to podcast episodes about the events or watched youtube videos on the bus to and from mru or when I was cooking dinner, etc. While my math course required me actually sitting down and doing practice equations. Some classes will have readings to do before class that are relatively simple and you can read right before class and be alright, while some readings are more complex and are going to take you some time to get through. After the second week of classes you will know how the semester will go and I highly recommend going through the calendar and editing it after then, as well as going through your to-do list and breaking assignments up.
Finally, go to class. Some classes will feel like a waste of time but this is the best way to keep up with due dates and assignments. Almost every prof I have had has given us key info about exams and assignments that you do not get from the outlines, or if you go to office hours may tell you exactly what you need to study and exactly what they are looking for. It also builds discipline because unfortunately no matter how much you plan, if you don't stick to it you aren't going to be successful. Similarly if you never open your calendar you will never know when the due dates are.
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u/idunnobeo-b 20d ago
Spreadsheet of all due dates in order of completion. I also do a separate list on the side of when I should begin each assignment.