How to Prepare for the Spring Semester Now

I know finals just ended for the fall semester, but in just a few short weeks, the spring semester will begin. You have a new schedule, new classes and might need to get some new supplies.

Winter break, especially after the holidays, is a great time to get organized for the upcoming semester. It’s cold out, and you don’t have too much to do, so why not get everything together. Here are a few ideas for how to prepare for the spring semester now.

1. Clear out your backpack.

After finals, you probably didn’t want to think about school or your backpack. It’s still full of your old books and binders, right? No shame, but you don’t want to wait until the night before classes to clean it out.

Take out all of your old books and supplies that you no longer need. Get rid of any trash that inevitably collected in the bottom of your bag. Set things you don’t need aside and in a safe place. Make sure your backpack is all ready for the new semester.

2. Re-evaluate your organization strategies.

With your new set of classes, it’s the perfect time to evaluate what worked, what didn’t and what you should do next semester. If you had a semester of lecture classes but next time will be more labs or discussions, you might need to organize your stuff a little differently.

This is also a good time to reorganize your planner. If you buy your planner with the calendar year, you will have a new planner to work with. If you bought a planner in August, you can look back at your previous semester and see what changes you can make.

I know I tend to neglect my planner as the semester goes on, so do something to spruce up your planner and make it more interesting. It’s a lot easier to use something that you like and makes you want to get organized.

3. Get your books.

Order your textbooks as soon as you can. Even if you have that dreaded book that you can only get at your school’s bookstore, order it. You don’t want to get back to campus only to be put on a wait list for your books.

Look in Facebook groups for textbook exchanges and set up something, if you can. Order available book store online, or order ahead from the bookstore.

4. Organize your supplies.

Figure out what you need to buy and what you can reuse. Once you have your supplies, put them all in one place so you don’t forget them when you go back to school.

Make sure you know where all of your pens and pencils are and whether you need to buy more. If you like colored pens, make sure they all have enough ink or buy some backups.

5. Relax.

Lastly, take advantage of your extra time off and relax. The fall semester can be hard, especially after a summer off. With the stress of the holidays, it can be hard to stay relaxed, but it’s important. You won’t have as much time to relax once classes start.

So…

Those are five of my best tips for preparing for the spring semester over winter break. Classes are never fun to think about, but getting organized over the break can make your first week back that much easier.

What do you do to prepare for classes over break? Let me know in the comments. Also, be sure to follow me on Twitter (@HannahHaefele) and catch up on my recent blog posts!