College Without the Mess
Students from around the country show how keeping their spaces organized and clean helps them focus on academics and lead healthier lives.
By Don Rauf, graduate, New York University
College students can have a reputation for being messy. Living on their own for the first time, some students let their rooms fall apart into a state of chaos. Dirty laundry and clean clothes can pile up together on the floor—a sniff test may be the only means to determine what’s safe to wear. A bathroom can get gross fast without roommates taking turns to clean it. When things swirl out of control in your room, things can get out of control with your schoolwork as well, and living conditions can get downright unhealthy.
Most students don’t want to live in pig-sty-like conditions. Three-quarters of 420 students polled by Student Health 101 said their living space is either always clean or more often clean than not. Forty-four percent said their rooms are set up perfectly to get schoolwork done, while 43% said their rooms could be slightly better organized.
“When a room is small, [you] tend to keep things wherever [your] hand reaches without any difficulty,” says Rutu Dange, a second-year student at Humber College in Toronto, Ontario. “This starts piling up and, before you know it, there’s clutter that takes a long time to organize or re-organize.” So, to keep organized, Dange gives everything a place and makes it a point to put items back in those assigned places.
Disorganization can affect how you feel about more than just your physical surroundings, so while finding a spot for all your belongings may not be easy in a small room, the results provide more than just keeping your room tidy. “I eventually was able to assign a spot for everything in my room. I knew that by keeping my room clean and clutter-free, I would be happier and more organized with my schoolwork as well,” says Michelle Mendoza, a fourth-year-student at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ontario. “It was also nice to have somewhere neat and tidy to hang out, study, and sleep,” she adds. Katelyn Gandt, a second-year student at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, agrees: “Being clutter-free helps keep me focused when I’m studying and I find I’m a lot more positive [in the neater environment].”
Can’t find the space? Organizers to hold paper clips, pens, tape, and other necessities help remove clutter off desktops. Open storage bins help you see what is in each one, instead of having to rummage through to find what you’re looking for. As well, don’t forget the recycling and garbage bins. Piles contribute fast to a messy room!
If you think that keeping tidy seems difficult, Gandt says, “Tidy as you go! The easiest way to clean is to pick up after yourself as you make a mess.”
You may not feel like tidying your stuff when you're exhausted and you just want to crash, but remember, if you don't clean it up right away, you'll just have to deal with it later. And if you're like most students, you have other things you will want to do, making tidying last night's mess a low priority.
Organizing Your Thoughts
While you’re in school , you have a lot of thing to keep track of, from work schedules to classes to assignments, and more. Dange uses a calendar that she keeps on her desk, to keep track of what assignments are due when, but bulletin boards and white boards are also great organizational tools, where you can put reminders for many of your life’s happenings.
If you find that you have too much going on and marking all your activities on one calendar would clutter it up and overwhelm you, why not have two calendars? Have one for school-related stuff and one for everything else.
Some students use colour-coding to instantly identify their notebooks for different subjects. Sapphire Wood, a second-year student and resident advisor at the University of Windsor in Ontario, keeps three binders on physical health, mental health, and emergency procedures clearly labelled and in a place where she can always find them. “I have a lot of information and supplies that I might need available at a moment’s notice,” she says. This colour coding system can also be used in a calendar, as mentioned earlier. Some people colour-code their activities. For example, mark due dates in red ink, work schedules in green, and fun activities or dates in blue.
A Team Effort
For many college students, maintaining a neat room is a collaborative effort. You have to work with a roommate, and communicating how to keep your space clean and organized is key.
“As soon as you settle in, it is vital to establish a strong line of communication, and voice your opinion and expectations regarding rules of the room,” says Raphael Sweet, a third-year student at Wheaton College in Norton, Massachusetts. “Want the heavy metal music turned off by 10? Lights off by midnight? Significant others prohibited from the premises on Tuesdays and Thursdays, due to study schedules? Talk openly about it.”
Mendoza feels that talking ahead of time about how you both see your space is the first thing you should do, as well as dividing the room and choosing a cleaning day or making up a cleaning chart.
Examine Your Expectations
If you find that you and your roommate are at odds about how to keep your room, have a look at your own expectations. For example, could you be a little more relaxed about certain things in your room? While you don't have to accept food being left on the desk for days, perhaps you can make some compromises in what you find acceptable. Or, perhaps, you're the messier one. If this is the case, go back to talking with your roommate to see what issues are the biggest annoyances and maybe you can work out a compromise you both can live with.
DON RAUF IS THE CO-EDITOR OF STUDENT HEALTH 101 AND A GRADUATE OF THE JOURNALISM PROGRAM AT NEW YORK UNIVERSITY.
Find Out More
Click for more student organization tips from American University.
Click for more organization tips for students from OrganizationTips.org.
