The Lazy Hobo Organizational Scheme

I've been meaning for years to organize all my shit into a comprehensible system. Most of the other times that I've tried to organize things, it's gotten too complicated to bother with and things get less organized than they were before. Keeping different subjects in different binders resulted in cross-contamination of subjects. Filing is absurd and far more effort than I was willing to expend. Furthermore, none of these systems helped me keep on track with regards to what I was actually supposed to be doing.

Fortunately, over the past couple of years, I've gradually hammered out all the details of a system that works quite well for keeping track of all the information and details that are important to a student. The final key, which I just worked out recently, was a portable way to easily make and organize notes, lists, tasks, etc.

The entire system consists of four things: A clipboard, a large binder, a whiteboard, and a Hipster PDA (I use my own version of the Hipster, with details in this post)

The Clipboard
Your clipboard is what you will use for holding and carrying information and materials that are relevant to you during the day. For me, this means a schedule, up to a few days of notes, assignment descriptions, a stack of paper for taking new notes, and a pen.

Your clipboard is what you will use to write all of your notes for all of your classes. This has the advantage of making it the only thing you need to carry around when you're on campus. The disadvantage is that your notes will all go into the same pile.

This problem is easily circumvented with proper labeling. On every page of notes, put the course code (or course name, or whatever you prefer), the date, and next to the date, an index number to say which page of notes from that day for that subject it is. That way, you know the exact location of the note in terms of subject and chronological order. Example: If I find a sheet that says "CHEE 210" in the upper left, and "Feb 21. (3)" in the upper right, I know it's the third page of notes I took on February 21st for thermodynamics. This will come in handy later when putting your notes into the binder.

After each class, I like to take all of the notes from that class, unclip them or tear them from the pad, and put them into the pocket behind any other papers that are there. Every few days, when there gets to be too much paper there, make a note in your Hipster PDA to transfer them to your binder, so you don't forget about it once you're home.

I recommend a clipboard with a folding cover, at least one pocket that holds paper, and a pen loop. Personally, I use this thing called a "padfolio," which holds a pad of paper rather than a clip. If you use one of these, make sure to get pads of paper with holes punched in the side for future storage of notes. Also remember that if you don't have an actual pad, you can put regular paper into the folder using a binder clip.

The Hipster PDA
Despite the unfortunate name, the Hipster PDA is also a good organizational tool for people who are actually trying to accomplish things.

The Hipster is a way to keep and arrange short personal notes and information that was originally made popular by this post from 43 Folders. I found the idea to be pretty good, but I have some issues with the original design, so I came up with my own variation which I (unjustifiably) call the Hipster PDA 2.0.

Basically, you take some index cards and keep them all together with a small binder clip. It's cheap, it's portable, and it's easy to create, reorganize, and get rid of data.

Any time you get an assignment, write it down. Any time you think of something that you need to get done, write it down. Any time you receive some interesting bit of information that you want to hang on to (ex: date of a function where you can get free food, drug dealer's phone number), write it down. Any time you have an idea for anything, write it down.

This was the real missing link from my system. I used to write down these things on the sides of notes or on scraps of paper which I shoved into my pockets, which just wasn't working. It also didn't help to keep me on task.

The second function of the PDA is to keep a running tab of everything you want to accomplish and have accomplished. My front card is always a list of small tasks that I want to get accomplished on that day. I have other cards associated with all tasks to accomplish eventually, and other organizational tricks that I will describe further in my main post about it.

The White Board
Also known as a dry-erase board. These might seem a bit pricey for something that holds so little information at once, but trust me, they're very useful. You also don't need a very big one. Mine is something like 12"x8", and I've never had a problem with it.

The only purpose of the white board is to keep track of what assignments you have and what date they need to be finished by (including any midterms/quizzes that you need to review for). If you wish, you can also include a rough estimate of how much you've done on them. At a given time, I have about five to ten assignments that I need to keep track of, so a running list is very helpful in making sure all of my shit gets done in a reasonable amount of time.

I used to keep a sheet of paper specifically for this purpose, but since the items don't get removed linearly and the sheet needs to be replaced periodically, it's not an ideal system. It's a very transient, ever-changing list of things that take different amounts of time to complete. Therefore, a white board is an ideal way to keep track of that list. Anything new gets written on, anything you've completed gets erased. Simple. The large writing and conspicuous presence

The Binder
This is just a really big binder where you keep all of your non-recent notes, old assignments and tests, whatever you want to hold on to. You should use divider sheets to keep subject separate. Every few days, empty the notes from the pocket in your clipboard and sort your notes into the binder by subject and date.

I recommend a thick (three inches is good), sturdy binder with D-ring clips. If you buy a good binder now, you can keep it all through university with no problems, since this is one you won't toss around a lot. On the other hand, if you buy one with flimsy covers or circular ring clips (which, on larger binders, are prone to failure), you'll just have to replace it.

Incidentally, D-rings also make it easier to open/close the binder, and transfer larger amounts of paper. Just get the damn D-rings.