Post-it notes /ˈpōstit nōts/
“a piece of paper with an adhesive strip on one side, designed to be stuck prominently to an object or surface and easily removed when necessary” (Google definition)
While almost every student owns a stack of post-it notes, not every student understands how to use them. If you are using them for reminders, quick notes or decoration, you have not fully understood how great post-it notes are. This blog post will give you some new and inspiring ideas about how to use your post-it notes.
Supplement Your Planning
Creating a daily study plan is a very effective way for getting organized and time management. In addition to a planner, where I write down my daily, weekly and monthly goals, I also find it helpful to list the day’s tasks on a post-it note, which I can stick on my laptop or study desk or just anywhere I want. This way, I can make notes and scribble on the paper all I want without worrying about ruining the look of my “supposed-to-be” neat planner.
Guide You Through Your Tasks
An upgraded version of doing daily plans with sticky notes is to use them to “guide” you through your tasks. I usually have all of the day’s tasks written on one “master” post-it note and details on separate ones. For example, if one of my tasks for the day is to read pages 55 to 77 of a textbook. I would have this written down on the post-it note that I stick on my laptop. I would also have two other post-it notes sticking out of pages 55 and 77 of my textbook. Doing this allows me to get to the tasks fairly quickly and saves me the mental energy to flip through all previous pages before I can get to page 55 and checking to see how many pages left to read.
Flexible Planning
When setting your weekly goals in your planner, you can always use post-it notes for those tasks that may take a longer time or those which do not have a set deadline. For example, let’s say I have a project due in three weeks. I will list the things I have to do on a checklist and stick this post-it note on the day which I start working on the project. I will check off each task as I go. Since this project will possibly take more than a week to finish, I can transfer the post-it note from one week to the next. By having a checklist I can clearly see my progress and can plan my time accordingly. Similarly, when I have a task that is not urgent, I use a post-it note to allow more flexibility in planning (and to avoid scribbles on the page).
Help You Stick to Your Plan
If you have set any type of personal goal for yourself, such as saving money, doing exercise regularly or eating healthy, post-it notes can be great to help you stick to your plan. On a piece of post-it note, have a picture or a quote to motivate yourself, and stick the post-it in places to remind yourself of your goal and motivation. For me, I have decided to spend less money on food so I can buy other things that I actually need/want. So I wrote this down on a post-it note and placed it in my wallet. Now that every time I take out my wallet to pay for something, I will see the message and make sure I am spending my money wisely and on things I actually need.
These are some creative ways to use your post-it notes. Try them out and use them to help you achieve your goals!