It’s that time of year again: 20 degree weather, Christmas music blasting from every speaker and the end of the first semester are right around the corner. Practically no one is organized and all anyone cares about are the number of days until winter break.

Unfortunately our rite of passage to those blissful and freedom-filled days is four of the worst days of first semester: finals week. Along with this torturous week comes the need for excessive planning, studying and organization. Since you can never have too much organization, here are a few tips that can hopefully help.

1. Go through all of your school stuff and throw anything away that’s not important. Extra papers make for extra mess but be careful, if you’re not sure if you will need this paper for finals or anything else, hold onto it until you can ask your teacher.

2. Buy extra supplies if necessary. Highlighters, note cards, folders and notebooks are all super helpful to stay organized and they help with memorization. Plus, who doesn’t get super motivated to study and get organized when they get new office supplies?

3. Clean your work space. Wherever you do your homework or studying, clearing it will make it more accessible and it will also help you focus more.

4. Listen to good music while you organize and clean. Music boosts productivity and will make cleaning and organizing feel like fun, so crank up the tunes.

5. Keep a calendar or agenda. This will help you schedule studying time and important events and will help you know what you have to get done.

6. Make reminders on your phone. This is especially crucial for forgetful people. Find out how to set alarms or reminders on your phone and I promise you will feel at least fifty percent more on top of things.

7. Speaking of phones- declutter your phones, laptops and/or tablets. We use technology a lot and sometimes glancing down at a device and realizing you have 15 new emails or no more space left can be stressful. Go through and delete any apps you don’t use, any pictures you don’t want and any emails you don’t need.

With these organization tips I hope you can all be successful and tackle finals week with ease. Organize on, my friends!