School days are upon us once again. A successful year at any level -- elementary, middle, high, college, even graduate -- starts with organizing time, documents, and space. The best time to get organized is before the new semester begins. Let's start with the work space.

Clear the decks.

Put away last semester's leftover material. Nothing will slow a fresh start like tripping over unneeded books and notes. Old notes, assignments or handouts that might have a future use can be stored in binders or boxes in a closet; anything that doesn't have any value should be discarded. Textbooks can also be stacked in a closet if they might prove helpful for review or otherwise, they can be sold or donated.

Tidy the room.

With the old stuff cleared away, it's a good time to get the whole room in order. A clean and organized environment avoids time wasted searching for misplaced items.

Get everything ready.

Inventory school supplies and buy whatever is needed. Check the syllabus to determine special supplies and tools necessary (like a calculator or graph paper or drawing pencils). Print out the syllabus and purchase textbooks and any reference books required, especially if buying them online -- delivery time may be lengthy. Finding and bookmarking helpful websites in a separate folder for each class, is another good thing to do before classes begin and time becomes a scarce commodity.

Coursework papers will continue to increase throughout the year for sure. To avoid losing an important assignment or misplacing vital notes or losing track of  other documents, here are some organizing tips.

Keep separate folders for each subject.

Designate a different colored pocket folder for each subject or class so that they can be easily identified. Folders can be kept in a file drawer or file box or in a file stand on the student's desk. In the notebook, use a divider tab of the same color for each subject or class in a three ring binder for consistency and convenience.

Keep current assignments apart from completed papers.

Students usually have daily or weekly assignments, as well as long-term projects (such as term papers or lab work) that are completed over several weeks or months.. Don't mix working project papers with assignments that have already been completed, such as those that have been graded and returned, but may be useful for review. Older papers can be placed into their own archive folder for safekeeping.

Don't overstuff folders.

As the school year progresses, most students will keep using each folder until the folder is overflowing. As a result specific papers become difficult to find. When a folder won't close easily, start a new one of the same color, but kept in a separate place to avoid confusion.

Time management becomes increasingly essential for students as they move to higher levels of education. Making time for class assignments, chores, extra curriculars, and friends requires better and better time management. A calendar -- paper or electronic -- helps set schedules and control time to achieve everything required and still have some fun and leisure.

Schedule all activities.

Start with the class schedule and holidays, then include due dates for long-term assignments and test dates. Highlight these in the same colors you use for your folders and notebook tabs. Now chores and household projects can be fit in, as well as extracurricular activities, leisure pursuits, and plans with friends. Finally, include scheduled time to work on those long-term papers and projects to ensure progress is made on them week-by-week, instead of panicking when they are due.

Plan time use.
Pay close attention to time and use it wisely. When conflicts between activities -- studying for a test and a social event -- loom, the schedule can flex to accommodate both by putting in extra study time before the dance or game. On a daily basis, chores and study time, meals and leisure pursuits can be fit around each other to ensure that everything is accomplished with minimal stress. It just takes planning and attention to time. Making a simple agenda every evening can be a great help.

For students who are going away to school for the first time there are some additional considerations.

Space in most dorm rooms is much tighter than at home and has to be shared. Think compact.  Use multi-purpose containers and furniture. And keep in mind that moving, even from dorm to dorm, will likely be an annual occurrence. Collapsible storage containers can be best for moving and can either be used for storage in the dorm or folded down and stored away (or sent home) ready for moving out again or moving on.