Bigger is better

We love tear-off desk calendars for keeping track of the ins and outs of everyday life. They sit right on the surface of your desk like a pad of humongous sheets of paper. You can work on top of them, easy peasy. Bonus? You can doodle in the margins while thinking on your essay’s intro.

At-A-Glance 30% Recycled Academic Desk Paper Calendar, $9, officedepot.com

All things bright

Stock your pencil cup with different colored pens or markers, and use each color to represent a different activity—after school sports practice, dance rehearsal, QT with your friends, doctors appointments, homework assignments and tests. If you like to use one huge notebook for all of your classes, you could also write your notes in different colors to make them easier to find.

Paper Mate Retractable Gel Pens, $13, officemax.com

Ingenious inbox

Grab a few letter-sized plastic trays or make your own by cutting up a cereal box and lining it with fun paper. Label them clearly with their purposes. You’ll definitely want one for homework that’s heading back to school, but you could use them for upcoming test prep materials or project research or forms that needs to be signed by Mom or Dad. Make it a habit to keep the papers in the proper trays, and to tuck your HW into your backpack in the morning!

Staples Black Plastic Letter Tray, $5, staples.com

File forward

Have you ever been trying to study for a test only to find that all of your notes are crammed in the bottom of your locker or balled up in your backpack? Perfect for midterms and finals, file folders can help you stow worksheets, old quizzes and homework for use later in the year. Make one for each subject you’re taking, or for each thematic unit within a class. When you’re finished (for now) with a sheaf of papers, simply put them in the file you’ve already created.

by Brittany Taylor | 2/1/2016