Finals week can quickly become overwhelming for many students. Within a short amount of time, you have study guides and projects and a mountain of papers all thrusted upon you. Dealing with all of this can make it hard to stay organized. Here are a few tips to keep yourself clutter-free for finals.

1. Folders. Although it seems basic, folders are the easiest and one of the most effective ways to declutter your backpack. Have a different colored folder for each of your classes and stick to them. While it may seem easier to shove that paper into your bag as soon as you get it, finding it later when you need to study will be a nightmare. Folders can alleviate that stress.
2. Plan out your day as much as possible. For the eight hours you are in school, this will be easy. But when you get home, do you know your game plan? An easy way to plan out your day is to start early. During breakfast breakfast, think of the things you know you need to study for. Prioritize your classes and projects, and make sure you stick to this plan of action.
3. Color coordinate. Remember those highlighters you bought at the beginning of the year? Put them to use. Develop a system for the colors that you are using and apply them to all the text you have. For example, green could be points you know will show up on the test, orange could be topics you need to study more and blue could be ones you have questions over.
4. Utilize sticky notes. This one could easily replace the highlighters. You could have different color or sized sticky notes for certain things. Small sticky notes for questions you have, big ones for main ideas. The possibilities are endless. Tip: Write down information that you have trouble remembering on a sticky note. Place those sticky notes in places you know you will see them, like your mirror or your TV.