Organization 101
When I arrived at UC Berkeley as a first-year, I was burnt out. My high school schedule had been jam-packed — consisting of early morning dance practices, late night theater rehearsals, and a dozen student government meetings studded in between — so I’d resolved to keep my college schedule light. This resolve lasted all but one week. By the time I’d memorized the names of my professors, I’d already started working two part-time jobs, hosting game nights in my dorm room, and applying to clubs.
My story isn’t unique. Almost all of my friends are juggling two to twenty activities alongside academics; I’ve learned that it comes with the territory of being a Berkeley student. So, if you’re doing it all, how do you keep track of it all? This article compiles organizational tips and anecdotes from students to help you live your best Berkeley life.
Berkeley Google Calendar, AKA bCal
At UC Berkeley, Google Calendar is king. You’ll be hard-pressed to find a student who doesn’t use the platform because the university itself uses it as part of our bConnected communications ecosystem. The Google Calendar associated with your @berkeley.edu email is called bCal. By default, bCal usually sends a notification 10 to 30 minutes prior to an event, but you can customize the time and frequency of your notifications.
As with any other Google Calendar, you can sync your bCal to your iPhone or Android phone’s calendar. You can also share your bCal with other people, and you can have multiple Google Calendars open at the same time, which helps with scheduling meetings.
“I live by my bCal schedule! I use this to track all classes, club meetings, and schedule-related things. I also put large school events (like midterms, finals, and paper due dates) on here, but not smaller homework tasks. I like to color-code my bCal based on class/work/personal to keep things visually neat!” — Shae, Class of 2029, majoring in English
Shae’s week in bCal, or Berkeley Google Calendar.
“Personally, I use Google Calendar religiously. I have it set up to notify me when I have classes, discussion sections, Zoom meetings or Google Meets, and any other event. Google Calendar — along with Gmail, Google Docs, and Spotify — is one of the few tabs I always have to have open, just so that I can seamlessly stay organized.” — Joseph, Class of 2029, majoring in philosophy
Berkeley Gmail, AKA bMail
Your @berkeley.edu email address is officially known as bMail, but most students just call it their Berkeley email or school email. CalCentral billing notices, campus WarnMe messages, and advising correspondences all go to your bMail inbox, so it’s important to keep it organized.
“I sort all of my emails by label so that I can track down specific communications quickly, and so that my inbox doesn’t get clogged. I also regularly go through my starred emails and unstar them after they become irrelevant — for example, after a midterm or important billing date has passed.
In addition to my @berkeley.edu email address, I keep three other addresses: an email for personal communications, an email for jobs and internships, and an email for subscriptions. This is helpful for both organization and security purposes.” — Nina, Class of 2026, majoring in film and media
Five of the many, many labels in Nina’s Berkeley email inbox, or bMail.
Planners
Almost everyone I know uses some form of planner in addition to their calendar or calendars. These planners track homework assignments, work shifts, club meetings, and everything in between. Here are four different types.
The spreadsheet
“For homework, the almighty spreadsheet is key. Writing down every single assignment, when they’re due, what kind of assignment it is, highlighting and underlining based on priority, is a good way to make sure things don’t slip through the cracks, especially assignments that aren’t on bCourses, or big assignments that need to be started earlier. Cross-referencing this with bCourses is what I do to keep ahead of assignments, and while it’s a hassle to set up and regularly update, it’s a nice little reward to change the dropdown bar from ‘Not started’ to ‘Submitted’ when you finish an assignment.
Shoutout to my friend Ryan for suggesting putting due dates earlier than they really are on the homework spreadsheet. It’s a neat trick to help you keep ahead of assignments.” — Nolan, Class of 2027, majoring in media studies
Nolan’s homework tracking spreadsheet.
The Google Document
“I absolutely live by my agenda which I keep on a Google Doc. I use bCal to help me visualize my day and big things like classes and meetings, but for the little details like when I need to leave, what to wear, what to bring, etc. — that’s all in my Google Doc. It’s down to the minute and I follow it extremely faithfully. Every weekend I plan out the entire next week this way using my master template and adjusting for each specific day.” — Rachel, Class of 2026, majoring in media studies
Rachel’s Google Doc weekly planner.
The Notion planner
“I use Notion to keep track of my classwork and readings. It’s a great platform, especially if you have a template from online, and helps me keep track of tasks and not miss deadlines since bCourses doesn’t always give me notifications for things like discussion posts.” — Ethan, Class of 2027, majoring in English
Ethan’s Notion planner.
“I use Notion to organize my school assignments, and I like to use this as a digital planner where I can set due dates for each smaller assignment, and break up larger tasks into smaller ones. I organize my Notion with a page for each class, and reset it at the beginning of each week with that week’s tasks. I love this platform to keep everything organized!” — Shae, Class of 2029, majoring in English
The old-school planner
“While I primarily use bCal and a digital to do list to keep track of things, I always have a physical planner too. I use it to write down big events like exams, concerts, and flights. Having the same information listed in multiple places means I have reminders all around me. Plus, there’s the added benefit of our brains remembering things better when we write them by hand rather than type them.” — Nina, Class of 2026, majoring in film and media
Nina’s hard-copy calendar.
“In addition to using Notion and bCal, I have a whiteboard calendar on my desk. I don’t mark the everyday classes on that — just larger events like big due dates, special events, birthdays, etc.” — Shae, Class of 2029, majoring in English
The mental planner
“Things get busy, so figure out what’s best for you. I’ve learned that no matter how hard I try to plan on paper and in bCal, I honestly still operate best from my head. Planning things out helps me keep my tasks in mind, but I try to be flexible with my scheduling (especially around designating time to complete assignments).” — Milana, Class of 2028, majoring in astrophysics and political science
“I could never really keep too well to a physical planner or calendar and rely mostly on routine and association instead. I’m a procrastinator, so if I know I need to do something, I set reminders for it earlier than I have to so I have time to ‘get in the mood’ to do it, as it were. I try to associate a task to some other thought or action, so whenever I have that thought, it acts like a lead to my given task.” — Vincent, Class of 2026, majoring in English
Final tips on staying organized
Here are some final words of wisdom from current UC Berkeley students.
Schedule in breaks: “I schedule in time to my days specifically for going through my to-do list or even just taking a break. It’s super easy to get overwhelmed and for things to get ahead of you, so doing this gives me a chance to catch up and feel like I’m on top of things.” — Rachel, Class of 2026, majoring in media studies
Get ahead of your deadlines: “Though I am by no means great at this, it’s worth trying to get ahead as much as you can during the first part of the semester. Sounds daunting, I know, but even something like being a week or two ahead of readings and homework will ensure you don’t fall behind when midterms come your way, when life happens, and when the burnout starts to creep in at the end of the semester.” — Nolan, Class of 2027, majoring in media studies
Keep a cool head: “Perhaps this isn’t a real tip, but I find it never helps to stress. Acknowledge the seriousness and importance of a task, but don’t get overwhelmed by it, even if it’s a big one. My dictum has always seemed to be, ‘It has to get done, so it will. Simple as.’” — Vincent, Class of 2026, majoring in English
Double or triple up on methods: “What works for your friends in terms of organization might not work for you, so don’t be afraid to experiment or double up on methods. I’m a forgetful person, so I normally triple or quadruple up. For example, I put events in my Google Calendar (which is synced to my iPhone’s calendar), my physical Calendar, and my digital to-do list.” — Nina, Class of 2026, majoring in film & media
I hope this article introduced you to some new organizational methods, or at least reminded you to have notifications turned on for your calendars and homework assignments. Good luck out there, Golden Bears!
Nina Takahashi, Class of 2026, is majoring in film & media and minoring in Japanese and creative writing. Cover photo by Milana Berhe.
Want more?
- Read Melissa’s advice on how to stay in touch at a school with over 40,000 students.
- Discover AI tools and best practices for students.
- Learn how to navigate the “My Finances” tab in CalCentral so you never miss a tuition payment.