A couple of years ago, I coined my own personal mantra that has helped make my life just a tiny bit more organized than it was before. “An organized room is an organized mind.” It may seem obvious, but it actually helps. Picture this scenario: You get home from a long day of classes with a list of assignments you need to finish. In which environment do you think you will get the most work done; a messy dorm room with clothes strewn across the floor, your comforter and sheets hanging off of your bed and papers flooding your desk, or a dorm room with a well-made bed, meticulously organized desk and dirty clothes in their designated hamper? The choice is obvious, so why do we continue to put ourselves in that position? It’s important to apply this mantra to other facets of your life that could use some order as well. Disclaimer: this mantra does not fix every aspect of your life, but it will make it appear as though you’ve got it all together.

1. Make your bed EVERY morning.

This seems simple enough, but I believe that the habit of making your bed every morning is beyond a daily chore. I think it has an actual psychological effect. Making your bed as soon as you get up is one thing that you can cross off of your list every morning. Performing this trivial task will inspire you to achieve more throughout the day. It’s the tipping point of daily productivity. Once you get started, the ball keeps rolling.

2. Make to-do lists.

I can honestly say that I check my daily to-do list at least every hour. If you’re as forgetful as I am (If you are, I am so sorry), then to-do lists are a must have a parachute. Without my lists, I wouldn't even be able to count the various deadlines and exams I would have missed. What’s neat, too, is tech companies have capitalized on the plight of forgetfulness and created to-do apps that you can customize to your liking.

3. Organize your computer desktop.

I cannot stress this enough. Having a million files spread across my desktop gives me major anxiety. Using folders on your computer’s desktop has saved me hours of panicked searching for a specific file or paper. I’m so scrupulous with my folders that I color code them with the color tags available on my MacBook. Judge me now, but when you’re rushing to finish a paper you thought you deleted twenty minutes before it’s due, you won’t be laughing.

4. Arrange your desk.

Carelessly throwing random things in a desk drawer does not do you any good. You’ll only end up rummaging throughout your entire desk in the near future. Organizing your desk is such an easy task, but it’s one of the hardest to maintain. The second that one object or paper is placed without any thought toward its proper location, the clutter piles up faster than you think.