You’ve spent the last four years of your life working up the totem pole to finally be a senior, to have the seniority you’ve so longed for. You bask in it for the months that follow entering your senior year when graduation comes. The bittersweet day, followed by the bittersweet summer filled with send-offs and goodbyes, is only to be followed by your first day of class. You’re a freshman once again.

For those of us living at home, the new campus is overwhelming still. Professors take the place of teachers, syllabi take the place of take-home permission forms, lectures take the place of the dreaded block periods. And for those of us embarking on the journey that is moving away, it really is a “whole new world.” The campus alone is nothing you’ve ever seen before and to make matters worse, it’s crowded by flocks of upperclassmen who have their groups and interests so tightly intertwined that your mind is scrambling trying to figure out where you’ll eventually fit in. Finally, you understand how Cady Heron feels, as you're walking onto campus for the first time–you may not be from Africa, but the way you feel, you might as well be.

It’s sinking in that all over again you’ll be spending the next two, four, eight years of your life working–whether that’s academically or socially–up, up, and up the totem pole once more.

There are people out there who swear they have it all figured out. Those same people who have the “key to success” in the form of some neatly written formula, finished with a bow. But many of us students know (after plenty of trial and even more error) that it is definitely not that easy. The largest majority of my “errors” came after watching every self-help Ted talk, reading every self-help book and using every self-help journal I could find. Not even Tim Ferriss or Jen Sincero, the author of the wildly popular You Are a Badass, could pull me out of the hole filled with my own bad habits that I had dug myself in where I’d lie for (what seemed like) eternity.

I am certainly not here to tell you that I’ve found what works–that thing that will get your motivation, organization and inspiration shattering ceilings. But, I’ve found a few things that give me hope that this freshman year will be a fresh start to a super exciting and successful academic career.

Journals.

“I don’t know what I’d do without you.” is a phrase specifically designated to the stack of journals that I carry around with me. I use three different kinds, which may seem a bit excessive, but hear me out…

First you have your average day planner. I start with the monthly calendar and “star” each date that I have something to do that I would consider “of importance.” Then I go to each corresponding date and fill out the events for the day by time blocks. It can become a bit overwhelming to fill out every task you have to do for the day so I really just designate these time blocks to the things that I may forget if not written down.

Then I have the “productivity planner”. The idea behind the one I have in particular is to help designate time blocks to the most important tasks of the day while continuously giving encouraging reminders to not move on to the small, less taxing tasks, until your top tasks of importance are completed each and every day (based off of Tim Ferriss’ tips for maximizing efficiency). I’ve found this incredibly helpful when it comes to papers, projects or really any assignment that will take a large chunk of time out of your day. This planner guides you through the concept of “Pomodoros” which are blocks of twenty-five minutes that you spend working in a “distraction-free” zone, with a five minute break in between each work period. (I got mine from Urban Outfitters, made by Intelligent Change.)

Finally, I carry around my plain, old-fashioned, leather journal everywhere I go. Initially after purchasing this, I was stressing myself out trying to figure out what exactly I’d limit myself to writing down in here. Recently, I have been jotting any and everything that I feel is important to write down, not just thoughts or feelings, not just ideas. By doing this, it has become my most valued asset by far.

The general idea is simple, really–to keep my days (and even my thoughts) organized… kind of making these guys the foundation of the whole topic.

Discipline.

And not the kind given by your parents when you were “bad” as a kid. The kind implemented by yourself, towards the things that you find important. For the first time in your life, you’re as independent as you have ever been, but it can be tough maintaining your status as a productive member of society (especially for those of us who no longer live at home) when no one is forcing you to.

That being said, it’s unrealistic to expect an eighteen year old, out on her/his own for the very first time to have it all figured out. But for those of you who roll out of bed forty-five minutes past the sound of your alarm, to run to work or class thirty minutes late with teeth unbrushed and hair in last night’s bun, we feel you. To avoid making this unruly routine habitual, I pick a small task that I know I will do every single day to start making a “disciplined” schedule for myself. This can be as little as making sure to make your bed when you wake up, or as drastic as changing your wake-up time to 6:00 A.M. because, well, why the heck not.

On top of this all, a few central ideas went into the changes I saw in myself before entering this chapter in my life. These seemed to be the most important lessons learned. I realized that the people you look up to are the people you typically have the most to learn from. From this I realized that by watching those same people do tasks that you aren’t so sure of the best way to handle, you grow. For example, a task as simple as sweeping the floor was something I’d assumed I knew how to do in an efficient manner–I was quickly proven wrong while I closely watched a truthful know-it-all sweep a room in about half the time. As little as it may be, it has taught me to pay attention to detail in the people I admire the most.

But after all of this is said and done, the most (self) helpful way I have changed over the three months I have spent working on becoming the “best version of myself,” if you will, is realizing how powerful the word “no” is. This is something I never would’ve realized and acted upon if I left it up to my people-pleasing self. I began saying “no” to the things that I really had no interest in doing, leaving more and more time and energy to do the things that I knew would benefit me and help me grow. Start small with this, and with everything else you do in an attempt to change yourself.

Before you know it, you’ll be unapologetically the very best version of yourself!

And hopefully, you’ll get your s*&! together in the process!