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BrainWaves: The Neuroscience Graduate Program Newsletter

Getting Organized for Grad School

Author: Supriya Bains

Summer has flown by, and suddenly it is time for back-to-school. There is no need to stress over the rollback prices on glue sticks, coloured pencils or rules as those days are long behind us. Welcome to graduate school! Now it is all about keeping our calendars up to date, setting priorities, and balancing the demands of academic life with everything else that comes with adulthood. With so much to juggle, staying organized isn’t just helpful – it’s essential for keeping stress in check and managing our time effectively. 


In this guide, I will dive into some tried-and-true tips and tricks to help you stay on top of it all, so you can start the school year feeling prepared, focused, and maybe even a little excited.

  1. Time Management and Scheduling
    1. Find a Calendar that Works for You. Use a calendar to keep track of meetings, deadlines, appointments and more. If you regularly receive meeting invites through Outlook, sticking with it can streamline your scheduling. You may explore alternatives like those offered by Google or Apple for an online calendar. If you prefer a tangible approach, consider getting an academic planner. I recommend colour-coding to visually organize your schedule and identify your upcoming tasks at a glance.
    2. Schedule Personal Time. “Busy” will become a regular part of your vocabulary but remember that you are just as important as the tasks on your to-do list. Be intentional about carving out time to exercise, enjoy hobbies, or spend time with family and friends. Taking care of yourself is essential for staying balanced and energized.
  2. Task Management and Prioritization
    1. Create To-Do Lists. With so much on your plate, it’s easy to forget tasks (and trust me, you will). The solution? Write it all down. A strategy I recently discovered is the ABC method for prioritizing tasks developed by Alan Lakein – it’s a simple yet effective way to get through your to-do list. You begin by assigning a priority status to each of the items on your to-do list – with A: Must Do (important and urgent), B: Should Do (important but not urgent), or C: Nice to Do (not important or urgent). I go further to assign each task in the category an order of priority to keep focused on what is important and must be completed as soon as possible. 
    2. An extra suggestion is to explore Notion for task management and prioritization. Notion offers a flexible structure to create customized workflows and integrate productivity tools. It may initially feel overwhelming, but the most important thing to remember is that you can decide what works for you. Notion is available at: https://www.notion.so. 
  3. Organizing Academic and Research Work
    1. Keep a Lab Notebook. A special thanks to Dr. Minuzzi for recommending a lab notebook – it has truly been a game-changer. You can choose to open a Word Document or go the pencil-and-paper route. The purpose will be to record research notes, observations, and ideas to keep everything organized and in one place. This will be very useful to refer to as you progress through your research endeavours. 
    2. Use Citation Management Software. Download a CMS to curate your references to APA, MLA and Chicago formats. Three popular choices are EndNote, Mendeley and Zotero. McMaster Libraries delves into these in more detail at: https://libguides.mcmaster.ca/cms. 
    3. Install Lean Library for McMaster University. Lean Library Access is a browser extension that will alert you if you are looking for something available through McMaster University – whether that is a journal article, eBook or other subscription. You can find instructions at: https://download.leanlibrary.com/mcmaster.
    4. Explore and Use Available Resources at McMaster University. There is a plethora of resources available through the McMaster Libraries to ensure your success in graduate school. It is good to be aware of these resources as much as it is to keep organized. You are encouraged to explore services offered at: https://library.mcmaster.ca/services/graduate-students-library#tab-services-and-resources and specifically through the Health Sciences Library at: https://hsl.mcmaster.ca/about-us/services/.