Summarize this article:

A planner helps you organize your day and maintain diligence. You’ll need to write down all major exams and due dates for a given semester or term. You should include allotted times for studying and stick to them. You’ll be glad you’ve studied all semester so you won’t have to cram for exams. While everyone who wants to get the most out of college will want to take their money’s worth of courses and participate in some extra-curricular activities, make sure you haven’t overloaded yourself with obligations. If you’re signing up for far more than the minimum of credits (or even taking the maximum), and participating in more clubs than you can keep track of, you may need to take stock and slim down your schedule so you can be diligent in all your pursuits. You’ll want to watch drop/add periods to make sure you can drop a class if needed. Waiting until the end of the semester to work on a big project will only make you more stressed than you have to be, especially when you’re also studying for exams. Instead, talk to your professor early to get an idea of what the project entails, and what steps you can do when. Getting an early start will take a load off when you’re swamped with studying for exams.  It’s not a good idea to start a project before you’ve gotten the assignment sheet or talked to the professor. You may waste a lot of time doing something other than what the assignment is really about. Spread out your work on the project as well. Don’t try to do it all at once early on. Plan regular short work sessions over time and try to find a way to generate a natural curiosity about the task to help keep you motivated. Sometimes life intervenes and makes it difficult or impossible to reach a goal when you want to, or to finish a project on time. You may have to re-schedule, re-work, and re-evaluate your goals. This is all okay and a normal part of progress. There is no need to be hard on yourself when this happens.  However, don't confuse real reasons (like a sudden severe illness in the family or the loss of a job) with excuses (your friend called and wants to hang out when you have a deadline). Make sure you are communicating with professors and teachers when this happens. You may even want to contact your academic advisor or guidance counselor.
Keep a planner. Don’t overextend yourself with courses and extra-curricular activities. Get an early start on projects. Learn to be flexible.