Hey Everyone!
I’m a college student studying to be a pilot, and as a result have to keep track of classes, flight training (10-19), general records (20-29), and media (30-39). Of course, semesters then classes is already 2 layers of organization, and even if I don’t take 100 classes, I would still run out of categories trying to organize everything. For class organization, here’s the system I came up with:
SX.C.ID
SX = Semester X. The S clearly separates it from my main area/category structure, and the X is the semester number. Having the S separates it more than simply using X.C.ID would.
C = Which class is it in my schedule, starting on Monday mornings. This also makes each day flow in the same order that they are sorted in.
ID = Like other IDs.
Example:
S5.2.01
S5 - Semester 5, in my case, this past Spring.
2 - the second class in my schedule, 2pm on Mon/Wed/Fri (after my 12pm class).
01 - my ID for notes. I have a few reserved ones, .00 for syllabus/meta, .01 for notes, and .02 for small single-file assignments. I’m leaving .03 reserved in case I want to organize something across all current and past classes, and start at .04 for large projects and such.
I considered going with something like CXX.ID i.e. C52.01, which would be semester 5 class 2 and be similar to the project structure (with the C “class” to separate it) or just class 52. I personally found it easier to find things with the class number separated and in the center, since usually I’m only dealing with one semester of classes at a time. As an example, I remembered S5.4.04 this past semester as just “four oh four” and looked for that. Since I’ve already been working in S5 for months, my brain filled in the gap. However, once I move on to S6, S5 is already numbered and perfectly labeled for reference.
Thinking ahead, if I keep going into graduate school, other programs, or otherwise beyond 9 semesters, I can change the letter. G1.1.01 could be the notes for my first class of my first graduate semester. Or if you already know you’re in it for more than 9 semesters/quarters/etc, you can use 2 digits from the start, i.e. S10.1.01.
If your university/school uses Canvas LMS, you can give classes a custom name just for you, and Canvas will use it everywhere, including emails (Do other LMS systems have this?). ”S5.4 - Jet systems” is way easier to spot and quickly decode than ”SPRING2024 IN-PERSON AS411 Jet Transport Systems”, and classes are always sorted in the same order. This also has the perk that emails are already categorized too. I can search S5.4 and see every email for jet systems.
Thoughts/ideas welcome!
-Sam