Maintaining an organized college binder is one of the best-kept secrets to student success. There are countless benefits to keeping an efficient system including finding information quickly, staying up to date with deadlines, archiving information for later reference, ease in reviewing notes, and so much more. In fact, once I finally organized my classwork into a binder, I found that I was spending less time searching for information or handouts, and more time enjoying the college experience! So, how do you create an organized college binder? What are the best tips for maintaining this new system? Just keep reading!

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Supplies:

First, let’s go over what supplies I tend to use. These are things that I use today to keep my binder organized and notes looking fun and colorful!

Staples Better Binder: I prefer this 1.5-inch binder with D-rings, incredibly durable and stops the paper from curling in the back.
The Olden Chapters Student Printable Planner: This is a printable student planner that includes over 50 incredibly useful planning pages, including monthly and weekly calendars, study plans, budget sheets, assignment trackers and so much more. It is perfect to add the front of your binder!
Five-Star Reinforced College-Ruled Paper: This is incredibly nerdy but I swear by this paper. Very little bleed-through, it is 8.5×11 inches (surprisingly hard to find) and has reinforced holes so you don’t tear your pages!
Avery 5-Tab Dividers: I do put washi tape over my dividers, but these are the ones I use.
AmazonBasics Page Protectors: Page protectors are a great way to make sure any of your important handouts or assignments don’t get damaged. I will always have my syllabi and various important handouts protected in these (like the periodic table, geologic time scale, formula sheets, etc.).
Portable three-hole punch: These punches are AMAZING! You can use these right in class to pop in any handouts! Plus they are super cheap and double as a ruler.
Daytimer Hot Lists: These are hands down my favorite sticky-notes… you need them in your life!
Colored Post-In Notes: Various other colored sticky-notes are always super handy as well. I will usually stick quite a few sticky-notes into the front cover or on the cover page of my binder to quickly jot down any note, idea, or task!
Binder Clips: Just as the name implies, binder clips are perfect to clip in any loose material into your binder! And how fun are these colorful clips?!
Brother P-Touch Label Maker: Again, I am a huge nerd so I use a label maker for my dividers as well…
Pilot Juice Up Colored Pens: I have been loving these 0.4 point gel pens! They are incredible. If you’re super serious about pens, they even have a 22 pack.
Staedtler Triplus Fineliner Pens: This is another great pen pack, these are felt tip and perfect for anyone looking to up their pen game!
Zebra Mildliner Highlighters: My all-time favorite highlighters. I’ll never use a different highlighter again. They have two tips (regular sized tip and fine tip) and come in beautiful mild colors.
Moleskine Extra Large Notebooks: When I don’t take notes in my binder, I use these nicer notebooks. I have found investing a bit more in your notebooks will allow them to last much longer, which actually ends up being incredibly useful later in your college career when you keep having to reference old class material.

Related: The Ultimate College Packing List – Everything You’ll Need at College!

Tips for an Organized College Binder:

Personally, I have always found organization much easier with inspiration. So, I have come up with ten different unique tips that I personally use to keep my binder organized in a way that helps with my studies. So, without further ado…

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1. Create Seasonal Binder Covers

I love using the Staples Better Binder for its durability and D-shaped rings. These binders also allow for a completely customized cover. Here, I love creating different seasonal cover pages to slip into the plastic window. I’ll sometimes use scrapbook paper or create a collection of photos I have recently taken on hikes that currently inspire me. You could also create a vision board or a list of quotes. Whichever you choose, be sure that it will motivate you each time you look at it and to switch it out often!

Related: The Ultimate Finals Week Survival Guide: 55 Secrets for Success

2. Utilize the Inside Front Pocket

The inside front pocket of your binder can play an incredibly important role in your organizational method. One great way to do this is to be sure this is only used as an incoming and outgoing folder. This means that whatever papers you choose to store in this pocket must be moved somewhere else. Think of it as a physical to-do list. If the paperwork does not meet this description, DO NOT STORE IT HERE.

For example, you may store homework assignments that need to be completed and turned in, or perhaps a graded exam that you need to review.

3. Create a Seasonal Inside Cover Page

It is always a good idea to create a cover page in your binder to protect your materials. A great way to do this is to add another seasonal dashboard, some of your favorite photos, or even some extra scrapbook paper to a durable page protector. This vintage seasonal Tim Holtz scrapbook paper pad or this cute designer pad is perfect for interchangeable covers!

Related: A Colege List of FREE College Resources (59+ Included!)

4. Create a Sticky-Note Dashboard

The back side of your cover page is the perfect location to create a sticky note dashboard (or you can just purchase one like this masterpiece). In order to create your own, be sure to purchase different sizes and colors of sticky notes (Daytimer Hot Lists are my favorite! but 3×3 inch, 2×2 inch full adhesive, smaller page markers, and plastic tabs are also great to have). Just pull off the first 10-15 sticky-notes from each pack and add them onto the page (like in this video)!

5. Create a Planning Section

Behind your cover page is also a great place to create your own school planning section. A printable planner is perfect for this section! Check out my student printable planner, it is fantastic and works for any student! It includes over 50 great worksheets, planning pages, check lists, tips, and more. Check it out HERE!

Related: Organize Your Life with the Only Student Printable Planner You’ll Ever Need in School

6. Create a Reference Section & Use Free Printables

Right after your planning section, be sure to have a reference section as well. This is a great place to store free printables (like my free study planner printable below), and useful equation sheets, vocabulary, and other useful bits of information you might use for multiple classes. Here is a list of examples you might need:

The Periodic Table
The Unit Circle
A Master Calculus or Physics Equation Sheet
Root Words
The Geologic Time Scale (I have a copy of this everywhere…)
Common Foreign Language Words or Alphabets
Common Medical Terminology
Unit Conversions

You can even purchase useful laminated reference pages by subject. I have quite a few of these and actually use them! They come in all different subjects including: Statistics, Spanish, Medicine, Finance, Algebra, Chemistry, Biology, and so much more!

7. Section off Each Class

Buy a pack of binder dividers (these are my favorite because page protectors don’t stick out behind them and they have pockets!) and assign one class per divider. Keeping each class behind one tab is key to keeping everything organized in one place!

8. Color Code your Classes

Speaking of each of your classes, go one step further and assign one color per class. This will help to keep your notes, deadlines, assignments, and everything else organized. You can use these colors to label deadlines on a calendar, keep your study materials easily categorized and much more! I will usually change my divider tab colors by simply putting a bit of washi tape over each one.

9. Sub-divide your Class Material Using Mini-Dividers

With having each class divided by large divider, we need a way to subdivide each class. You can do this one of two ways. First, you could use page protectors with tabs, like how the amazingly organized Classtimecouture does it! You could also purchase dividers that are smaller in size.

Sections you can use to sub-divide each class may include (depending on the class):

Class Information
Handouts
Notes
Exams/Quizzes
Assignments
Class Projects
Labs
Reference Material
Readings

Related: The Ultimate Guide to Writing an A+ College Paper

10. Create Colorful Notes

Create colorful or nice looking notes that you will want to review later. This will help you to work hard on your notes (which will help you retain information) and encourage you to reference later (because they look pretty). I go over my entire note-taking system in THIS post if you’re interested in taking better-looking notes!

Related: How to Take College Notes You’ll Actually Use

11. Utilize Binder Clips

Binder Clips (these are my favorite to use because they offer an assortment of sizes) are perfect for collecting all of your loose material! One great way to do this is to clip your current flashcards into your front cover.

Another great way to use them is to create a make-shift clipboard on the outside of your binder for taking notes on smaller desks or outdoors!

12. Create a DIY Pen Loop

Binder clips are also great to use for creating DIY pen loops! Just attach your binder clip to one of your last pages or dividers (should be something sturdy), and clip in your favorite pen or highlighter!

13. Create Removable Bookmarks

When you’re taking notes in a binder on loose-leaf paper, it can be a bit difficult to find the place you left off. In order to combat this, you can create nice removable bookmarks to move from place to place within your binder. It is great to color-code these by class and laminate them (or cover them with packaging tape) to increase durability. Be sure to make them unique enough that they stand out and are easily identifiable.

14. Use a Portable Hole Punch

Every time you receive a new handout, lab, assignment, etc. if there is not a task associated with it (making it so you would place it in your front cover folder), be sure to immediately punch it with a portable hole punch and place it in the correct place. This will help you maintain organization!

15. Maintain your Organized College Binder

In addition to using a portable hole punch, be sure to take some time to clean out your binder each week. I prefer to do this each time I thoroughly read through my notes, but you can do this any time. Just be sure it is done! When doing this, be sure to go through all of your tasks in your inside cover folder, toss any unwanted pages or scratch papers, and to take note of any upcoming deadlines!

Related: Discover 17 Surprising Ways to Avoid College Burnout

Bonus Tip:

Become Inspired to Organize your own Binder!

Here are some of my favorite sources of binder inspiration:

Organized Binder Setup by Classtimecouture on YouTube (who initially inspired my first organized binder!)
DIY Binder Organization for School by Study With Jess on YouTube
Organized Binder Setup by Mariana’s Study Corner on YouTube
25 Clever DIY Ways to Organize with Binders by DIY & Crafts
The Ultimate Guide to Organizing an Entire Semester by The Young Hopeful
20 Freebies for College Students by Chase the Write Dream

So there you have it! My top tips, tricks, and ideas for an organized college binder! I truly hope these tips have helped and inspired you to organize your binder. They have saved me a ton of time in the long run and I am sure will for you as well! Happy organizing!

Looking for more college organizational tips? Check out my ultimate guide to college note taking!