Testing, packing, graduating, moving . . . for a lot of you, this list reads less as a series of action words and more as a "To Do" list as you pull through this last semester. You may find yourself packing away your dorm room or apartment in between studying for exams. You know how it goes; spend 2 hours studying for your "Biology of Insects" exam (thanks Monica) and then an hour emailing your buds on Facebook about who has your Yankees fitted cap, what's the policy on lost dorm keys, and what's the deal with subletting a place on the beach? Or perhaps you are choosing to just study and save the whole packing thing for when Mom and Dad show up to your place to help.

Point being, there is a lot on your plate for the next week or two. A good way to organize those "things to do" is to create a "to do" list. Now listen, I know that this is not rocket science or a new concept. We've done this before; we write down the things we need to do on notecards, white boards, the back of our hands . . . . but, there is actually a method to the maddness of creating an efficient To Do List.

Today I am channeling advice from FastCompany.com. You can read more about organizing your to-do list in this "Work Smart" article, but for those of you who won't commit to clicking the link, let me lay it out for you.

A good To Do List will help you work smarter. A bad To Do List will leave you with more to do than you originally planned. The most common mistake in making a to do list is putting items on the list that are undefined; or rather, there is no way to really measure whether they have been completed.

You should first know the difference between a project, a task, and a goal. In short, a project is made of up tasks. I goal is something you hope to achieve through tasks and repetitive actions. Therefore, on your list should be TASK oriented because this is not only more measurable, but will help you to avoid distractions. For example, instead of writing "pack up dorm room" ( a project) write down the varied tasks "pack computer equipment before lunch" followed by "pack bedding after lunch and before meeting with adviser." The final goal of packing up the dorm room will be accomplished as a result of the completing the tasks.

Once you have broken the list down into manageable sections, purge it of things that are not of high priority at that moment. Your To Do List should change everyday to reflect the tasks that have been completed and those that are yet to come, so do not overwhelm yourself by putting items on the list that can wait an extra few days. Instead write these items down on a calendar and add them to the active to do list as the due date nears.

Another issue that arises when working to get things done in a timely manner is multitasking. Multitasking, which can sometimes be a desired skill-set, can also be detrimental to getting a task done thoroughly and timely. FastCompany has more advice on multitasking, too, if you're interested. The best way to get things done however is to do them the old fashioned way and get them done one thing at a time. So closing down the instant message feature on Facebook while you box things up will give you MORE time to instant message later (believe it or not) because you will have finished the not-so-fun task sooner.

And lastly, while I urged against doing too many things at once, I will ease up a little bit when it comes to whistling while you work.

We are interested in hearing your input and advice about finishing up the semester. Leave us a comment below!

"#18 | To Do lists" courtesy boboroshi via Flickr Creative Commons

Hey everyone! My name is Monica Karkhanis and I am currently a sophomore communication major with a focus in public relations at the University of Maryland, College Park. This is my first semester as an intern for Think Talk and I am really excited to blog about social media and how it can help your career. Find me on Twitter and be sure to continue following ThinkTalk!

For the past couple weeks I have discussed how utilizing social media tools to further your career aspirations and development can be essential in your quest for a job. Then I realized, although I have several networking profiles, I have been neglecting some of my accounts. For example, I have had a registered LinkedIn account for almost a year, but I have only made five connections--two of which are college friends--and that according to my profile, I am still currently a sales associate for Pacific Sunwear in Frederick County.

Even though the information on my page was true at one point, letting get out-of-date can be misleading when potential employers and contacts come across your page. Although I am usually quite dedicated to keeping up with my social-networking accounts, I sometimes find myself overwhelmed with managing all of them- yet I’m not willing to let go of any of them!

On my pursuit to successfully clean up my profiles and get them up and running once again, (as a serious and proactive student), I came across a helpful blog to detangle my mess of social media websites, HOW TO: Manage Multiple Social Media Profiles. The author, Ben Parr, created a simple five-step guide to keeping your social networking profiles fresh, consistent and less tedious to manage.

Parr’s first step in refreshing your profiles is to first understand your current position. During this step you must uncover just how many social media profiles you have by checking usernames from websites like Funny or Die to LinkedIn and everywhere in between. Seems time consuming, but with this handy website called Knowem, all you need to do is type in your name and the site does all the work for you to locate long lost profiles. You may be just as surprised as I was when I discovered a link from an online journal I had when I was 13 years old on the blogging site, Xanga (can you say DELETE).

After you sort through the multitude of online social media websites that has your name attached to them, Parr suggests choosing your platforms realistically. He advises recruits to sign up for the most popular social networking sites, “regardless of whether you are going to use them all.” Parr’s theory in doing so is to prevent another individual being mistaken for you, thus protecting your personal brand and your identity on the Internet. Even if you do not plan to use them all, you can fill out your contact information and place links to the profiles you use the most.

Third, organize, organize, ORGANIZE!!! Parr recommends creating a bookmarks folder for the main social media services you use and filtering your e-mails so all of your notifications are sent to individual inboxes. If an e-mail and folder system is not for you, there are several others you can come up with, the most important thing is to find a system that works for you and stick to it.

The fourth step, which is also my favorite, is to automate and combine your profiles. Basically, use Internet tools that can update all of your social media profiles at once by grouping them together. Atomkeep syncs all of your accounts on to one social network to reduce “information redundancy,” making it easier to manage all of your social networking profiles. Atomkeep can be used with Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Youtube, Digg, Google, flickr and an abundance of other websites.

Lastly, Keep it fresh. If you plan to use social media to brand yourself, you must continue adding new content – after doing so you can proceed to network! Parr’s article includes several mini tips on maintaining your online networking identity, so be sure to check it out!

"50 Social Media Icons" courtesy Ivan Walsh via Flickr Creative Commons