Whether you're a student or not, that "back to the books" feeling is just around the corner. August is a most auspicious time to organize your plans for the fall and the rest of the year. Maybe you're hitting the job market, or you're getting ready to start or resume classes toward a degree. Or, maybe you just know that a new chapter is coming soon. I've written before about ideas for how to make the most of your time as an artist, but this topic came up again during the Carolina Muse monthly staff meeting. Staying organized can be a real challenge, especially when there are so many opportunities out there. How do you prioritize and keep track of them?

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• Decide what's most important to you. Depending on where you're at on your artistic path & career, you may choose to pursue certain kinds of opportunities in lieu of others. Do you value quality over quantity? Do you want to increase your visibility and grow your connections? Are you looking to turn a profit, or challenge yourself artistically? Both? Knowing what you value most will help you decide which outlets to pursue.

• Spend time looking for opportunities. Maybe you are already plugged in to a lot of networks, mailing lists, feeds, and resource hubs where announcements about open calls & submission deadlines are constantly in the background. If not, you may find it helpful to do some research to seek out opportunities to publish, perform, or exhibit your work.

• Make a spreadsheet to keep track of the moving parts. I've been really into spreadsheets lately by learning how to make Pivot tables and some basic Excel formulas. Not only does it help me stay organized, it's also really fun! Here is a spreadsheet template courtesy of dance editor, Rush Johnston. Look at the various categories of information in the spreadsheet tabs and consider how you could create something similar to track your own submissions.