How To Organize Your College Planner

Planners are essential for a busy college student. Whether you prefer using an app like Google Calendar or a tangible planner, it is important to stick to what you decide to use and update your planner whenever you have a new event to add.

A trick I use to ensure I am constantly using my planner is writing down events as soon as I find out about them. I prefer a tangible planner. So, my planner is typically on me at all times. This means, when my friend texts me “Hey! Let's get lunch tomorrow!” or I'm in class and the teacher announces “We have an exam next Friday, a quiz this Tuesday and a take-home assignment due Thursday.” I am always armed with my planner and able to keep it updated accordingly.

So, here are a few tips and tricks I abide by when using my planner. These tips allow me to use my planner more effectively and I have found that when I stay consistent with my planner usage, I am less stressed and happier because I don't have to constantly juggle all the times and dates of events in my head.

What should you write in your planner?

1. Events: Whether you are planning to hang out with friends or visit a student orientation session, write out all the events you are planning to go to in your planner so you can budget your time effectively to ensure you can attend all the events you want to.

2. Classes: This is a no-brainer. Classes should be scheduled in your planner, so you know not to plan anything else during these time. Or, if you do plan something during the time of a class, you know which class you need to miss and can keep track of how many times you've missed that class for another event. This helps you track class absences which is beneficial because most classes only allow you to miss a day or two before professors start to penalize your grades.

3. Family Time: This is something I just recently started doing. With my sister moving to Florida, I realize I'm the only sibling that will be able to visit my mom regularly. I love my family and want to remain close with all of them. So, to help me keep my family life active, I schedule time to drive home and visit my mom or visit my cousins. I try to visit most of the family members in my state at least once every two months, and I drive home to visit my intermediate ever two-three weeks!

4. To-Do List: I put my to-do list in many different places. Typically, I’ll start off by making a to-do list in my notebook and then find free spaces throughout my weekly schedule that I can use to write in all my task. This way I can see the bigger picture of what my week will look like and how my task can fit into my day to day lifestyle.

5. Appointments: Another no-brainer - Appointments are the number one thing that should be put into a planner if nothing else. You're less likely to remember an appointment off the top of your head. Appointments are the type of events that will be more tedious to reschedule(i.e., a meeting or dentist appointment) and might require some preparation. So schedule these in first and foremost!

6. Make a Key: Create a key for each type of event you will put into your planner. I found a key I liked on Pinterest and stuck to it. Shout out to () So, from just looking over my planner, I can tell how many appointments I have, the status of my task, what events I will be going to, and what is important for me to pay attention to.

7. Decorate it: I love decorating in general. So, of course, the planner that I am looking at every day has to get a ton of love. I always doodle in my planner if I am in class and need something to do with my hands. This makes my planner very visually pleasing and helps me enjoy the act of planning even more than I already do! I also like to block out my events in certain colors. For example, I'll highlight all my social events in pink and all my workouts in green. This is also a great method to help me visualize what I am spending the most time on.

xx britt