I love staying busy and feeling as if I have purpose in everything I do. However, in order to do that without going insane, I had to find the best way to stay organized. Thanks to Her Campus’ Spring Break Survival Kit, I found a way to plan my days without any stress and there were some treats to look fab while doing it.
Sure anyone can go out and buy a neat little planner, but using it actively is a different story. Here are some tips that you might find helpful in arranging yours and finding the best method that works for you:
1. Monthly + Weekly Planner
I suggest getting a planner or agenda that has both a monthly and weekly portion. Monthly portions are great for overviews or a quick scan when a friend asks you if you’re free a certain day. Weekly portions are perfect for a more detailed look into a day, to-do lists, and writing school assignments down.
2. Penciling vs. Penning It In
Not all plans are definite plans, so I pencil in the “iffy” ones and put parentheses around them to keep it on my radar and plan around it just in case. Once I receive confirmation, then I’ll erase it and pen it back in or if it’s completely cancelled, then simply erase it. It keeps the distinction clear without you having to worry about possibly double-booking your time.
3. Write set schedules at the top of each monthly page.
For any schedules that are set and the same every week, I write it at the top of the monthly pages in the same column as its occurrence during the day of the week. This usually includes my class schedules and permanent work schedules.
4. Vertically write your time commitments each day for all other activities.
The rest of my activities go directly into the boxes for that day. I mark down the time commitment vertically down the left hand side of the box and write the shortcut activity name to the right of it.
5. Use an arrow type method for long trips and breaks.
To mark off long periods of time that span across numerous boxes, I use long lines and arrowheads. Filled in circles represent the start and finish of the trip while the rest is struck through with a line. Arrowheads represent continuation if it happens to flow into the next row.
Try some of these methods out and see if they help out your organization as well as they did for me. Happy planning, you busy bees!