Studies have shown that 65 per cent of the population are visual learners. If that’s the case, then most university students would benefit from visualizing their week before it begins. There is nothing quite as valuable to students than good organizational skills, and there is one precious item that can help tremendously with that: a planner.
Regardless of whether it is an e-planner or a physical book, a planner helps students keep track of their due dates, appointments, deadlines and other engagements. A planner permits all of a student’s world to come together on one, handy, timetable. Planners are the holy grail of student life.
1. Kate Spade or the campus freebie? Choose to your needs
Don’t just take the free campus agenda because it’s there and it’s free. If you think it will suit your needs perfectly, then by all means, plan away! However, in order to have an efficient planner, it needs to work with how you best organize your life. For some people, Google calendars work wonders. Some require extensive planners, complete with hundreds of stickers, pouches for documents, and an ice machine. (That last one was a joke). And some people need just your basic $20 weekly planner from the stationary store.
The point is- choose one that you know will wire your brain the right way.
2. Colour-Code
Laugh all you want, colour-coding isn’t as rigid as it sounds; it’s practical. As students, we all have busy lives that don’t involve just school. If that’s the case, then why would your planner only involve school? That is why separating each aspect of your life by colour can help you plan, and balance out your life. To colour-code efficiently, buy yourself a set of different coloured highlighters, and decide which colour will correspond to every aspect of your life. For example, everything that has to do with school may be highlighted in pink, and everything have to do with work might be highlighted in green.
When everything is just written down all over the place without any colours, it can be easier to jumble up events, dates, and miss an important deadline.
3. Don’t crowd your planner
Leonardo Da Vinci once said, “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” And who are we to argue with Da Vinci. Your planner shouldn’t turn into a notebook. Minimalism is in for a reason: your planner shouldn’t be a place for to-do lists, long, rambling thoughts or important numbers. By keeping your planner tidy, and a place that holds only your schedule and due dates, you are more likely to “trust” your planner, and keep it in order. If you have a tendency to write lists, get yourself a cute notebook that will follow you around, in addition to your planner. That way, your planner can be for your schedule, and your notebook can be for all those wonderful thoughts of yours.
4. Write down goals every week
You can do this without cluttering your page. Every week, write down a goal: it can be as small as finishing that dull reading that you were supposed to finish a week ago. Many self-improvement writers have talked about the wonders of writing down goals to keep yourself organized and motivated. Writers like Anthony Robbins and Brian Tracy recommend writing out a short-term goal every week to help you with productivity. Chances are, you will be opening your planner every day, so why not have a goal jump out at you every time you do.
There is a reason schools have been giving you planners since grade school- your mind and random stray papers just don’t cut it, especially when you get to the university level. Once you’ve picked your planner of choice, the way you organize it can make all the difference in your productivity in school, life, and your overall well-being. Enjoy the weight off your shoulders that your planners will hopefully provide you after applying these four tips!