One of the hardest things for me to figure out as a college student was how to keep my busy schedule organized. Physical agendas, online calendars, whiteboards — you name it, I’ve probably tried it! After years of testing out all kinds of planners, I thought it might be helpful to my fellow struggling college students to share what’s worked best for me. So, to all the D1 procrastinators out there, this one’s for you!
Physical Planners
To start my search for the best planning technique for myself, I first went back to my roots: the good old-fashioned physical planner.
I have a long history with physical planners, and though I often left them half-empty, I’ve always eventually made my way back to this tried-and-true organizer. Some of my favorite things about having a physical planner are how easy they are to get the hang of, the limitless possibilities, and the feeling of crossing off a task that’s been bugging me all day. Physical planners are typically found in one of two formats: daily or weekly planners.
Daily Planners
Daily planners are great for girls who need to plan out their entire day in detail. It’s especially useful for keeping meetings, classes, and any additional commitments organized. There’s typically a section for to-do lists and daily goals, as well as any notes for the day. Personally, though, I’m more of a weekly planner girl!
Weekly Planners
Weekly planners have the advantage of being able to see the entire week laid out. I like this format because I tend to forget about things unless I can see them spread out. So, I write down any events or major assignments for the week so I can keep them in mind as I go about my day.
Unlike the daily planner, weekly planners don’t typically have a large amount of space for marginal notes or in-depth planning, since the entire week must fit on the page. However, I personally never got into the habit of writing super detailed notes, and instead just write down basic information that helps me remember what I have to do!
Bullet Journaling
A more niche physical planner style is bullet journaling, which is essentially a build-your-own notebook that can serve whatever purpose you need. Many artistically gifted girls prefer this planning method, as it gives them complete creative freedom over the style and format of their planner. I tend to be a perfectionist, so this style of planning never lasted very long with me.
If you think this method is interesting, but you’re intimidated by having limitless possibilities, don’t fret! There are plenty of planner templates on Pinterest, so try browsing through bullet journal ideas for inspiration. I’ve met many people who swear by this method, so if you’re the kind of girl who would enjoy customizing your own planner format, I’d highly suggest investing in a bullet journal.
Digital Planners
The next style of planner that I tested out was the more modern form of planning, the digital planner. While there are tons of digital planners out there, the ones that I’d recommend are Google Calendar and Apple Calendar. I’ll say that, unlike physical planners, digital calendars have a bit of a learning curve (at least, they did for me).
Once you get the hang of it, though, planning digitally is typically very straightforward. There are plenty of design and formatting options that allow you to personalize your calendar, and there are even pre-made designs that you can purchase or download for free to make your calendar aesthetic!
It helps when your calendar is something you enjoy looking at, especially when you’re trying to motivate yourself to actually get your assignments done. I’ve found that online calendars are great for blocking out set event times, such as classes and any recurring activities you have. It’s really easy to sync your calendars together, making it easy to access these calendars on both your phone and your computer. Online calendars are perfect for the on-the-go college student, so if you haven’t already, I’d definitely recommend trying out a digital calendar!
Dry-Erase Calendars
The most recent planning style that I’ve tried is using a whiteboard calendar. I recently bought a huge magnetic whiteboard with a monthly calendar format on it with a bunch of brightly colored dry-erase markers so I can color-code my events. A monthly calendar isn’t something that I’ve ever used consistently, so this was a pretty big adjustment for me! It’s definitely worth it, though, especially if you have a busy schedule.
I’d always get overwhelmed trying to manage my tasks day by day, so seeing the entire month and being able to plan has helped me stop procrastinating as much (most of the time). It’s also prevented me from double-booking myself, which is something I tend to do a lot! If you’re someone with a lot of stuff going on all the time, I’ve found that planning my month out is extremely helpful for managing stress since it gives you more time to prepare for upcoming events and tasks.
My Planning System
Now that I’ve tried out all of these different ways of planning, I finally have a planner setup that works for me. I might sound a bit crazy when I say this, but I use all three of these kinds of planners to manage my schedule. As someone who went from having one involvement to being more involved than ever, it’s been very challenging to balance my social, academic, and extracurricular life. To avoid having a mental breakdown, I’ve perfected my trifecta of planners!
For starters, I use my physical weekly planner to brain dump all of my homework assignments, tests, and other academic responsibilities. Writing everything on paper allows me to stop trying to juggle everything in my head, so that I can think logistically about what I actually have to prioritize.
Once I’ve written everything down on paper, I move to the digital planners. At the beginning of every semester, I input my class schedule and any major events. As the year goes on, I put in any social events, coffee dates, exams, or any occasion that I have to attend. Finally, I use the whiteboard to highlight the biggest events, such as holidays, finals, and birthdays.
Laying out my schedule and to-do list in different ways has made it so much easier for me to stay on top of my commitments, and I hope that this guide helps you as well. Now, go find the perfect planner for you!
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