I have always made a habit of planning and scheduling my time. For me, this started in high school when I first had to juggle my education, dance and work. Today, scheduling just feels like another part of my daily routine and helps me stay on top of all the things I have to do at school, at work and at home. Here are some guidelines I follow that you can use as tips to start getting organized:
Picking Out the Right Planner
It may just be my detail-oriented personality talking, but going to the store to pick out my planner at the beginning of each year makes me so excited to start planning my life! With so many sizes, colours and styles to choose from, there’s definitely something for everyone.
I personally use my planner more for school – keeping track of due dates and writing down what to do each day. Because of this, I usually try to pick a planner that has monthly calendars and a break down of each week with good-sized spaces for each day. I also like to choose a planner that’s big enough to write everything in, but not so big that it’s like lugging around an extra textbook. Choose the planner that feels right for you and for what you want to use it for.
Using Your Planner
As I mentioned before, I mostly use my planner to keep track of my assignment due dates and homework. I also add any events, like meetings, work shifts, etc. to make sure that I don’t miss anything. No matter what you are planning, I think it’s important to keep it organized. When my planner is messy, my life feels messy, but when it’s neat and tidy, it helps me to feel less stressed about everything I have to do. For me, colour coating is a must. At the beginning of the semester, I set a colour for each of my classes or activities and write everything that pertains to it in the same colour. I even colour coat my class note tabs in Windows OneNote.
The first thing I do is write down all my due dates from my syllabi on the monthly calendars, in their respective colours. This helps me to see when the busy times of the year are so I can prepare in advance. I also write due dates down on the actual day in the weakly spread which makes planning what to do during the week easier. Each day, as the semester progresses, I write down what I have to do in checklist form. Whether I have to read, started an essay, or went to a meeting, I can simply look at today’s space and check each action off as I complete them.
Sticking To It
Having everything I planned to do checked off at the end of the day is a great feeling, but it doesn’t happen every day. Sometimes life happens, and you don’t always have time to finish everything in one day, and that’s okay.
To me, the most important thing I have learned through planning is motivation. Having a plan motivates me to stay on task and to keep up with all my readings and assignments. However, one thing that’s important to note is making sure you start planning and working on things in advance. I usually plan well before things are due, so if I don’t finish one or two things the day I planned to, I don’t give up because there’s always tomorrow.
Hopefully these skills help you in creating a more stable, stress-free lifestyle!