Ever wonder how to actually achieve those New Year’s resolutions or goals you set out to complete year after year? Do you want to time manage better this semester and get organized? Is your current routine telling yourself you will be on top of things, all with the best intentions, only to turn around on syllabus week back to your usual procrastinated driven shenanigans in a dead-end cycle and beyond stressed?
Well, I have a wonderful solution that might just work for you: a planner. Yes, that’s right, a good old fashioned spiral notebook with dates and space to write in. Now, for some people, an online Google calendar will work best for you, but this is not for that specific individual. Online calendars are a wonderful resource, and alongside a planner, are the ultimate tools for maximum organization. However, just like that lesson in school goes, you remember better when you write your notes and the same goes for organizing your life.
Planners are an amazing tool for organization, and can extensively ease the stress in your life when you start to use one. I find there are almost only good reasons for using planners in this world. One such reason is that they contain a calendar within them. This gives you the opportunity to mark important appointments or assignments far in advance from when they are approaching, and gives you a chance to look ahead to best prepare. Planners are also wonderful because they contain daily and weekly space to set to do lists and plan your schedule. There is something so rewarding about laying out a plan. It makes any task half as daunting just feeling as if you are in control of your life, which is what planners help you to do.
Organizing your schedule can be done in whatever way best fits your needs, but I recommend breaking down a planner into three to five topics for the best use. Start by making the planner your academic guide. Put in all your test and assignment dates in the main calendar and upcoming weeks, so that you know when things are due and don’t have to rely on your memory or friends to know. Copy it straight from the syllabus. My recommendation for best academic success is putting when you will do a project at least three days before it is actually due, so plan to complete that said assignment three days in advance. This includes studying. Doing this gives you the opportunity to have space in case life gets in the way, or just so you are ahead, to keep stress levels down and make you a better student.
The next section a planner is good for is event planning. Put your activities and appointments in the calendar so you can keep track of your social life, and so you can manage your school work and home life most effectively. If you have a job and debate club, but also have a project due one week from today, having a planner can help you prioritize your needs by picking which days you will have to work verses do school work, more than the others. Another great use of a planner is for to do lists. Each day we all have an agenda, whether it’s chores, school work, doctor’s appointments, but often times we forget to prioritize something, or another task gets shoved aside. Using a planner on a daily basis provides you with the exact tools necessary to never forget a task, and gives you an amazing feeling of satisfaction when being able to complete those said tasks and check that done box.
Of all the ways a planner is useful, half of the excitement is in the organization. Make each of these topics in different colors in your planner or use post it notes, and have some fun with it, make it your sacred place to write everything down. If you forget easily when to take certain medications, write when you’ll take those, too. The beauty of a planner is it truly is all your own and you can do whatever you want with it.
Write everything! Have trouble motivating yourself to work out? Make it harder to ignore by putting it in your calendar and to do list! Depending on what you use for your planner, a planner can also serve as a journal. When you feel overwhelmed during midterms or something that is happening in your life, you can take your already handy planner and write out your worries. Planners are like another place to shuffle all that goes on in your brain. Having a tough few weeks with body image? Take time to journal in your planner five things you like about your body until you believe it. Have a hard exam coming up? You can even put in an inspirational quote in there.
Let a planner take you places you never thought you could go, and I swear it will change your life! Here’s to that “new you” you’re trying to find this new year. Go ahead, plan it out.