How to organize your physical OR digital planner to optimize your success
This post is all about how to organize your college planner.
Whether you’re the kind of person who thrives off using a college planner (welcome to the club) or you’re just getting into the planner life, let me tell you how to level up your college planner organization to be uber-productive this year!
Here’s the deal:
Knowing the RIGHT WAY to use a school planner will change your life. The worst feeling as a student is the feeling that you’re drowning in school work and can’t keep up with everything that’s going on.
We’ve all felt that way at some point… but having an organized planner seriously helps so much. And it honestly takes next to NO time if you stay on top of it.
I’ve always been a planner girl and I take pride in the fact that I think I’ve pretty much mastered all the college planner best practices…. So here we go!!
This post is all about how to organize your college planner.
This post may contain affiliate links, which means I’ll earn a commission if you purchase through my link, at no extra cost to you. Our full disclosure policy is pretty boring, but you can read it here.
Still need a school planner? Here are my recommendations:
COLLEGE PLANNER BEST PRACTICES:
1. Set it up before the start of your semester
Every time you’re about to start a new semester, set aside an hour before your semester starts to set up your planner.
Taking this time to input certain things in advance will really help you get mentally prepared and a lot more organized for your new classes.
I do this every new semester and I absolutely love it because not only does it help me feel a lot more organized and mentally prepared; it also helps me feel really excited for the start of school!
2. Fill out your due dates like THIS…
The first and most important thing you need to do to get organized for a new semester is to go through every course syllabus, class by class, and write down all the due dates.
You should have all your course syllabi a few days ahead of time (most professors will give it in advance) so this is a great first step to take before starting a new semester.
THE ONLY CATCH:
Professors are notorious for changing due dates ALL. THE. TIME.
Sometimes it’s annoying, but sometimes it’s really helpful (if they decide to give you more time, haha).
Keep this in mind when you’re inputting those due dates into your planner. Just because they’re in your planner doesn’t mean they won’t change, so you’ll still want to pay attention to the syllabus throughout the semester and ensure with each coming due date that you have the correct date.
How do you handle due date changes when it comes to your planner, though?
If you’re using a physical planner, write your due dates in PENCIL ONLY. That way, if a due date changes, it won’t ruin your planner or make it super confusing.
3. Color code it!
I know this sounds tedious, but here’s what you need to know:
When you want to quickly glance at something in your planner, it is WAY easier to find a certain piece of information when you know what color to look for.
So, assign each class with a different highlight color and write a legend somewhere that you can easily find it (like a notes page or an empty page in your planner).
Then, go through all the due dates you just wrote and indicate what class each due date is for so that you can easily see which class is which.
WHAT IF THOSE DUE DATES CHANGE?
Obviously, you can’t erase highlighter. That’s why I recommend putting a small indication (like a dot next to each due date rather than highlighting the whole thing) so that if your due dates change, it’s still not confusing or messy.
Need a highlighter? This is my favorite highlighter set for school!
4. Determine priorities for each week
How do you do this so far in advance?
Here’s what I do:
On each new week, I use those same color-coded highlighters to either draw a dot or a line at the top of the page corresponding to which classes have due dates or exam dates that week.
That way, it’s easy for me to see which classes need to be prioritized as I get to those weeks in the semester.
It’s just a small detail, but it really helps keep your head down and focused on what’s important.
5. Make the aesthetics your own
Obviously this one is optional, but if you’re the kind of person who likes to use stickers or lots of colors to make it your own, that’s a really fun way to enjoy the process of getting your planner ready!!
6. Start school & find planner habits that work for you
Everyone is a little different when it comes to using a student planner.
The most important thing once school actually starts is to figure out how to best make your planner work for YOU.
Personally, I write down all my upcoming & ongoing assignments each day and then check them off as I finish them, adding new ones whenever they’re introduced.
For you, it might be writing down specific tasks you need to do to accomplish those assignments.
It might be filling out your planner at the end of each day, or it might mean adding things as you go throughout your day.
Whatever it looks like in your case, the important thing is just to find habits that work for YOU when it comes to using your planner so that you’re using it in a way that serves you rather than further stresses you out.
What are your habits when it comes to using a college planner? Leave a comment and let me know!
This post was all about how to organize your college planner.
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