Organization 101: The Planner

With my busy life (see right), I have to admit that I do know a thing or two about organization. I know, you're thinking, "What makes this girl think she knows anything about organization?" I have a 3.75 GPA as a junior and have never pulled an all-nighter. Not once! You don't ever have to do it either! Here's how:

Step 1: Pick out a planner that fits your needs. I recommend a weekly planner; I write big, so it allows me enough space to fit many things in one day. The size of the planner is important, too.  Mine is big enough to grab out of my enormous backpack in a moment's notice, but small enough to go inside my purse.

I literally carry my planner everywhere: school, work, meetings, volunteer adventures, and the bar (okay, that might be an exaggeration).  I got mine about a year ago at Target for less than $10, and it is very similar to this one. The one I had before this was found at Dollar Tree for a dollar.

Step 2: Congratulations! You purchased your very own planner, you have it in class, and your professor has given you your first assignments of the semester. But where to write it all down?

I write everything down for day it's due, including reading assignments.  This way, I am never flipping back to the day that I wrote it down and it gives me more of a visual of what I have coming the week ahead of me.  When I first started college, I was not used to only having class 2 or 3 times a week, so I thought I had to do everything the night it was assigned-- BIG mistake.  I found myself doing much more work than I needed and I was stressed out over things I didn't even have to do yet.

Step 3: So you have your assignments and they're written down.  Another fun trick is the highlighter! Some people like to color code their highlighters, but that gets too complicated for me. Then it becomes a pain in the butt when I can't find the right color. I like to keep things simple so I don't care about color, but it all means the same thing: THIS IS IMPORTANT.  I highlight papers, exams, due dates of large projects, and pretty much everything that will take me more than one evening to do.

During a study session, when I'm done with my homework that is due the next day, I can look ahead in my planner to work on highlighted items.  This really improves the quality of my work, keeps me on track, and is the #1 reason I am still a virgin to the infamous all-nighter.

Step 4 (last one, I promise): The to-do list! This is my favorite. This is for everything I need to do, but don't really need to do by any specific time; things like "set up appointment for advising," "look into Study Abroad," and "buy shampoo," all of which are very important. My planner came with fancy perforated to-do lists in the back, but I have used sticky notes and scraps of paper as well.  Just clip your to-do list on the page of your current week with a paper clip and-- ta-da!-- you have a bookmark in your planner.

That's it! Now you are prepared. Any other tips? Think this method totally stinks? Comments and emails are always welcome.