Hey everyone! Oldest daughter here! I’m excited to be writing my first guest post on my mom’s blog! She was interested in doing a blog post on physical school planners and knows that I love mine and would be happy to tell you why!
I have been using planners all through college and still now in grad school. Now, I’ll be the first to jump on technology I can use instead of old, physical methods. I put everything on my Google calendar, write all of my papers online, have never owned a checkbook, and put my grocery list in my notes app (my mom still writes her grocery lists on old envelopes and brings a pen to the store to mark things off!). However, I love my physical planner and plan to keep using them through the rest of my schooling! Here are some of the things I like to use it for…
Assignments: At the beginning of each semester, I go through the syllabi for my classes and write down all of the assignments and due dates. It does take a little time, but it is so helpful for me to already have it all down as I go through the semester. I’ll even write down that I have a paper or presentation coming up a few weeks in advance so I start thinking about them way before the due date. Physically writing everything down gives me a good idea of what my busiest weeks will look like based on how much I have written down.
Non-Assignments: The planner isn’t just limited to school stuff! I also sometimes write down general to-dos or mark important dates. Again, being able to see how much I have written down on a given day makes it easy to tell how busy I’ll be and if I need to get some assignments done early on a less busy day. I would definitely recommend color coding your notes as well! I get colored pens and use different colors for each of my classes, labs, and non-school-related tasks. Seeing my tasks color coded like this helps with my organization and makes the planner look more fun!
Very Functional: There are so many features of the planner that may be useful for you. They have lots of pages for random notes, including monthly calendars along with the weekly ones. Some of them even have self-care trackers to make self-care a distinct priority along with your schoolwork and other to-dos. The ones I like are thin and about the size of a book, so it is super easy to take around in a backpack, purse, laptop bag, etc.
Bonus: The Sense of Accomplishment!: I don’t know about you, but there is just something that feels really good about physically crossing off completed tasks. Clicking a checkbox on an app is fine, but I find being able to cross things off and look at how much I crossed off at the end of a busy week makes me feel really good about the work I’ve done.
There are many reasons to use a physical planner, even in this electronic age. They come in lots of different colors and designs (I always go pink!) and include many different tools (some even come with stickers!). I would definitely recommend getting a physical school planner to track your work!
Hi Jillian! Great to hear about your experiences with the physical planners. We’re creating a product that bridges the gap between digital and physical planners – would love to hear your thoughts and send you a free sample if you’re interested 🙂 Let us know!
Great recommendations! Remember to always put your grandma’s birthday in your planner too 🙂