Getting Organized : How I plan my life
I am an organization nerd. I love having a plan, knowing whats happening and whats happening next. I have tried a lot of agenda’s and online planners and bullet journal, but I found what works best for me is a mix. I use different tools for different things. I keep an agenda, a bullet journal, and a monthly dry erase calendar. This allows me to see the big picture of everything, but also plan out what I need to do day by day. And honestly, it doesn’t take me that long to do.
General Plan
To plan out my “Big Plan” (generally I do this at the beginning of school terms) I get out all my class syllabus’ and open my agenda to the monthly pages. This allows me to think months in advance, writing down big deadlines and important dates.
This DOES NOT consist of small due dates (ex. Weekly homework) Weekly plans or to-do’s.
This is for the big stuff, final’s, exams, essays, flights. It allows me to basically not have to look at the syllabus, and also not forget that I have my First Psych exam in the first week of February (which is something that wouldn’t show up in my January Monthly Plan and thus could be easily forgotten).
Monthly Plan
I have my year planned out month by month, so generally this is pretty easy. I bought a big monthly wall dry erase board (I got mine from Walmart) and basically all I do with this is write down my deadlines. Of course,the bigger ones are already written down in the ‘Big Plan’ so I am rewriting them, but also I would write smaller deadlines here. Such as homework and in class quizzes
I use this because it helps me focus on the month at hand, rather than constantly having to look at my whole year plan and being overwhelmed, while still being able to see everything that needs to be done in upcoming weeks so I don’t fall behind or forget to study for something.
Weekly Plan
Every Sunday night I do my weekly plan, this is done week by week (never in advance) and basically allows me to focus on whats important that week. I use my agenda for this and I have it split into two sections, What’s Happening and What’s Due. The Whats Happening side of my week planner allows me to write in my classes, any events, or meet ups with friends. The What’s Due side allows me to write down any assignments, homework, quizzes, or papers due that week, down to the smallest “read this chapter by Tuesday” detail.
When I have completed and handed in something, I cross it out so I know I can forget about it (and don’t have a panic attack on the day thinking “wait did I hand in that thing?!).
Daily Plan
My daily plan is done each evening, and I use my bullet journal for this. This is the thing I carry around with me, and the reason I am not horribly behind in all my classes.
Each evening I look at what I need to do the next day to stay on track and finish what is due this week (I look at my agenda), or in upcoming weeks (I look at my monthly plan).
So for example, on Monday night I might see that I have a homework assignment due Friday, so I write in my bullet journal on Tuesday that I should start the homework assignment.
This allows me to stay focused on whats important, allowing myself to set sub goals for big tasks, and never wonder “what should I work on next” because I know I have already planned it out, and I only need to focus on my daily to-do’s and I will stay on track.
And that’s basically it! It’s a fairly extensive planning system, mostly because I have a horrible fear that I will forget an assignment, but it works for me because it allows me to see the bigger picture of things, all the way to the smallest detail of assignments. Also, rewriting the deadlines of things generally means I am less likely to forget them.
If you have any questions about planning, please feel free to send me an ask! I went to a self-directed high school so planning is sort of my thing :)
