I wrote down my brainstorm for my planning method down in a notebook and I decided to share since the new school year is starting again! This is just my method of studying, it doesn’t have to work for you! Maybe some components of it will, maybe some will inspire you to figure out your own!

I just found out in recent years that planning and staying organised is really the key to keeping my stress levels low and my grades high!   So, I hope this will help you like it did for me.

Deadlines, deadlines, deadlines

Thing nr. 1 to stay on top of will always be deadlines (in my opinion). I get really anxious when I don’t know for sure when things will be due, so I always make sure I have a clear view of my deadlines in school. These include essays, papers and exams, but also what readings I need to do before what class, practice questions I need to do, etc. 

I use a big planner in OneNote, with the weeks on the left and the subjects above:

I just write anything that was in the syllabus or the professor told us to do in this planner. This way I can get a quick overview of everything I need to do in each week, which brings me to my next point: my personal planner!

Structure

I just can’t live without a planner! I always use a paper one, but you can use whatever you want of course! I bought the moleskine weekly planner this year and I’m loving the layout so far!

Here, I write down every class, appointment, study session, gym visit, etc. in here. This way I can clearly see how busy I am that week and I can keep track of everything I need to do (so I don’t forget). On the note page on the right, I draw 8 columns: 1 for each day and a space for my habit tracker. Under each of these days I write little to do lists for that specific day.

That’s where my big academic planner comes in! For each day, I write in those to do lists what reading I want to do, what part of an essay I want to finish and just regular to do’s like picking up some books or messaging a friend! My personal planner is where I keep everything in one place so I now what I need to do for each week.

Important note: I also schedule breaks in this planner. If you’re like me and you tend to overwork yourself this might help for you too! I plan my breaks for running, going out with friends and down time on my own too, just to keep myself in check. I know I’m prone to overdoing it, so if I plan in these breaks, I trick myself into some self care!

Group projects

Working on group projects can be really stressful, so I always try to take some of that stress away by making a big list of what needs to be done, by who and when it needs to be done. Sometimes a clear overview of every part of the project is provided, so I use that as a guideline, sometimes I need to come up with my own.

I usually use OneNote for this too (I love OneNote!), which I share with the other people in my group so they can view/edit it too. It’s a great way to keep each other accountable and make sure no misunderstandings happen during the process.

Specifics, just for me

And because I’m a bit of a planning-freak, I have another separate 365 days planner. If I have a especially busy day I’ll use this planner, because my to do’s won't fit in my regular planner. This usually happens when I have an entire day to study and want to make sure I don’t miss anything!