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Back to school seems to be the hot topic right now because everyone is finally settling in for the beginning of the school year.
When I was in high school, we were given planners to write down homework, but I used it for so much more. In college, we had them too, but I do know not all schools offer them for free.
If your school does not give out academic planners, I recommend investing in one. I am a person who needs to write everything down to function, so having the planner kept me on track.
Teachers are often posting assignments online and sometimes it can be a little chaotic if we don’t have access to the internet or if the teacher changes the due date for the project.
I loved having a planner too because I could set small goals each day to accomplish a certain amount of the work that needed to get done over the course of a month. Also, it was a great reminder if there is a club going on or an event planned far in advance…it can be marked up.
What are some other tools you are using to help you stay on track?
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Val,
What a great topic! My problem is that I do like my academic planner, but I get lost that in have so many options. For example, I have 2 phones; my personal phone and work phone, a work laptop, then a paper planner , then various paper pads and notes for when random ideas strike. I am still navigating the best way to handle everything. Logically, I know I should consolidate and only take notes in one place, or transfer at the end of every day.
What also trips me up is if I am traveling, and my routine is broken. Can anyone relate to how they handle information overload?
I hear ya. I purchased a planner that actually fits in my purse that has plenty of space for each calendar day. I always have it on me to write things down, but when I receive an email with a date and time or a message on one of my phones, I tend to plug it into my phone calendar as soon as I can.
It can be hectic and to think “Am I really available that day or do I have something?”
So that’s why I try to put the school work at least in the academic planner and all events coming up in my planner and on my work phone.
Planners are literally my life! And of course this amazing smart phone that I have that makes things a lot easier to manage. Honestly, I would probably miss out on a lot of things if it weren’t for this phone’s capabilities. I didn’t use it much in school, I was more old school lol just pen and paper that eventually got lost somewhere. I remember one of my fellow co workers used the Google calendar for EVERYTHING & I honestly thought it was ridiculous. He would even have his free time outlined in the calendar, I’m like… Dude, get a grip. Are you a robot or something? Now I completely understand why he organized everything that way. It can be overwhelming!
Now, I love my little planner and notepad but there’s nothing like a vibrating reminder that pops up on my phone screen in the middle of whatever I’m doing to remind me of whatever I’m suppose to be doing. It’s so easy for me to get sidetracked. Between two official jobs, a OT relationship & being as social as I am, I am always supposed to be somewhere or Doing something. Oddly, i like it this way though. When I graduated from school, i started to miss the meeting deadlines and always having somethin to do lifestyle. So this just brings me right back to what I use to know.
As soon as someone plans something or has a potential date, I def get it saved or written down as soon as I can .. Or else it’s gone in the next minute .. I’m on to the next. So for life’s sake, get a planner and a calendar. There’s never too much you can do to remind yourself of what needs to be done. This way I won’t miss saying happy birthday to my friends … Again lol
Writing stuff down always helps me. I’ve been making a lot of lists to prioritize everything going on at school. It is such a good feeling to be able to cross something off and then see I have completed everything I needed to do. Being organized is definitely the only way I’m going to get through school!
I have always felt the need to have a planner as the semester starts or as I start a new project but it never lasts. It’s def a great idea but it never really works for me. Either, I forget to write something down or I forget to check so I end up having to throw it out. Luckily, we now have smartphones; I think that I have gotten better with using my cell phone to keep track of my schedule.