My favorite part of a new semester is getting new school supplies. I’ve been known to buy a new planner every semester, regardless of if the one I had prior was for the year or not. For the past 3 years, I’ve been using Plum Paper exclusively for my planners, and I haven’t found a single thing about their layouts that I haven’t liked. However, setting up my planner has become a debacle I try to tackle in one day, which quickly turns into about a week. I’m a busy girl, and my planner reflects that. Here’s how I stay on top of everything, from colored pens and highlighters to basic organization.
First, I have a very specific type of planner. It’s the Plum Paper Student Planner, 6 months in length, with an extra 20 note pages added (in a tabbed section) to the back. For this semester, I chose a print that was muted in hopes that I wouldn’t get distracted by how glamorous it was during class. It’s also monochromatic on the inside instead of colorful, which is a new option from Plum Paper. For the first time, I opted to have my courses printed in the subject boxes for me, and I don’t think I’ll ever go back to writing them in myself. It has a two-page monthly spread, and each week has a two-page spread as well. There is a checklist on each week, the top is what I use for assignments and the bottom is already labeled for quizzes and tests. The layout of this planner is heavenly, and I find that if I use it like it’s designed, virtually nothing goes unrecognized.
Each class I’ve taken, from my junior year of high school to now, has either had a pen color or a highlighter color chosen for it. For example, I’m a huge Royals fan, so my Sport Management courses tend to be blue. It helps keep my monthly spread from getting cluttered when I can write an exam and highlight it with a specific color rather than taking up the whole box trying to write the course name and the assignment. I also tend to highlight the course name in the subject box for the first month of school so I can learn which class is which, and it leads to less confusion later on in the semester.
I think it’s safe to say that we’ve all been obsessed with Papermate Flair Tip pens at some point, but my fondness never ended. On my monthly spread, you’ll see a variety of colors depending on the activity I’m involved in. I’m a member and an officer of Alpha Delta Pi, so everything for my sorority is written in blue, as that is our main color. All-school events are in purple because it stands out and many extracurriculars are written in green. I carry these colors over to my weekly spread, as I have one section at the bottom of each day that is used specifically for what is on my monthly spread that isn’t related to a class. Space is very important to me, so when everything has a place, I make use of what I have.
I’m a methodical person, as you can see, and I can see how my planning keeps me from missing due dates. I’m active in my sorority, I’m a member of two professional groups, I have a puppy I have to keep tabs on, and I go on various experiential learning trips through my college for my major. One week out of school may not seem like a lot when I’m on a trip, but I’m missing four days of class (thank goodness I have no Friday’s) and countless events elsewhere. If it weren’t for having an extreme Type-A personality, I don’t know how I’d do it. For the foreseeable future, my relationship with my planner(s) isn’t going anywhere.
Photo source: https://www.pexels.com/photo/planner-760718/