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Using a Planner to Get Organized

With so many classes and assignments, outside commitments, and a life, it almost seems impossible to "do it all." But you have no choice!

Here are a few suggestions for using a planner.

• Get a calendar/planner that you can carry around with you. Make sure there is plenty of space for each day. Those little pictures are cute, but this is serious. It is better to have a planner that has lines for each hour rather than one large space for the day.

• Fill in the hours for every class in your planner. Then, go through your syllabi and add the due dates of assignments for each class. Next, fill in other standing commitments: little Sally's football practice every Tuesday at 4:00 or Jimmy's piano lesson. You might even want to color code different types of activities. Red is a good color for test dates.

• Take some precious time and examine those assignments and due dates. If you have a 20 page Hildegard paper due Nov. 30, you know that you need to begin quite a long time ahead. On the other hand, a one-page paper for CHATs can't be written until after the discussion in class. Go back to your planner and add the dates that you need to start working on assignments, especially long assignments that will take some time to complete. The Hildegard paper probably needs to be begun in early November so that you will have time to do research, write the paper, visit the academic support center, and still have time for rewrites.

• Find at least a little time for play even if there are no blank times in your planner by now. You accomplish more if your mind is fresh, and there is nothing like a relaxing stroll in the park or time with your "honey."
  One good hour of study is more worthwhile than four hours of staring at a book and wishing you could be outside. You are doing God's work, and God rested on the seventh day.

• Carry your planner and your textbooks with you at all times, and anytime you get some free minutes use them! While you're waiting for Sally to finish practice, you could read Wesley; the dentist office is a great place to read Schleiermacher.
  
  

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