With the start of school and student life seeming to get busier and busier each year, a planner has become an absolute necessity. With our nonstop use of technology, there has been thousands of ‘planner apps’ created to help us better navigate our busy lives, such as Google Calendar, Apple Calendar, Calendars by Readdle, and Planner Pro Daily Calendar. It sends you notifications such as texts and emails through the app all to remind you to change the time of that important meeting that you were set to do.
For the past couple of years, I’ve had a calendar on my dresser that I use to note upcoming tests, work times, and what my social life plans are, but that’s the extent of my “organized planner.” Fast forward to my birthday this past spring, one of my best friends and her fiancé gifted me a true planner and it has become life changing.
There was a time not too long ago where I attempted to remember all of my plans, events, school work, etc. mentally and it became too overwhelming (as it would for anybody). Staying organized is the key to feeling less apprehensive about what you have to get done.
According to the Just Plain Marie website, there are six different types of planners: include personal and daily; home and family; finance and budget; bullet journals; work projects and health; and diet and fitness. Depending on your personal preference, planners come in many different sizes and yes, textures. You could go from a high-end leather planner to a small pocket size planner made out of hard cardboard paper.
Planners can be expensive though, don’t be fooled. They range in cost from really cheap to expensive. There are plenty of cheap options for those who do not want to break the bank
It seems that planners sustain their popularity because of the satisfaction of still using a pen or pencil to record objectives. I, myself, would prefer to erase something I’ve written versus backspacing a few lines or highlighting a paragraph and hitting delete. It is physically more satisfying to handwrite your plans. Try it, trust me you will not be disappointed.
I found starting college is when a planner became more of a necessity for me between the constant deadlines, dates, work, and managing a social life in-between. My current planner has monthly tabs on it which makes it easy for me to navigate the months and I can see the whole month on one page or go week-by-week. It is good to purchase a planner where you can have both options of viewing, by week or by month, and most planners contain this option.
While most banks have many online bill-pay option, recording in your planner when your bills are due has become more efficient (for me) because it’s easier for me to remember information that I handwrite instead of typing.
All in all, planners are a personal preference that some people cannot be bothered with. I would say it is worth the time to go out and by yourself a decent planner and try to get organized.
Even if you think you’re organized, you will come to realize just how disorganized you were when you start putting everything in order.
So, for your next Staples or Amazon adventure (for you online shoppers), add a planner to your shopping list; it will be worth your money!
PHOTO TAKEN from passionplanner.com