Planning, Scheduling and Organisation

How do you get organised for work, school and university?

I believe it is important to stay organised and structured as an individual. Personally, I am constantly glued to my planners to keep me in track. Whether it be school related stuff, appointments, events and even minuscule tasks, my planner aids to help me stay focused and organised.

Gone are the days of physically carrying a diary, an organiser or even a planner. Our modern society is so driven with technology, that all these are now digitalized. With an easy download, it is now accessible on your iPad and Smartphones.

Why use a planner?

It is important to keep track of your schedules. It can be for daily reassurance and to the extent of keeping yourself planned for the foreseeable future. This allows us to KNOW when things are happening, due dates and what needs to be done prior to the date. 

Planners are a great tool to keep you organised in life. The best part is, anyone of any age can use a planner. It is a great tool to teach young ones that planning is important, to make sure deadlines are met. Ideally, it is also a great tool to teach ourselves of things we should be able to prioritize on a daily basis.

What planners are available?

There are many kinds available in the market. 

There are the planners catered for the daily planners, the weekly planners and even the monthly planners. It is a ONE TOOL, accessible to keep pretty much everything in check. 

There are obviously the ones with the physical copies. Big stationary brand names such as Milligram, Muji, Kikki.K, Erin Condren etc... carry all kinds catered for those with preference of taking it old school with a physical copy. 

However, the digital world takes advantage of digitalizing, pretty much everything. We see that as of lately, a digital planner has been a HUGE interest with the young, and the modern generation.

How should you use a digital planner?

Personally, I like mine in a specific structure, one that is easy for school and to schedule all my other external fun stuff! Here's how i use mine:

1. Legends and Colour Keys:

. I use the colour schemes of:

        RED : DEADLINES

        BLUE : CHORES

        GREEN : GROCERY 

        YELLOW: IMPORTANT DATES

As for Legends, I have a range, but these are a few that i use religiously:

Δ    Appointments

◯  Events/ Birthdays/ Parties

⇾   Tasks are MOVED Forward

❌ CANCELED

2. Index Page:

This is where i list the pages i have, putting content and page numbers into a viewable table. This allows me to come back to see where all my pages are sorted

3. Future Logs:

This is an important concept that i have taken advantage of, learning from bullet journalling in the past year. It is an essential section that will be included in my digital planners.

This is a section which allows you to do scribbles of important dates, public holidays and personal appointments at a quick glance, before you lay out your daily plans for that particular month. It is also a quick and easy reference point to fall back on!

4. Monthly Layout vs Weekly Layouts:

I personally like the convenience of having both. 

Monthly Layouts give me the reassurance to see what i have planned out for the entire month itself. Weekly Layouts on the other hand, allows me to write, and plan my week accordingly.

Both are great tools to keep your life organised and structured!

The take home message is this. PLAN your life. PLAN your day. Too often are we distracted with other things, and neglect tasks at hand. By planning we will allow ourselves to keep our tasks at bay. It also allows us to develop a healthy mindset and grow a new skill as an organised and habitual individual!

I have a few samples of my undated digital planners, and daily planner pads up on my blog, free to download and use. They function well with Notability and the GoodNotes5 app. 

- Deanna-