The Art of Planning: The importance of planning as a college student

Planning looks different for everyone. It can be in the form of a planner, to do list, or Google Calendar. No matter how one organizes their day to day lives, planning is an essential aspect to succeeding in college.

One of the first things we are told as freshman is to get a planner. Teachers, orientation leaders, and upperclassmen all stress the importance of planning our days weeks and months. We don’t really understand why until the first day of classes, when we look at the pages and pages of syllabi. A full list of upcoming assignments of due dates can be overwhelming, but this is where planning comes in.

Planners allow students to plan their days, weeks, and months. Day to day planning can be helpful to remember daily assignments, appointments, and meetings. These are small things that students may tend to forget, therefore, it is helpful to have a day to day to do list.

Google Calendars help students to know their exact schedules on a day to day basis as well. This is especially helpful for students with extremely busy or changing schedules. You can see your entire day or week in the Google Calendar app and send yourself reminders for upcoming classes, appointments, and practices.

While some students are tortured by planning and organizing their lives, others can’t get enough. Bullet
journaling has grown in popularity in the past year thanks to Instagram and TikTok. Bullet journaling
helps students to organize their schedules and to do lists, but it gives students the freedom to draw their own calendars, headings, and pictures. This method is a fun way to stay organized while also pleasing that creative aesthetic.

Finding the right planning technique for you takes time and effort. It’s all about what you prefer and what’s the easiest to remember the craziness of a college schedule. For some, planning will never stop
being painful. For others, planning becomes a cathartic ritual. No matter what, students start to understand the importance of planning the further along they get in college.

Planning is a technique that you will carry with you far beyond school. As we get older, life gets crazier. You will be thankful you started planning when your assignments and completion dates turn into bills and due dates.