Education has always been very important in my household. As a first-generation Vietnamese immigrant, I know that my parents have made countless sacrifices for me to have more opportunities than they did. I have the privilege of going to college, and it’s one that I’ve always taken very seriously. Wanting to succeed in college is the first step to achieving it. The second step is to own a planner and effectively use it.
Managing your time plus balancing your school life with your social life is the hardest part of college. Here are some of my planner tips and tricks to help you guys stay ahead of the game for this next semester.
1—Invest in some good pens and a cute planner. Your whole life will revolve around this planner, and you’re going to see it very often—you might as well pick one that you love. Personally, I love buying stylish school supplies because it’s another way for me to actually want to use them. Nobody wants to use boring notebooks. I recommend buying a planner that has both monthly and weekly overviews, this way you’ll be able to see how busy you are for the month. Cross the days off as you finish them to keep track of what day it is and what assignments you have coming up. You can find cute, affordable school and office supplies at Target.
2—Handwrite all assignments in your monthly overview.  Hand-writing things has been proven to be more effective in helping to remember (and thereby completing!) tasks. Luckily, with a physical planner, you really have no choice but to do so. Usually, after I receive my syllabi from all of my classes, I’ll take an hour out of my day to write out all my assignments in the monthly overview section. This step is definitely the most important step—it shows you how busy you are for the month and how many assignments or exams you have coming up. By writing it all down, congrats: you’re already ahead of the game. If you’re really dedicated like I am, you can also transfer your assignments into your weekly overview for extra organization.
3—Color coordinate your classes. I know this might seem “extra,” but it really does help your brain distinguish your harder classes from your easier ones at a glance. I also like to write the time that the assignment is due next to the assignments because not all of them will be “11:59 p.m.,”—something I’ve learned the hard way.
4—Use your highlighters! Yes, color, again—use highlighters to highlight all of your major assignments, like quizzes, essays, and exams. A bright highlighter that will be the first thing you see when you open your planner is best.
I hope these tips help you successfully manage your time while at college! If they do, show us on social media and tag @CFashionista!
