My Love of Planning

          As someone who completed her B.A. and M.A. while working several part time jobs, I had to learn how to plan my schedule effectively when I was in school. It wasn’t an option to do anything but figure out how I could make everything work. Organization was key to helping me succeed in classes while also working.

            One technique my mom taught me when I first started community college was to take a sheet of 8.5x11 paper and sketch out my week. As someone who is a visual learner this proved immensely helpful to me. I created a weekly graph that included time in hour chunks and filled the hours with what I was doing. I could physically see when I was in class, when I had rehearsals for choir or a play, when I was working, and when I would have time to study and/or downtime. I have continued to use this format in my life after my academic career. I tend to sketch my week out digitally now, but still like to color code different activates based on what they are (e.g. work=yellow, blue=working out, green=appointments, orange=activities with my husband). An example of how I do that now is listed below:

          It is a simple technique but it is one that helps me visualize my time and physically see where I have down-time. Right now, that could mean down-time can mean time to write or read, meet up with friends, cook, practice piano, or work out. However, when I was in college and grad school, I filled most of my down-time with what I would study and when. I was taught to account for 2 hours of study time outside of class for each hour in class. So, if a class met 3 times a week for 1 hour that would mean at least 6 hours of studying for that class per week. In grad school I had to to allocate more study hours, but that method did help me immensely when I was in college.

            I am also somewhat “old school” in the fact that I still use a physical planner to write everything down in as well.  Writing my work, appointments, piano lessons, and time with friends and family gives me something concrete to focus on. Plus, I’m not going to lie, I love using planner stickers. Anything small thing I can do to bring me joy, I try to do it.

          Ultimately, you have to figure out what the best solution is going to be for you. I like the ease of having my calendar on my phone and do have the benefit of having an iPhone and MacBook air so my calendars sync which is lovely. However, I also like having a place to physically write down my work, appointments, and time with friends and family. I feel more relaxed when I know my week is planned and when I am in my routine. However, I recognize that having structure is not something everyone prefers. It has benefitted me immensely and I am grateful for that.

            Do you like to be in a routine? How do you like to plan out your week? Let me know in a comment and I would love to include multiple ideas in another blog post about time management soon!

Melody Kruse, WRC Faculty, M.A.