Staying Organized | Part I

The hardest thing for me, whether during the school year or not, is staying organized and keeping all my *crap* in order. During the school year especially, I have found that 1) having a specific spot for everything 2) having a specific job for everything (i.e. not having stuff that I don't need) and 3) knowing where to find everything when I need it makes my life a bazillion times easier.

All that to say, I'm starting a series on "how to keep your crap in order and stay sane during the school year". Only I thought that title was too long, so my working title is "Staying Organized". Succinct but lame. ;)

This week's topic:

The Planner


My planner is my calendar, my to-do list, and my school schedule. I choose to buy a planner that has the monthly calendars and the weekly/daily calendar. This way I can have my overview for the month and have space to write out my school assignments each day!

Cool story about my planner: I bought it after the school year had started, so it was cheap. I also found it in the wrong spot so it was priced wrong (and I knew it). So I ended up being able to get an almost $30 planner for $7.99 - I think I win. ;)

1) Use Colors 

For my monthly calendar,  I use different colors for events within a certain category. This helps me spot what I'm looking for quickly. Example: all my work shifts are written in red, birthdays are green, church/youth group events are blue, days I have taken off work are black, etc.

*Note: Take a day off work? Label it so you remember you did. ;)

2) Use Washi Tape

I'm sorry but whoever invented washi tape is a mastermind and I love you for eternity if you are reading this, dear Inventor. Washi tape can add a nice little cheer to your day. Use it liberally. :D

3) Use Paper Clips, Sticky Notes, and Stickers

I clip a paper clip from the week I'm on to the month, so that if I'm on one, I can flip right to the other without having to flip through all the past week's pages. I use sticky notes (on a planner?! Heck yes) to mark pages in the 'notes' section that I want to access quickly. And STICKERS. Stickers make everything more happy and fun and somewhat more organized, especially if you have arrow stickers. I love arrows stickers.....

4) Make a Daily To-Do List

Weekly to-do lists are great, but I find that when I have written things to do each day (especially in pen), it helps me to do them THAT DAY instead of saying "oh yeah, I have to do that this week at some point but definitely not right now. I'll do it tomorrow." And then we all know what happens 'tomorrow'. ;) On my weekly calendar, I put school assignments on the left and my daily to-do's on the right. This way I can see everything that needs to happen today in one spot - and I don't have an excuse for skipping anything.

5) Workouts, Devotions, and Vitamins OH MY!

I love working out. Or rather, the concept. In reality though, I truly suck at getting up and DOING IT. To help me, I add a note to workout, take my vitamins (because I always forget those), and do my devotions right under my daily to do list. I put a little 'am' and 'pm' under each one so I can track when I'm doing them each day. I have found that having these realllllllllly helps me remember to do them. Even when I don't want to.

6) Remind Yourself of EVERYTHING

Whenever I have something going on, I always write it on my monthly calendar page AND my weekly - on the day. Usually I'll put a big circle around it or something. I've realized that I don't always look at my monthly calendar every day, but I do look at my weekly/daily. So if I work one day, I'll put that next to my to-do list. Have a meet-up with a friend? An errand I'm running? Those all go down next to my to-do list so I can see it and REMEMBER. Just make sure you write down the correct times. Don't want to show up an hour late to work because you thought you were starting at 5 instead of 4. No that did not actually happen to me why would you suggest such a thing. 


PHEW. So that was a somewhat long post, but I hope it helped. Life can seem so busy sometimes, and so being organized and having your crap together can be a time saver, if not a life saver. ;)