Writing things in your planner, but still missing/forgetting about them?

Kayla Bottrell, Academic Advisor
Central Michigan University
March 10, 2015

If you're having trouble keeping track of everything you need to do, even though you're writing things in your planner, you may want to try this simple trick. It's "free" and easy-- 

• Print out blank monthly calendars for the entire semester from Microsoft Word or another word processing program. 

• Write in all of your assignment due dates, exams, etc. at the beginning of the semester, as soon as you receive your syllabi. (Feel free to color code if that's something that helps you.) Also include extra-curricular commitments, major events, field trips, etc.

• Keep your whole semester's worth of calendars together in a folder, report cover, small binder, or in the binder that holds everything related to your courses. (I suggest keeping everything together in one place, such as one backpack or one large binder, so that you always have everything you need, in case you need to add or change anything. For example, during grad school, I stapled all of the months together and kept them in the front pocket of my binder that contained all of my work for every class.)

Keeping everything in a monthly format will give you an honest picture of what all you need to do for that month. It will also allow you to see due dates that are more than a week or two away, so you can get started in plenty of time to finish. 

I understand that some individuals find the monthly calendar view to be overwhelming. If you are one of those individuals, I would suggest a large planner that has both weekly and monthly pages (I say large so you will be able to fit everything on the monthly pages; sometimes they can be really small). By writing every assignment, exam, etc. in both formats, you can look at the weekly pages and just check the month pages every once in a while. However, I truly recommend that you try a monthly format as your default, as it allows you to see much further into the future.

Below is an example I've created based on the courses I am taking this semester:

*I typed everything out for the sake of posting my example. Don't stress yourself out trying to type everything in and printing out a new calendar with each change you make. Just print it out while it's blank and hand write everything in.