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How to Make the Most Out of Your Academic Planner
An academic planner supercharges your entire year while keeping the overwhelm at bay. Instead of storing everything in multiple planners and digital downloads, a central academic planner keeps your entire life organized. Studies also show that writing things down leads to better productivity, clarity, and focus.
Grab your planner and get ready to organize your life. Not sure where to start? Here's how to make the most out of your academic planner.
Make it a Habit
Filling in a brand new academic planner is a thrilling prospect for some people and overwhelming for others. Rest assured, there is no right or wrong way to how you feel about the task of getting started with your planner.
However you feel about using your new academic planner, the first steps are the same. Take action and make it a habit. Set aside ten minutes every day to work exclusively in your academic planner. You can always keep going and put in more time if you're feeling inspired. And if you need a break, you've put in your ten minutes, and your planner homework for the day is done.
Prioritize Your Schedule
The beauty of an academic planner is how much you can store and organize in it. But it's wise to start with the basics. Map out your schedule and most important tasks first. You'll end up with more clarity about the most urgent tasks at hand and how to proceed.
Think About Your Stressors
It's never fun thinking about your key stressors in life, but writing them down and coming up with a system to deal with them is empowering. If meal planning puts you into a tailspin, make room for the task in your planner and face those stressors.
Chart out a few basic meals and then lean to take-out or your usual standbys for the rest of the week. As you get more comfortable with those stressors, you'll be able to integrate them into your academic planner on a regular basis.
Chart Out Your Goals
An academic planner is a powerful tool to practice organization but can also be used to chart out your goals. Our goals take more meaning and clarity when we write them down and see how to approach them. Whether you're trying to get fit or hit a financial plan, you can use your planner to keep track of your progress and the steps involved.
Consider Pet Projects
No rule says your academic planner must be used for daily responsibilities and tasks. You can also use your favorite planner to track your pet projects. Volunteer work, book clubs, a home renovation, or exploration of a new hobby are all fun ways to use your planner to blend work and play.
Personalize Your Academic Planner
Academic planners should inspire you to stay organized and take action. You can make it as straightforward or as fun as you want. Use different colored pens for various tasks or weeks to give your eyes more visual clues and context.
Keep It Realistic
Your academic planner is a tool that should leave you feeling empowered. If your schedule and goals are so unrealistic you can't possibly meet them; you'll abandon your planner and go back to unorganized chaos. Make your planner an honest reflection of your life that keeps you focused and motivated.
Live Out Your Routine
Making the most of your academic planner by taking action and living out your routine. Charting out your routine only goes so far without acting on it. Be brave! Take your planner and use it as a way to stay on task. Put one foot in front of the other until your day and week are done.
Forget Perfection
Has this ever happened to you? You zealously fill in your academic planner but then realize it's not accurate or realistic and just want to throw it out and start over?
Remember, there's no such thing as perfection. Our lives aren't perfect, and neither are our planners. Embrace all the tools and resources you have available to organize and bring more calm into your life and let go of the idea of perfection.
Next Steps
Ready to take control of your life and make the most of your academic planner? Shop Paper & Co.'s selection of products here and feel empowered again.
Work from Home Systems
Think of the most simplified system we have all seen- posters posted in public restrooms on the proper way to wash your hands. Each step is listed clearly with a photo to match.
Systems are key for accuracy and effectiveness with an action or process.
When we use a system to plan our goals or you may have heard me share my “goal setting backwards” strategy through the years- this approach allows an effective plan of action to achieve what it is you’re striving for.
Ampersand Paper Goods
When the symbol stands alone it is still communicating a huge amount of information from its form and its shapes.
Is it hand-written, is it old-fashioned and traditional, is it minimalist and modern? Every use & every font can share a different meaning.
This is your life, your plan, your story &.......
Creating Memories and Storing Them with Paper Goods
When I was 8 years old I remember the Easter Bunny delivering a basket overflowing with beautiful, bright & exciting papers, pens, stickers, folders & more. It sparked my love of everything stationery and soon back to school shopping for supplies became my most favorite shopping trip of the year to see what was new in the stationery aisle. To me there was always a special kind of confidence that came with brand new notebooks and sharp pencils. This enjoyment of all things paper took on a different meaning as I grew older.
In my early 20’s after my grandpa passed away, I remember looking through photos with my grandma on the floor of a spare bedroom from an old red worn leather photo album. Within that album she had a stack of love letters my grandpa wrote to her. I looked through those letters with her as tears formed in her eyes, I was in awe of the beauty of this time capsule we were holding. There was so much personality to this paper. It wasn’t an email or a text...it was my grandpa's time, emotions & pure love documented for eternity. I remember thinking at that moment that I wanted loved ones to have those kinds of things from me that they could cherish & have it mean to them what I saw in my grandma's eyes that day.
As the years went on, my excitement & product ideas grew and The Paper & Plan Co was born! Founded on the principle of traditional luxury meets modern design. Beautifully crafted quality paper goods and the art of proper instruments is our passion.
Clutter Stifles Clarity
Now imagine driving that same road on a beautiful clear day. You can see all around you, you’re relaxed but alert and have a sense of peace and calmness knowing you’ll get to where you’re going.
The same is true with clutter in your life. The clutter is the fog you’re unable to see through and can stop you before you even get started. The clarity we all seek is the beautiful day that we know we can tackle anything that comes our way.
Create a life, home & workspace of clarity 🖤
How Can I Get Organized?
1) Write out your plan everyday.
2) Always include 5 top tasks each day. That you MUST complete.
3) Create a 1 page plan (see planner layout 😉) for ease of reference. Stop juggling multiple planners/ notebooks. You’re adding more work that way.
4) Always schedule deadlines, appointments & events first.
5) Start each task with a verb “write”, “complete”, “research”, “approve”..this shift in choice words creates actionable steps.
6) Carve out time to sit & plan your days. This isn’t a huge task- just 20-30 min a week is really all it takes!
Get Organized with Five Tips for 2021
1) Inventory your day. How are your spending your time? Where are you wasting time & how could you be more productive?
2) Plan time for you. Make it an appointment with yourself. Every Thursday is my “dungeon day”; I take no meetings, calls or appointments and focus on my work and back office type items then the rest of the day is mine to spend as I wish.
3) Create a vision board: physical or digital include short and long term goals.
4) Learn the art of saying “No”. Saying no to things that don’t align with you, your goals or simply don’t light you up- gracefully say no. By saying no, you’re saying “yes” to more that will help you feel fulfilled, closer to your goals and more sense of peace.
5) Make a book list. These books should be something that will expand your mind in any way- self development, spiritual, mindset, etc. We are like plants growing and reading is the fertilizer to our brains.
Your Home & Office Should be a Work Space, not a Storage Space
What serves you and what no longer does?
Outer order of things offers inner clarity.
Kind of like when we dress nice we feel great...when your home & work space is in order and looks nice- it’s more inspiring, allows you to focus on the task at hand without the loom & doom of a cluttered space.
As I’ve shared before- allow a 5 min reset each day before you leave your office or a room in your home- this very small amount of time taken to reset and refresh will allow you ease and clarity when you enter that space the next day.
The Paper & Plan Company: Our Core Values
▪️Never Compromise Truth
▪️Act With Honesty And Integrity
▪️Show Appreciation And Gratitude
▪️Promote A Culture Of Innovation And Continuous Improvement
▪️Respect the Potential And Significance Of Every Person
▪️Have Fun And Think Big
▪️Make It Your Best Work
▪️Personal Accountability
▪️Relationship First Mentality
Preparing for the Week Ahead
Throughout the week after dinner or before bed every night I look over the next days schedule to ensure I have everything I need for the following day and am mentally prepared. In doing this you never wake up being thrown for a loop or feel anxiety caused by uncertainty.
A little planning & preparation goes a long way for your stress, anxiety & happiness levels 🖤
Your Future is Hidden in Your Daily Routine
Your routine can be a positive one or perhaps is a negative one- the life you want lies within your daily actions. Taking the time, effort & putting in the work to build a solid routine is key.
Every couple months I like to inventory my routines. What am I doing? How am I doing them? What could I do to get better? Is there something I should remove or maybe add to that routine to help me reach my goals?
These are the questions I ask myself and I always find that when I do there is always something I can remove and add a new item that will serve me best for that stage in my life/business.
Routines = The future you want. 🖤