PLANNING YOUR WEEK
Start early!
Planning your week should start Saturday night. The week officially begins on Sunday, and Saturday night is the day to figure out everything that will be happening. By doing this, you do not have to spend meaningless time on the Sunday which commences your week with tasks such as planning. Everything should already be planned.
Find out what is on your plate for the upcoming week
Look at your school’s portal, or the syllabus, whatever your instructors use to inform you of tests, quizzes, essays and other assessments. Write down what is coming up this week!!! Know everything there is to know about what will be on your plate.
Use color
Color is an extremely effective categorization tool. It can allow you to distinguish between tests, quizzes, essays, homework assignments, extracurricular activities, health, personal activities, and more. Assign a color to each subsection of your plan, and create a key so you’re aware of what’s happening. Stay true to this color key, and don’t stray from it.
Prioritize
Your plan should feature the most important things to complete and the least important. However, your plan should also establish a general understanding of the ranking system these assignments fall under. If you have a very important test coming up which will count for a large portion of your grade, it should be featured earlier in and stressed more clearly in your plan. Utilize highlighters to clarify the importance level of different assignments.
Make time parameters
Making a plan is very important, but assigning time blocks to the plan is arguably even more important. Consider what you do every day after school. Think about how much you do after every day, and at what times you will be doing homework. Consider the length of time it takes to complete each assignment. Then, assign time blocks to each assignment. For example, you could assign “English Essay” for 4 pm - 6 pm, then “Break” from 6 pm - 6:30 pm, then “Math Worksheet” from 6:30 pm - 8 pm. This will keep you on track and going to sleep at a reasonable time.
Leave time for fun
It cannot be all school all the time - it is not healthy or conducive to effective living. Leave time for fun and breaks. This can manifest in reading a nice book in between assignments, or planning a hangout session with friends during the week. You only get one childhood, and you can NOT spend the entirety of it in academic mania.
Feature your extracurriculars and appointments
When you plan out everything, you have to include e v e r y t h i n g. This means that you must feature any meetings you have for extracurricular commitments, doctors appointments, personal appointments and more. This will ensure your plan is truly accurate.
Make copies!!!
Put your plan EVERYWHERE. There should be a copy in your planner, a copy in your bullet journal (if you have one), a copy on your desk, a copy on your mirror, and more. Put the plan anywhere you look often, and anywhere it won’t be drowned by other things.
U S E I T
Do not ignore the plan, now that you’ve spent all this time making it. Put it to good use! Keep it with you. Love it, learn it, and make it again next Saturday.