Featured Student: Planners

As the semester draws closer, I find myself getting all kinds of e-mails with important dates and times. Not wanting to miss an important meeting, deadline, or (most importantly) an opportunity for free food, this is the perfect time to invest in a planner!

There are several kinds of planners available. You can get a monthly planner with small blocks for each day or one where each day has more space and several lines to write in all of your commitments. Personally, I prefer a planner which allows me to organize each day hour-by-hour.

I just went and got my new planner for the year yesterday and opted for one that I can use year after year. The pages are the same, but this planner is more like a binder with removable pages. So, next year I can spend just a few dollars on new pages as opposed to buying a whole new planner!

Why do I think planners are so important? Well, organization is important when your days start to look like this!

Each class has its own color so I can easily see class times, review sessions, etc. I use another color for team obligations, such as practice, meetings, travel, etc. I really like this because I can very easily see what my day looks like and where I have free time. Aside from the actual classes and other commitments, you have to study in there somewhere too! When I have a free hour or so during the day, I like to write in “Library”. This helps me realize that it might be the only time during the day I have to study or get assignments done and I need to get myself to the library and use it well! I KNOW that I’m pretty much useless after practice….I just want to go home, eat dinner, hang out with my roommates, and relax! That motivates me to get things done during the day.

If there is one thing I’ve learned as a student-athlete, it is time management. Working ahead saves so much stress! If a professor assigns something that might not be due for another two weeks but you could easily do it right then, my advice is to do it! Usually, they have just explained the project/assignment and thrown out some good ideas or sparked your imagination, so it’s good to get to work while the material is fresh in your memory. You also never know what could come up before the due date that could prevent you from getting to work on it. To save yourself the stress of a frantic all-night study/project session, get it done early or work little by little during that free time during the day! When the due date or exam rolls around, you’ll be stress free and well rested! I must say, I cut off all homework at 10:00 so I can get my rest. But to do this, I have to get things done during the day and plan ahead. When I write down a due date or test, I start putting it on my “to do” list about a week or two before it’s due. This way I can ask questions if something comes up and work on it little by little, as opposed to being overwhelmed by rushing to do all of it at once.

I hope these planner tips have given you some good ideas for getting organized as the semester starts and that they help you reduce some of the stress that comes along with school!

- Sydney Messick