Featured Student: The Planner

By Janet Zimmerman

I don’t know about you, but as I hit the one-month mark in the semester, I started to realize just how busy the rest of my semester is going to be.  

For starters, I get about 15-30 emails a day from professors, fellow students, RDs with volunteer opportunities for Student Dietetic Association, SDA members with questions, etc.  All of these people are looking for a quick response, and yet, sometimes I just do not have time to respond when I get the email.

There are always classes, homework, SDA events and meetings, and officer meetings to plan for.

Then there’s the district area dietetic association meetings once a month, which really are great.  It’s great to meet RDs in the area and learn about hot topics and the newest research.  I have my job for a private practice RD writing blogs, attending workshops, and making miscellaneous handouts.

There are also food needs, which include grocery shopping, cooking, and planning meals.  I also have my exercise needs.  Yes, it is a need.  I get irritable if I do not get proper food or exercise!  There also needs to be some fun time set aside, time for friends and family, and time for church. 

As fellow students, I’m guessing that your list of things you have to do is something like mine, long and at times overwhelming.  We have many responsibilities and sometimes it is very hard to keep track of them all. 

Hence the title: the PLANNER!! 

I have a planner, and I’m pretty sure if I lost my planner I would 1) cry 2) be lost 3) not know when anything is.  My planner has a week view, a day view, and a month view.  I love having the combination of these three perspectives for my schedule.  The overall month at a glance is great for having all my events, meetings, classes, and due dates filled out.  Then, my week view gives me the time I have scheduled out for everything in the month, as well as my exercise, plan for meals, free time (study time, twitter time, blogging time, and even planned phone conversations).   My day view is usually a checklist of all the emails I need to respond to, homework assignments I need to finish, and studying materials I need to get through.  Whenver I hear of something I need to do, I write it down in my planner.  Whenever I finish a task, I check it off the list (maybe this is just me, but I LOVE checking things off the list!).

Overall, a planner is a great way to help us manage our time well and keep on top of all the different things that we as dietetic students have to do!

Do you use a planner?  Have you found any more helpful tips to manage your time?  We’d love to hear about your “planner” experiences in the comments section!