It is no mystery that life as a student can easily become overwhelming, chaotic, and unorganized. We have to juggle several classes a day, along with work and our own personal lives. Something that has helped me tremendously and has given me an easy way to mark the notable moments in life is my planner. There are both pros and cons to keeping a planner, but I strongly believe that the benefits outweigh the negative aspects.
My planner is instrumental in keeping me productive and on-task. Writing stuff down makes it so much easier for me to remember what I need to do, whether class-related, work-related, or personal-related. Many people like to fill their phone calendars with their busy schedules, however, I never get as much satisfaction from that as I get from physically crossing off items on my to-do list. My planner is also a place where I transcribe my memories and the notable things that happen throughout my day. I was always avid about writing daily in my personal journal, but as I have gotten busier, I have gotten less committed to putting my memories on paper. However, I have begun to write down bits about my day in my planner—who I saw, what I did, what interesting things I learned, etc. It has helped me keep track of my memories while also being simple and time-efficient.
There are many pros to keeping a planner. Most popularly, it makes the organization much easier. Each planner is sorted by date, giving you space to mark on each day of the week, along with an overall monthly calendar, and extra writing space. This makes it simple to write down important dates, anniversaries, birthdays, etc, along with jotting down work schedules, class schedules, and assignments.
Another pro about keeping a planner is that it lessens the chance that you will forget something important. It is scientifically proven that the simple act of writing something down will dramatically decrease the chance you will forget it. This is why, though typing on your computer or phone may be efficient as well, it is safer for your memory to use a paper planner.
Though there are several pros to keeping a planner, there are, however, cons to keeping a planner as well. Although, I strongly believe the benefits outweigh the negative aspects. Planners are in the format of books, making them sometimes bulky to carry around. Additionally, they are more easily destructible than if you would type on your phone—many planners are paperbacks, so they could get bent, scratched, torn, or dirty.
Student life can be very overwhelming. There are many things we have to keep track of, along with many commitments we are expected to follow through with. Something that has helped me tremendously and has given me an easy way to mark the notable moments in life is my planner. Though there are both pros and cons to keeping a planner, I strongly believe that the benefits outweigh the negative aspects.