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How to Use Your Planner

Open Planner on desk Open Planner on desk

A System for Success

In high school and college there’s a whole lot to keep track of. It can be overwhelming! If you don’t have a plan, it’s easy to forget things, miss deadlines, or find yourself running out of time.

You need a system to keep track of everything to keep stress low, achieve academic success, and enjoy school and life!

What does your system need? All of your commitments in one central location. By putting your assignments, activities and projects into your planner you can easily see what your week or month holds.

As a student you know that school work is just part of the big picture. You may have jobs, sports, clubs, and volunteering, as well as hanging out with friends. By adding all of these extracurricular and social activities to your planner, you can see how it all works together. With the full picture you can effectively manage your time.

Use our 5-Step Guide to maximize your Class Tracker Ultimate Student Planner and keep track of it all!

Planner open to welcome page. Planner open to welcome page.

Step 1:
Add Your Contact Info

Write your name in your planner! Seems basic, but once you start using your planner, it’s a crucial tool to your success. Add your name and contact info on the first page of your planner. If you accidentally leave it at the library or your favorite cafe, someone can get it back to you asap!

Planner open to welcome page. Planner open to welcome page.
Planner open to weekly planner page. Planner open to weekly planner page.

Step 2:
Map Out Your Schedule

Write down your schedule for classes, work, sports and any other regular activities and commitments. This lets you quickly see when you have unscheduled time.

Learn more about how to manage your time in this blog post: How to Create a Weekly Plan Get our best tips on time management and planning techniques, and download our free weekly time planner.

Planner open to goals page. Planner open to goals page.

Step 3:
Write Down Your Goals

Write down your goals for your year.

Studies show that people who write down their goals are 42% more likely to achieve them than people who don’t.

Desk with planner to map out semester. Desk with planner to map out semester.

Step 4:
Map Out Your Semester

Transfer the deadlines from your class syllabi into your monthly views. This is also a great place to record other big commitments (sports or extracurricular events) or fun activities (formals, football games, etc.).

With everything laid out in your monthly view you can start to see which weeks are going to require extra work and when you will need to get started early on assignments when you have multiple deadlines in the same week.

Planner open with student using colored highlighters. Planner open with student using colored highlighters.

Step 5:
Plan Out Your Week

Use the different sections of the day (Remember to, Quizzes/Tests/Projects/Papers, Assignments and Activities) to write down your schedule and to-do’s for each day.

Pro tip: fill this out on the weekend to give you a sense of what your upcoming week looks like. Some people plan as far in advance as possible while others do it week to week. Whatever you decide, make it a habit.

Set a reminder on your phone (like “Plan your week!”) and you’ll be a planning pro in no time.

diamon and heart doodles made with highlighter.

Why Does Planning Work?

When you write everything down, it makes you feel better.


Sounds strange? Laying everything out in an organized way over multiple days and weeks makes assignments and big goals feel more doable. When I work with students I see how relieved they feel after they write everything down, and get it out of their head and into their planner.

Need tips on how to manage your time? Check out our post: How to Create a Weekly Plan That Will Make you Successful in College.


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