A key factor in your success as a student is your ability to keep track of all of your responsibilities — from performances & games to homework, chores, and self-care. For a lot of students, the system that allows all of that to happen includes a planner, either as the principal tool or as a once-a-week strategy to get everything you need to do in one place so that you can visualize the days ahead. Regardless of how you decide to use the planner, here are our favorites for students:
Order Out of Chaos Planner
This planner lets students write their classes just once all year, clearly divides classes, and gives space to plan hour-by-hour. It also has room for notes and offers both a monthly and weekly view. For anyone who consistently finds themselves over-scheduled, this is the best planner to visualize your commitments and take note of when you have downtime and when you’ll have to eat as you travel from one activity to the next.
Clever Fox Planner
We like the undated weekly planner from Clever Fox. This planner gets points from executive functioning coaches and from students for being holistic without getting into too much detail. The weekly view asks users to identify their top 3 each day and offers a to-do list, habit tracking, and reflection without being overwhelming. It also includes space for a vision board as well as monthly views. We recommend this planner for students who can get lost in the details and lose track of the bigger picture.
Class Tracker
The college planner from Class Tracker is exceptional. The weekly view has space for tests/quizzes, assignments, reminders, a daily plan, and a self-care corner. The high school planner offers a separate space for activities & the middle school planner encourages breaking out subjects separately. If your biggest challenge is balancing short-term & long-term assignments without forgetting about your activities, this planner offers a great solution for whichever level of school you’re in now.
Global Date Books
This planner is our Amazon pick. It’s nothing fancy and might resemble a planner you’ve gotten from school in the past, but it’s a step up because it includes monthly and weekly views, each with space for goals and reminders. You can pick your preferred size, and there’s also an elementary version for younger kids. If your planner is more of a homework book than anything else, this one’s for you.
Tiny Calendar
If you use a digital planner like i-Cal or Google Calendar, first we’d say that a digital calendar can’t entirely replace something that you actually write on. Then, we’d highly recommend that you use a companion app that has features like natural language input (i.e., “study history 20 minutes every day for the next 4 days”) and superior view options for your phone. For an app that works on all Mac and Android devices, we like Tiny Calendar.
Looking to get organized once and for all this school year? Our executive functioning coaches are always available to offer personalized expert guidance. Contact us or reach out to your Director of Client Services to set up a strategy session.
