Planning your week beforehand is one of the best ways to streamline your life both in and out of school. Going into the week knowing what you’ll do and when (leaving some blocks here and there for spontaneity, of course) means you won’t waste any time deciding what to do or frittering away at low priority tasks that don’t support your goals.
Get Started
Before making a solid plan for your week, you’ll need to know where to get information for assignments and how to reach out for help when you need it. Take some time to note your teachers’ contact information and their hours of availability to answer questions. Then, identify two classmates who you can reach out to if you need a copy of their notes, want to clarify instructions on an assignment when your teacher isn’t available, or aren’t sure what’s been assigned for homework.
Next, it’s time to…
Set Up Your System
You can use one or multiple of the following systems in tandem. And, this is by no means an exhaustive list, so feel free to think up and use your own. Take some time to decide on a system, or systems, and give yourself at least three weeks of real effort to decide if the system works or if you need to adjust it.
- Paper planner. Even if you use a digital tool such as Google Classroom, a paper planner provides an important space to jot things down as they come up and see your week ahead. Check out our tips and recommendations for paper planners.
- Whiteboard monthly calendar. What?! A physical calendar that you write on with a pen or pencil? What will they think of next, a phone with buttons? Visual learners and artists will love working from large, visible calendars. The only downside here is that they’re decidedly not portable.
- Your great memory. Just kidding. This is not an option.
The Nitty Gritty
Once you pick a system, make sure you can answer these questions:
- When and where will I write down daily assignments?
- How will I know what’s coming during the next week? The next month?
- Where will I track any commitments I have outside of school?
- How will I be sure to stay up-to-date in this system?
Calendar Creation Exercise
Try out our step-by-step exercise to help you create prioritized weekly calendars.
Additional Tips to Plan Your Week Well
- Define a consistent time to make a plan for each week.
- Add in any inconsistent commitments during your weekly planning session; if these require that you move your study-time, do it by picking a specific time to move it to.
- Set timers and reminders for any tasks that you might forget or might be tempted to put off.
- Sustainable plans intersperse concentration and fun. If you don’t have fun activities per se, build in breaks as a way to increase productivity.
- Consider the order in which you tackle assignments—do you prefer to get the hard work out of the way first or ease into the work with something that you really like?
A solid weekly plan will take the majority of moment-to-moment decisions out of your hands and allow you to focus on the important stuff: excelling in school and having fun.
And if you find that despite your best efforts your study skills are still suffering, don’t hesitate to contact us for support. Our Executive Functioning Coaches are masters at assessing organizational issues and helping you get back on track.
