Life is so stressful and disorganized at times. Junior year of highschool was the year that pretty much everything changed for me. I was getting ready to apply for college, trying to keep my grades up, while also being in all these clubs and organizations. I was literally a stressed mess the entire year. When I would walk into my class, people would always ask “Are you okay?” “Did you get enough rest last night?”. I looked defeated walking into class. Besides my friends, something that saved me throughout all of this was my planner.
Junior year, a new club was founded by my old Spanish teacher: the Planner Club. I immediately signed myself up. That was one of the best decisions I made that year. A really cool thing about Planner Club was that everything was provided at no cost. There were planners, and stickers and tape for decorating your planner. It was a fun little club.
One of the main reasons I survived junior year is because of my planner. It was how I knew when my AP Chem Tests were or what readings I had to do for APUSH. Before that year, I had always been able to manage my assignments and test dates by memorizing them. I pretty much coasted my sophomore year, and then junior year came and my life made a 180° turn. Nothing felt doable.
I liked that with a planner, I could see everything at once. I wasn’t guessing about test dates or practice times, it was all in one place. Another great thing about my planner was that organizing it was therapeutic. I would use the planners and stickers from Planner Club, and my own pens to decorate my monthly calendars. During Fall I would get all the pumpkin and leaf stickers and go ham on my planner.
Some of y’all might use google calendars or some other electronic calendar. Those are really great too because you can change a little easier and have separate calendars for clubs, for work, or for your personal life. Though gcals are great, a physical planner has its advantages like:
- You’re not staring at a screen all the time.
- You can create to-do lists.
- You can physically check things off which is soooo satisfying.
- Last, but definitely not least. They’re pretty. Who doesn’t like pretty things?
The only real advantage gcals over physical planners is that they’re free. I get it. In this economy, we have to be more mindful of our spending. I will say that you can find affordable planners if you look in the right places. Home Goods is an extremely underrated spot if you’re looking for a planner. They have so many options all around $5-$12. Amazon has a variety of options in a decent price range too.
If you’re looking to treat yourself, I recommend purchasing a planner from Papier. They’re definitely not cheap, but they are so nice. I worked all summer, so I decided to treat myself to a really nice planner. The academic planners from Papier are so nice because you get a bunch of sections besides the monthly and weekly overviews like:
- An About Me Section
- A Class Schedule Section
- Monthly Gratitude Sections
- Mood Trackers
- A Finance tracker
- A Recipe Ideas Section
- An Assignment Tracker
- A Memories of the Year Section
The best part about all Paper Planners is that you can customize the front cover with your name or a quote you like. Literally anything your heart desires. This is what mine looks like. It’s so pretty.
That’s it for this week. I hope I have convinced at least some of you all to get a planner. Below are some cute planners I found online at different price points. Thank you all for reading. It means the world to me. Make sure to subscribe to be notified of new posts. Stay sharp 😉
She’s simple, cute, and sharp 😉
A little pricier, but it’s so cheerful, and I bet it’ll go on sale in like a month.
This is the priciest option, but if you have the money why. A little treat once in a while never hurt anyone.