Keeping a Calendar

Part 3 – The College Student and Planning Ahead

I promise, this is the last post about calendars. I believe though, that this might be the most important. College is where the rubber hits the road for so many, as this is the time that the young adult now faces a new time in their lives of pure independence. Parents typically do not loom over them telling/asking them what to do. Although, I know a lot of parents who still attempt to do this from afar and on a daily basis. “Who, me”, you say?

Many students who were successful in high school now find themselves in a very different situation when away from home. There’s all kinds of competing activities that pull them away from why they are in college in the first place. Dorm life, classes, parties, hanging out with friends, clubs, Greek life, how, what and when to eat, laundry, sleeping, homework, are all jockeying for attention. It’s a lot! Those of us who were privileged enough to go away to university, understand how fun but at the same time, how hard it was. Yes, some college students get along just fine and are able to juggle everything with ease. But a large group of college students find the struggle very real, and then if they are neurodivergent, the struggle is even more difficult.

Using a planner/calendar is an absolute must. I try not to make black and white adamant statements. But I am here. I feel very strongly about it if you couldn’t tell. I’m going to get to the nitty gritty of how this can all work for a student and I’m directing this not to you the parent or adult but to the student.

So I pose these questions to the college student. Do you want to pass your classes and be successful in school? Do you want to graduate? Do you want to keep your parents off your back? Do you want to have fun too, and not be going crazy when you “forget” to do an assignment? If you answered yes, then here’s what I suggest:

1. Figure out first what will work best for you. Do you do better with a physical journal, an online calendar, or a hybrid of both? Do you remember things better if you physically write things down? Then use a physical planner/calendar. Do you find it just easier to use a digital calendar because you always have your phone or laptop with you? Then use a digital calendar. Do you like putting your information in a digital calendar and then rewrite them in a physical planner? Then use both

2. If you decide to use a physical calendar, consider getting one that has a monthly view and weekly view with space to write your specific assignments in on the day they are due with more specifics.

3. Write/enter EVERYTHING into your calendar. Your class schedule, your assignment due dates, your meetings, your club dates, your party dates, your tasks; whatever you have going on.

4. Look at your calendar at least EVERY morning. What good is using a calendar if you never look at it and then rely on your brain to remember stuff. Good luck with that. You won’t remember everything. Take the pressure off yourself and your brain by keeping all of that information out of your very busy and overwhelmed gray mass. It will be even better if you can check your calendar in the middle of the day and then at night to check on what the next day will bring.

5. At the beginning of the week, schedule in when you are going to do your homework, and when you are going to work on specific assignments, so that you aren’t doing an assignment at 1130pm on Friday night when the assignment is due at 11:59pm. In other words -plan ahead.

6. At the beginning of the week, ask yourself if you are going to need to go to office hours, or need a tutor for an assignment that week. If you think you might, then you can schedule that ahead of time and not freak out later when you realize that it might be too late.

7. If you use Google calendar, consider using color coding for different classes and tasks and appointments. Then you can overlay them on each other and see when you have free time for let’s say, fun, or calling your parents, since they will be missing you soooo much..

8. Consider using Monday.com to help manage projects, tasks and goals.

9. Check to see if your university uses an online planner or calendar program. Many do.

10. Have fun with your calendar. Need to make it pretty and colorful to motivate you to use it? Then do that. Use stickers and colored pencils and markers. Go crazy.

11. Struggling with figuring out what calendar system to use or just not able to take the time to do it? Or does this just overwhelm you? Consider asking a friend to keep you accountable or use a coach, mentor, tutor or academic advisor to help you. Don’t want to ask anyone for help? Check out YouTube.

Bottom line. Using a planner/calendar can give you peace of mind, keep you from being overwhelmed and give you some semblance of peace. How great would it be to not have to think about what you need to do and when you need to do it. Your brain will thank you. Your nervous system will thank you. And when your parents ask you about how classes are going, you can HONESTLY tell them that you’ve got it under control. That’s a big bonus!