productivity. (balancing college, life, and a part time job)
by
R.F. Gammon
- March 20, 2023
before I get started on this post: I KNOW Brooke is going to call me out for being a liar when i say that my life is under control, aesthetic, and fun. she's right. my life is not aesthetic or put together and i live in a state of constant overwhelm. but that does not mean i can't share the things that DO work for me! i am not superhuman and i do tend to be overwhelmed, but i do have a number of things that actually help me to feel organized and get things done.
I love planners. Every year, I develop even more planner techniques, get even more planners, and spend more time working to plan myself out. So let's talk planners and how they allow me to stay on top of my to-do list!
Academic Calendar
As a student, this is one of my most important tools. It hangs on the wall next to my study desk, and it serves as a way to remind me of all my BIG projects. (I do NOT write every homework assignment on here!) My goal with this calendar is a visual of when my days off are, when the BIG events at my job are, when my papers and exams are due, and when my breaks and trips home are. It's essentially my semester at a glance. My school, incredibly kindly, provides everyone with one of these calendars at the beginning of the semester.
I color code this thing and put all my due dates in as soon as I have my syllabi. This is what guides my semester. Once I have hard due dates in, I start to figure out when I need to start studying for exams, planning for and drafting papers, and shuffling things. Working ahead gives me the freedom I need to get things done even if I'm busy.
This really is my "at-a-glance" thing. I don't adjust it and I don't add to it beyond these very big things. So the next tool I use is my
Legal Pad
Y'ALL. This semester is the first time I've had one centralized legal pad and it is LIFE CHANGING. This is what people think you should use Notion or your notes app for a lot of the time, and if that works for you, that's awesome! But my legal pad is basically my portable brain--to-do lists, planning, catch-all for ideas. It's where I jot things down so I can organize them later.
The first thing I use my legal pad for is to get everything I need to then organize for a week at a time. On either Saturday or Sunday, I will look at the rest of the week, find all the things I need to do, and list them by category--one category for each class, one for work, one for my marketing/writing type stuff, and one for general life things. This last one is super super important for me because I tend to forget to do the important life things, and then they get lost in the shuffle and take over all the other things I needed to do. For the week I'm writing this, that list is anywhere from "do laundry" to "file taxes" (the things I would normally forget to do). I try to get that whole list written on a weekend, but if I think of something new, I'll add it.
That's not the only thing, of course. My school has required chapel and I'll often use the legal pad to take notes on what the speaker says. Lately, I've been collecting ideas for reels/Instagram posts there too, and outlining for papers. Basically, it's a brain that can go anywhere with me.
Weekly/Monthly Planners
These are my premade planners. I haven't been using them as much since I got the legal pad, because structure is hard for me. But they're great for what they do!
My monthly planner is where I keep track of my work hours. It's extremely helpful because I have the whole month at a glance, and I can also see all my hours somewhere that isn't my computer (partly so I can make sure I'm getting enough hours per week). I can also use this as a quick way to see if it's an okay week to pick up a babysitting/petsitting job or a different side hustle-type thing if I'm out and about or not near my monthly calendar.
My weekly planner is from Target and I love it dearly. Most of the time I end up using it as a tool for writing in the correct places to do my homework assignments. If I stick to that perfectly, it's going to be the ideal way to do my week. Not that I ever, ever do that, but that's okay. It's an at-a-glance tool, again, meant to organize so I don't have to constantly refer back to my syllabi for what's due and what to do.
Bullet Journal
This is my new favorite thing and I literally cannot say enough good things about bullet journaling. There are a few caveats, of course--people usually stress the aesthetics over the practicality, in blog posts and videos I've seen about how to do these. This is, then, the most important part of a bullet journal: it should be constantly evolving to what you need it to be.
My bullet journal acts as a constantly evolving homemade planner. My January spreads look wildly different from this current spread, and that's okay! It also depends on the season. I made a simple to-do list for all of spring break rather than a spread for each day. Basically: you want the bullet journal to work for YOU. Don't listen to the internet experts. Listen to YOUR needs and the reason you want to make a bullet journal in the first place.
When I made my bullet journal, I started it with a handful of full page spreads to fill in as time went on. These are:
1) a birthday list and important dates list
2) a reading log
3) a workout log
4) a list of writing goals
5) a habit tracker (mostly for my medication)
6) a tracker and planner for my Bible reading
7) a list of my goals and resolutions for the year
8) my TBR (or some of it, haha)
9) the titles of all my flash fictions for this year so far
I keep up with these on a fairly regular basis--sometimes I have to add a few days at a time. I use this for accountability and so that at the end of the year, I can see my whole year at once. It's been lovely and I'm enjoying the tracking.
How I Use This Combo
Obviously these are a LOT of things, and I've already lighted on how I use each of them for different things. But this is how I organize all my life things. (Warning: this is HIGHLY ADHD and I do not recommend trying to do this as a general rule).
First I list all of the things into a dump in my legal pad so it's all in one place. This way I'm less likely to forget important things. Then I do the absolutely crucial work of blocking out my week. I do my agenda in my bullet journal with my classes, my job shifts that I know of, and my planned appointments/meetings/whatever. This includes church, my planned get-togethers, and other such things that are non-negotiable. I also assume an 11:00pm bedtime (which is usually ludicrous) and a 7:00am wake-up (also ludicrous).
*It is crucial to note that I almost always overschedule myself*
Then I start scheduling in all the things that are due, usually the day before. Big projects go in here. I try to pick my workout days, my shower days are usually the same as my workout days, and then there are my piano days and my rest days. I fit all of this in and pray over it.
Then I do absolutely none of it. Hahaha.
The point of this system, though, is not to push myself, drive myself, and burn myself out. It's an attempt to protect myself from that. I tend to run myself dry so easily, and I often, OFTEN forget to do the things that need to happen. My memory is not always great. But when I am consistent about writing things down, it helps me to see things, and to prioritize.
Because that is the key: priorities.
There will never be enough hours in the day.
You will never have enough energy.
I've been battling chronic illness symptoms for a while now. A lot of days, my fatigue is so great that waking up feels impossible. I live between cups of coffee some days. But what matters is learning to prioritize. It's fighting for what I can do. It's pushing myself to get things done when it feels so so hard. It's working to get up and get things done because that is what God calls me to.
It's living my life in a way that pleases Him, making the most of the time He's given me. And that means embracing opportunity. It means living in a way that uses the time well. It means embracing others. And it means I do everything I can.
How do you organize your week? If you have a planning system let me know! I love learning about other people's planners ^_^
