I’ve always been one of those people. Since I was in middle school I have carried around a planner. By the way (just to clarify) I have heard of Google Calendar. It’s awesome and I do use it for some things – I just prefer good ol’ pencil and paper for most everything else.

With that being said my planner kicked the bucket last week when I accidentally ripped part of the spine out. It’s actually taken on a life of it’s own since August because of all the stuff I’ve got on my plate. Literally I was layering post-its (I’m not talking about the cute small ones).

With the new year upon us I decided I wanted to become a better planner in 2016. If you use your planner efficiently I’m pretty sure you can become superwoman/man and accomplish practically anything.

So without further ado here are some ways I wanted to share to help you #planlikeaboss in 2016:

Choose the Best One for You 

I need space to write, so the pocket planner thing just isn’t going to work for me. My planners tend to be about 8.5 x 11 inches (don’t judge I just measured for you I don’t actually know this off the top of my head) It’s not too bulky for me to carry in my bag which is perfect. I found my latest one at Target.

Review It On #SundayFunday

If you check out your upcoming week Sunday it’s super helpful – and I’m not talking about Sunday at 2 am. This gives you a chance to know which days are going to be busier and when things are actually due. If you’re a major planning nerd you can also check the weather to plan outfits and do meal prep (that’s not me but I’m not saying it’s a bad habit to get into).

Color Coordinate

So, I’m not going to tell you that you must carry around six different colored writing utensils and x number of highlighters a day. Let’s face it the fact that you have a planner on you is probably a sheer miracle. But, if you do want to make personal events, bills, exams etc. different colors this can help. Here’s what mine looks like for the upcoming year:

I really struggled with deciding which tasks to include and where they go – as a college student my planner looks a touch different than most adults. Hopefully this helps you! I also use a darker colored pen for all of my studying/reading.

Don’t Write Like a Kindergartener 

I also remind you to write legibly. We all get in a hurry sometimes and scribble but this isn’t helpful in actually accomplishing much of anything.

What to Include?

Your planner isn’t supposed to have so much information that it’s overwhelming. It’s supposed to have items that are important to you that you would otherwise miss. If you are going to workout every day that’s awesome but if you don’t need a reminder it’s probably just taking up space in your planner. This is definitely something I’ll be working on!

Are you excited to give your planner a makeover for the upcoming year? Be sure to comment below!