Staying organized in school can be difficult. There are so many different things to keep track of including assignments, exams, study hours, extracurricular activities, family events… the list goes on and on! How are you supposed to stay on top of everything while maintaining your grades, social life, and sanity? Don’t worry. I’ve got you completely covered! Today, we are going to dive into a foolproof organization system that revolves around a fantastic student printable planner. This printable planner will keep everything organized, all in one place and ready at your fingertips whenever you need it. Ready to learn more? Let’s get into it!
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How to Stay Organized in School: The Basics
There are three key aspects to staying organized in school: goal setting, healthy routines, and using a planner. These three ideas create a great foundation when it comes to staying organized (and sane!) in school. Today we are going to do a deep dive into using a planner, but let’s quickly discuss the other two first.
Goal Setting
Goal setting is the fundamental building block of student success. It allows you to begin with the end in mind and assists you through your student career. I highly recommend you begin by creating a personal mission statement, this will get you on the right track to getting your goals in order! Check out my post on how to create your own HERE.
Related: An Ultimate Guide to Short-Term Goals You Can Actually Achieve
Routines
Next, successful routines and habits give you a solid way move towards your goals in small increments. The best way I have found to do this is to create a morning, after school, and night routine. Start with the basics, such as: drink water, study 45 minutes, finish homework for the day, plan out tomorrow, etc. Be sure to change it up as your life and goals change!
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Planners
Finally, constantly using a student planner is the absolute best way to maintain your sanity and organize your student life. This allows you to keep track of your goals, list out your routines (and even make habit trackers!). You can also schedule events, organize your task lists, plan out your study schedule, and SO MUCH MORE! Out of all of the great planners out there, the one that will help you the most specifically in school (in my opinion) is The Olden Chapters Printable Planner. I know, it is my own planner, but I have designed it to ensure that every student succeeds in every stage of school they may be in. Ready to learn more? Great!
The Olden Chapters Student Printable Planner: A Quick Overview
So, what is The Olden Chapters Student Printable Planner and why is it so fantastic? Well, I am glad you asked… First, and most importantly, it is a printable planner.
What is a Printable Planner?
A printable planner is a downloadable PDF file that includes different types of planner pages that you can print from home with your own printer. I’ll go into each and every page that is included down below, but the flexibility of being able to print which ever pages you want, as many times as you want is incredibly useful when staying organized. Also, if you don’t have a printer at home, you can easily (and SUPER cheaply) get all the pages printed out (and even bound!) at your local office supply store.
Why are Printable Planners Better than Others?
Printable planners are incredibly flexible and allow you to insert them into any binder you want! I personally keep mine in the front of my student binder where I keep all of my notes (HERE is a full overview of my binder system, and HERE is a full overview on how I take my notes). This gives you the amazing opportunity to create an incredibly custom planner that will work specifically for your own needs!
Related: 15 Top Tips for an Organized School Binder
What else is so Important about The Olden Chapters Student Printable Planner?
What else is so great about this student printable planner? Well, the yearly, monthly, weekly, and daily planning pages are all undated so you can use them for as long as you would like! Furthermore, I have included many different planning layouts, so when your planning style changes, this planner will be ready for you! For example, there are both vertical and horizontal weekly planning spreads, as well as two- and one-page monthly spreads. Because of these amazing features, this planner is truly the only planner you’ll ever need in school! On top of that, there are dozens of different planning pages, ranging from budgeting to school project organization. Let’s get into all of the pages offered, shall we?
What’s Included in The Olden Chapters Student Printable Planner?
Let’s get into the most important part…. the dozens of different pages, layouts, and goodies stuffed into this budget-friendly planner!
Initial Pages
The first two pages of the planner are pretty straight forward. The first is a planner cover to help protect you pages as well as add your contact information and the other is a table of contents. This page can be used to organize your planner pages in one given area. If you wish, you could number all of your planner pages and list them in order.
Tip: Use your Table of Contents for your school notes too! HERE is a great resource for note taking.
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Calendar Section
Year Planner
The Year Planner is used to organize any major events or tasks that need to be completed over the year or upcoming years. This page is great for long term planning or keeping track of family birthdays.
Monthly Spread (2 Different Styles!)
There are two different styles of monthly spreads, both having the option of starting on a Monday or Sunday. The first option is a month on one page and the other is a large month on two page. The first is great for planning out months when there is little going on or planning out single projects with different deadlines. The large month on two page spread is great for busy students who need a lot of space for planning out each assignment deadline, small and large events, etc. For more ideas on monthly planning, check out this post.
Weekly Spreads (3 Different Types!)
There are three different designs to assist in weekly planning. The first option is on one page (see One Page Week Spread) while the two others are on two separate pages, allowing for more space to write.
The One Page Week Spread page is designed to assist your weekly planning on one single sheet. Here, you will find space to include your weekly goals, tasks, notes, and a space for every day of the week. There is a blank side of the day (where you could perhaps list appointments), and a lined section (where you could perhaps list tasks).
Related: How to Plan Your Week for Success – A Step-by-Step Guide
The Two Page Week Spread Horizontal is a horizontal weekly planner with both lined and blank areas for each day, as well as a space for weekly goals, notes, and tasks. You may choose to use the blank areas for appointments and the lined areas for tasks.
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The Two Page Week Spread Vertical is a two page planner with the days organized in a list-style format. You will also see that the days are split into boxes, which you can, if you choose, use to break up your day based upon time, class, or area in life. There are boxes along the left hand side if you choose to give these a title. For example, along the first row, you may choose to assign this “physics.” Then, you could be able to add all of your physics tasks, assignments, due dates, etc. into all of the first boxes.
Daily Page
The Daily Pages are designed to assist your time management during busy days. You have a space for your goals for the day (perhaps your top three tasks), your schedule (which can be used to time block different large tasks and lecture times), a task list, and notes.
Tip: Check out my complete guide to daily planning to ensure your success with these great pages!
School and Personal Section
Weekly Schedule
The Weekly Schedule is designed to assist in planning your week based around your classes and any other time commitment. This is also useful if you are deciding which classes to take next.
Tip: HERE is a great resource filled with time management tips!
Graduation Plan
Graduation plans for students on both the quarter and semester systems are included in this printable planner. This is great for helping you create a detailed class list for each term, plan out when you can graduate and more.
Routines
Remember how I said that routines are one of the three pillars in staying organized in school? Well, this page is specifically designed to help you do just that! Here, you have a space for a morning routine or task list, nightly routine, weekly tasks, monthly tasks, yearly tasks, and a blank area for notes. For example, you may have “wake up at 6am, drink 1 glass of water, workout, and make lunch” as your morning routine, while your weekly tasks might have “water the plants” on Tuesday and “grocery shopping” on Saturday.
Habit Tracker
The Habit Tracker is a space for you to be able to track your progress of completing your daily habits for the entire month. It is great to track small tasks that are related to goals or small reminders to help create healthy habits.
Semester Preparation Checklist
In order to prepare for every semester, you may choose to use a Semester Preparation Checklist. This is an organized list with suggested tasks to ensure a successful semester. There is also an after semester check list, and a space for notes as well as your semester start and end dates.
Tip: In order to use this page to its fullest, check out my article: How to Prepare for a Successful Semester. You can also check out this post, it’s my back to school guide for college students.
College Packing List
The College Packing List is a comprehensive packing list you can use to assist in packing for college each year. Works great for the dorms and college apartments.
Tip: If you want more information about college packing and what exact items I recommend, check out this post! Also, HERE is my post about what essentials you should always keep in your school bag.
My Lists
The My Lists pages are designed to organize your random thoughts and ideas. Here, you can add your wish list, bucket list, reading list, rewards lists, and much more. The blank lists are great for creating organized to do lists. Here are some great list ideas and resources to get you started:
- 21 Life-Changing Books You Must Read in Your 20’s
- 34 Cheap and Fun College Date Night Ideas
- Fun Ideas to Try Out During Spring Break
- Fantastic Gift Ideas for Your College Friends
- 17 Useful Ideas to Avoid College Burnout
Usernames and Passwords
This page is where you can keep any and all of your user names and passwords (or password hints) for any online accounts you may have… pretty straight forward but incredibly useful!
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Project Dashboard
The Project Dashboard is a page that can be used to organize your thoughts and ideas for any project, both school or non-school related. To use this page to its fullest potential, check out my Ultimate Guide to Project Planning.
Project Planning Checklist
The Project Planning Checklist is designed to work with the Project Dashboard. This list is a series of tasks that can be completed to plan out any project. Again, I highly recommend you check out my Ultimate Guide to Project Planning to use this page to its fullest potential.
School/Academic Section
Course Information
The Course Information pages are designed to help you break down your class syllabus. Here, you can organize all of your syllabus information into a more cohesive and organized manner. You have space for all of the relevant course information (including class number, meeting time, professor, etc.) as well as your class goals, assignments, and important deadlines by week.
Grade Tracker
The Grade Tracker is a tool you can use to keep track of your class grade and goals. You have space to add your title (full class name), course (class number), credits, goal grade, final grade, and a reward for meeting that final grade. Under the Grade Progress section, you will see a blank graph ready to be filled in as the weeks go on. Finally, the bottom half and second page is an area to keep track of what grade you receive on each assignment.
Assignment Planner
This Assignment Planner sheet can be used to organize and plan your thoughts for each assignment. You have space fill in your goal grade, points worth, class, start date, due date, rubric, tasks, notes, and more.
Assignment Tracker
This Assignment Tracker is my favorite planning tool for class assignments. On this page, you have space to list every single assignment for each class. One great way to use this tracker is to actually combine all of your assignments for the entire semester, color code them by class, and organize by deadline. This way, at one glance, you can see which assignment is due next!
Class Project Planner
The Class Project Planner is the same as the Assignment Planner except with a different heading. The only difference is the title. You can use these two different pages to distinguish between a larger class project (perhaps a group project) and a class assignment (such as a smaller homework assignment).
Essay Planner
This Essay Planner page is similar to the Assignment Planner, but is designed to help you organize your thoughts and certain tasks around creating an exceptional essay. There is a space for points worth, deadline, brainstorm, tasks, and more. There are already some tasks listed for you, with space to add your own as well.
Tip: Want to learn more about writing successful papers? Check out my Ultimate Guide to Writing an A+ Research Paper!
Semester Goals
The Semester Goals page is a worksheet you can fill out at the beginning of each semester or quarter. Here, you can write in your top yearly goals and rewards as well as your large semester goals. Each semester goal can be broken down into monthly goals, action steps, and deadlines with a small space for notes.
Tip: I highly recommend you create a personal mission statement before writing out your goals, this is a fantastic place to start! HERE is my post on how to create your own!
Exam Study Schedule
The Exam Study Schedule is a detailed study plan designed to assist in your studying needs. You have space for your exam title, goal grade, actual grade, study period, individual tasks, notes and more. HERE is my ultimate guide on how to use this amazing study planner!
Speaking of… want to test out this study schedule page for free?
Section Review
The Section Review page is designed to assist in reviewing any key information from a given chapter, lecture, or lecture series. You have space for a section title, class name, section number (such as a chapter number), textbook pages, lecture number (if relevant), date, key takeaways, key terms, an outline of the material, notes, and a summary. Filling out this information for each major class section or chapter is a great way to review information before moving on to the next section, or even a great way to review for an exam. You can also save these section reviews to study for the final later on.
Tip: Are you getting ready for finals? Check out my ultimate guide to crushing your finals week!
Financial Section
School Year Budget
The School Year Budget page is designed to help you budget your income and expenses for the entire school year. You have a space to include your monthly expense categories (under Description) such as: groceries, rent, gas, textbooks, etc. You also have a space to create a budget for every month for each of these categories. There is also a space for your monthly income estimates as well as yearly expenses (such as tuition, fees, books, etc.), yearly income (such as scholarships and loans), and an area to calculate the estimated balance.
Tip: Check out Budgeting 101: The Ultimate Guide to Creating and Sticking to a Budget!
Monthly Budget
There are two budget files included, one with categories listed and a blank one for a more flexible option. These sheets are great tools to assist in managing your monthly expenses by creating a budget before the month begins.
Tip: Need some ideas to help you stay on budget this month? Check out my ultimate guide to saving money in college!
Budget Tracker
The Budget Tracker is the same as a check register. You can use this sheet to keep track of your monthly expenses and income as they occur.
Tip: Use the Balance column to keep track of how much money you have left in a given category. This is an easy way to track your monthly budgeting progress.
Student Debt Tracker
This Student Debt Tracker is a page you can dedicate to everything related to your student loans. Here, you can keep track of the date you borrowed any money, how much, a description, your interest rate, and any notes.
Scholarship Database
The Scholarship Database page is a table that can be used to organize all of your scholarship applications and information in one space.
Tip: Check out my 12 Secrets for Scholarship Success post to get this database as a free spreadsheet!
Scholarship Goal Tracker
The Scholarship Goal Tracker is a bar to fill in as you begin to win scholarships. Along the right hand side, you can add monetary values with your goal at the top. There are 20 blank sections.
Scholarship Accounts
The Scholarship Accounts page is designed to help you organize all of your usernames and passwords for any relevant scholarship search engines and online applications.
Scholarship Application Planner
The Scholarship Application Planner is a page you can use for each large scholarship you apply for. This page gives you space for the scholarship name, opening date, amount, deadline, likeliness of winning, requirements, tasks, notes, and more.
Tip: Want to know how to save time and still win a massive amount of scholarships? Check out my top tip: How to Prioritize Your Scholarship Search.
Notes Section
Lastly, there is a handful of different notes pages to choose from, should you need them including lines and grid pages. I have also created a comprehensive printing guide to help guide you in what pages you should print, how many, and so on.
How to Use this Printable Planner to Its Fullest Potential
In order to use this student printable planner to its fullest potential, here are my top tips to follow!
- Follow the links above for more inspiration on each page
- Change up your planning system when it feels dull: print out new or different page ideas and look up inspirational ideas (on my website and others like Pinterest!)
- Check out my student planner tip tips HERE… it is completely filled with great ideas!
- Create a planning routine for daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly planning routines. Here are some ideas to get you started:
- Daily:
- Check off all completed tasks
- Review your day, how did it go?
- Check off completed habits
- Write a task list for tomorrow
- Weekly:
- Write out a full task list for the week and assign days to complete each task
- Look at any upcoming events, is there anything you need to do for them?
- Complete David Allen’s Weekly Review
- Daily:
And… I think that is everything! I hope you have found some useful bits of information and have seen how amazing The Olden Chapters Student Printable Planner can truly be! Ready to get your hands on one yourself?
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PS: If you’re looking for more great resources for productivity, check out some of my other related posts:
- The Ultimate Guide to Productivity (54 Life-Changing Tips!)
- Discover 10 New Secrets for College Productivity
- 18 Life-Changing Productivity Tips to Master Your To-Do List
- 13 Time Management Tips to Explode Your Productivity
- 15 Planning Essentials You Need to Ensure Success
- 26 Smarter Ways to Make Your Summer Break More Productive
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