<p>what are the best organizers or planners for college? I easily forget things- activities and homework- so I really need to write things down to remember them. </p>
<p>So, anyway, what are some organizers/planners that you guys use to keep yourself up to date with events and homework?</p>
<p>I just use a large calendar where I can keep track of my academic classes, my Guatemalan pole dancing, and my sports.</p>
<p>oh- thats a cool idea with the large calender. You take Guatemalan pole dancing? I’m afraid to google that- I’m in a public library right now.</p>
<p>I like online calendars that send me an e-mail reminder of the event.</p>
<p>I just use iCal on my Mac; I’ve also heard some good things about Google calendars, but I just find having all my dates down right on my laptop is super-easy. And if I need to delete something, there’s no messy pen scribblings. :)</p>
<p>The large calendar is a good start. However there is a book you should read called “Getting Things Done” by David Allen. While the ideas are common sense and not magic, its a systematic way of organizing yourself that helps you keep track of not only the things that you have to do this week, month, or term, but helps you keep on track to complete longer range goals. The only thing I’d suggest is that with the pace of college to do the “weekly review” he talks about 2x a week.</p>
<p>See [Getting</a> Things Done - Wikipedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Getting_Things_Done]Getting”>Getting Things Done - Wikipedia) for a quick intro, then buy the paperback for a few dollars if it sounds like something that would help you.</p>
<p>I have a small, plain notebook where I jot down everything I need. I’m a list person, so I write down my schedule everyday, allotting time for everything I need to get done. I don’t use regular planners because those things never have enough space for me. I also use the notebook for grocery lists, contact info, whatever. I use iCal to keep track of long term stuff, like looking ahead to see which weeks will be busy for me.</p>
<p>Time Master, ftw.
Best calendar I’ve used. Very comprehensive and let’s you track pretty much everything to a tee.</p>
<p>I use ical/entourage calendar and sync it to my phone. Very handy, and very unmessy.</p>
<p>Get Things for Mac and iPhone/iPod touch. Best organization app ever.</p>
<p>I love ical! It’s saved me so many times!! Other than that I have a pocket calendar that I write things down in.</p>
<p>I’m planning on using some type of planner…haven’t really picked one yet…and also I think I’ll give the iCal/Touch thing a go…seems pretty convenient.</p>
<p>Another vote for google calendar!</p>
<p>I use the planner sold by my school bookstore. I’m lazy.</p>
<p>My brother uses the istudiez iPhone app. I don’t know how good it is since I don’t use it/am not in college but he seems to like it.</p>
<p>I use a planner the school gave me, and I also use the calendars here: [2009</a> September Holiday Calendar](<a href=“http://www.2009calendar.ca/september-2009-calendar.htm]2009”>http://www.2009calendar.ca/september-2009-calendar.htm) as desktops on my laptop with my homework assignments filled in.</p>
<p>oh wow cool. Thanks everyone- I really like the book mikemac recommended. I’m going to order it on amazon- its close to what I’m looking for. </p>
<p>[Amazon.com:</a> Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity (9780142000281): David Allen: Books](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Getting-Things-Done-Stress-Free-Productivity/dp/0142000280]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/Getting-Things-Done-Stress-Free-Productivity/dp/0142000280)</p>
<p>I hope you like the book & system. I just want to reiterate the importance of doing the weekly reviews (and in college do them 2x a week). As an organizing/planning system it works good even if you don’t do them; many people are happy to realize that for probably the 1st time in their life they’ve captured everything they need or might want to do (that’s known at the time of the capture). That’s a powerful feeling, liberating in a sense. And if you just start scheduling things from that point on its a pretty good system.</p>
<p>I think people typically make 2 mistakes, 1 of commission and one of omission. The first is now that you know all these things you want/need to do, you put too many on the to-do list. Enthusiasm can wane as you go thru a few days and the 50 things on your to-do list don’t seem to have shrunk. Over time I think people realize they really aren’t working on all those 50 things right now, and the to-do list shrinks to those you’re actually going to do relatively soon. This shrinkage is fine in the GTD system, because you have captured all the other things in the system and you won’t forget them.</p>
<p>The 2nd problem is that of skipping the weekly review. Many people are happy that they’re recording everything and getting the most important things done. If you stop there its a decent system. But the real power is the weekly review; do these regularly (like I said, in the accelerated pace of college I’d say 2x a week) and you go to the next level! Although Allen doesn’t mention it in the book, many find it helpful to create 2 categories of someday lists; someday and someday-soon. In the weekly review you go over items on the someday lists (or just the subset on the someday-soon lists) and see what you want to move to your active to-do list. This really unlocks the power of the system because now you are regularly looking for things you want to do and making them happen.</p>
<p>I thought a concrete example of how GTD can help you with a longer range goal would be useful. It’s a really good idea to get internships in college, so you set that up as a project your frosh year with a next-action to visit the career center. You visit and find out that for your career goal most internships are for sophomores or higher. You also find out there’s a few classes that employers like to see you’ve taken, and the future-X club will help you meet others who already have internships. So you set up some ticklers around registration time the next few semesters to remind yourself to work them into your schedule and a next-action to find out when the club meets. </p>
<p>Since there’s not much more to do until sophomore year you push the project into your “someday” list where you’ll review it once a month or so; most of the time you won’t do anything, but you’ll be reminded its a goal. You’ll also have a place to hold any info you learn about internships in the meantime from your club, career fairs, etc. The recurrent worry there’s something you should be doing (to find internships / to study abroad / to plan a trip for spring break / to apply to grad school) vanishes; you know that if/when you need to do something, your system will remind you.</p>
<p>Sophomore year you find out that the recruiting happens early in the spring, so you set up a tickler to visit the career center the start of spring quarter. Spring quarter comes and you visit the career center. The project moves into your active list now. You review the info you’ve accumulated on internships so far. You set up next-actions to visit the center each week to see what interviews you can sign up for, and to research employers who are coming because you know they want to see you’ve done your homework on them. You also set up next-actions to send out cover letters to other employers not coming to campus. </p>
<p>As you see, there’s nothing magical about GTD, just an efficient and organized approach to planning your activities. GTD uses a calendar and methods of tracking near-term items. A difference between GTD and other systems is that the calendar is only for things that have to happen on a particular day/time; a next-action list holds your other immediate actions, and you decide what to do next based on the time you have, your energy level, etc. And as I hope the example shows it helps you keep longer-term goals on track in a way a calendar application can’t.</p>