A basic, but vital part of my planning routine includes an easy, but lifesaving system. I use color coding religiously. While this system isn’t for everyone, it is especially helpful for students or people who have multiple organizations/ people to keep track of. If you establish a system that works for you, you will find you rarely forget something.

Color Coding!

For me, as a college student, I find it helpful to have a color per class and then a color for work. I also use another color to denote overall school events (such as days off, or advising). As a junior, I am taking 5 classes (one online– yikes!) and work two jobs on campus and one at home, so easy and fast differentiation of assignments/events is super helpful.

Some like to color code based on priority, especially in weekly layouts (Ex: Red needs to be done right away, Blue needs to happen within the week, etc.). I always found this more confusing, but experiment with what works for you. I find that color coding based on the type of event or what it is needed for makes it easy when glancing quickly at a page. For example, one of my classes is Social Media Optimization and I chose that class to be blue. So whenever I look at my page and see that shade of blue I know it’s for that class. My system started by matching the color I think coordinates with the class topic– like when your parents used to assign you coordinating folders and notebooks in elementary school (Green: Science, History/Government: Blue or Yellow, English: Red.. Etc.).

Planners are a visual representation of what you need to get done, aspire to be, and much more. Make them work for you, but color coding is a cheap way to really work a planner.

Any questions? Comment below!