Working part-time, being a full-time college student and joining a sorority as a freshman taught me a lot about time management and made me realize I had zero skills in the subject. 

The first few semesters were a struggle, and finding a healthy balance of work, school and social life seemed impossible. 

It was also the first time I wasn’t forced to go to class or do my homework. So much of it didn’t get done. 

I could choose between studying or hanging out with my friends, and often I chose the latter.

Of course, this led to my GPA’s steady decline, but I knew I wanted to make a change. 

That led me to Barnes & Noble, where I found a beautiful blue planner filled with expletives and flowers — a perfect match to keep me focused and motivated. 

It had lots of room to fill in every task for the day, including punchy stickers with phrases like “Wake up. Kick ass. Repeat.”

I filled the planner with every little thing I could think of, but it left me feeling stressed seeing every task laid out and looming before me. 

On the other hand, when my planner was empty, it usually meant I was having a rough week mentally. 

A lot of college kids struggle with depression and anxiety. I’m one of them, and as most of us know, we all have bad days. 

When I went through these dark moments, I would just go with the flow and fly by the seat of my pants, which never ended well. 

I would miss assignments, and my grades would suffer big time. 

Once I figured out what worked best for me, I could plan my time better and get all the important stuff done. 

I realized that planning my day to the hour was too overwhelming and didn’t leave me enough free time to decompress. 

If I didn’t write down important things and assignment due dates, I would quickly forget them, so I combined the two. 

Instead of filling my pages with tasks, I left them mostly blank. 

I only wrote down the most important things I had to do at the beginning of the week and waited until I actually made plans instead of allotting time for them. 

It was also decorated with stickers and inspirational quotes to keep me motivated. 

Once I stopped planning every little detail of my life, I could finally relax and stop stressing out about school so much. 

Of course, if I slacked off and didn’t write things down like I was supposed to, I paid for it with my grades. Finding that balance was vital. 

My planner, honest to God, saved my school life. If I hadn’t found a way to organize my life without jeopardizing all my free time, I probably wouldn’t be graduating this spring! 

So, if you’re like me and forget things easily or can’t remember something if you don’t write it down somewhere, look into finding yourself a good planner. 

But don’t be afraid to let your hair down and live a little, either. You’ll lose yourself if you don’t.