I’m a procrastinator at heart. I wait until the last minute to do everything. It usually works in my favor, because I produce better work under pressure, but I know it won’t always work. During this quarantine time, I decided to get back on track with using my planner and blocking out times for certain things.

I don’t need to call in to any of my classes, except Zumba. This is a good and a bad thing. I love having the freedom to work at my own pace, but I definitely don’t feel as motivated to do my work since I don’t actually need to go to my classes.

I’ve been using the same planner since my junior year of high school, and I whole-heartedly stand by it. The Day Designer Original Daily Planner is a bit on the pricier side, but for me, it’s worth it. It has a monthly spread as well as each day has its own page that has sections for top three tasks, an hourly schedule from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m, to-do list and daily gratitude. 

This is what a typical Thursday looked like for me while campus was still open. I had four  classes, work, some sorority stuff and a few photography assignments for the newspaper. 

I try to block out my time as much as possible. Knowing what I’m doing each hour of the day helps keep me on track with 17 credit hours, two jobs, sorority commitments and, you know, occasionally eating and seeing friends.

Now that we’re all home and quarantined (hopefully), I crossed out a ton of things on my planner that were cancelled. It was very sad to say the least, and I definitely have a lot less going on. 

The first picture is what a typical monthly spread would look like: color-coordinated, big assignments, meetings, work, sorority events and conferences. The second picture is everything I crossed out during the month of April, leaving a few assignments and essays, no sorority formal, no more newspaper production and no more ordering pizza with my roommate for girls night.

Since I pre-write everything in my planner, it was very chaotic to work around. Since quarantine started, I would make to-do lists off to the side, and Day Designer offers these single-sheet printable daily spreads, just like in the original planner.

Day Designer also offers free digital wallpapers and Zoom backgrounds, to make online learning more enjoyable.

To make online learning a little easier, I try to keep myself on the same schedule as if I was still on campus. I’ll wake up from around 8 a.m. to 10 a.m., make a much-needed cup of coffee, eat breakfast, make a to-do list for the day and get to work.

I try to do classwork during normal class times, and if I finish the work with extra time left, I’ll start something for another class or check social media. The only times I don’t entirely stick to this are on Tuesdays and Thursdays, since those are my busiest days. Rather than doing work constantly from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., as those were my class times on those days, I’ll space it out and give myself a break in between.

I also found it easier to put all of my assignments into the Memos app on the desktop of my computer. It’s a note app that I used to make separate checklists for all of my classes and the rest of my assignments for the semester.

I also try to stay active while I’m at home. I will say, being home is definitely a motivation killer for me. I don’t particularly want to be here, but I’m making the best of it. I took a one-credit Zumba class that I “Zoom” into every Monday and Wednesday. When I don’t have Zumba, I’ll go on a run or do an at-home workout I found on YouTube.

No matter what your current quarantine situation is, it’s important to stay motivated. We only have two weeks of classes left, so we should all try to finish it to the best of our ability. Don’t forget that your best may not be someone else’s definition, but you’re always doing the best you can in these tough times.

You can reach Kaitlyn on Instagram and Twitter @kaitlynfinchler and by email at [email protected].

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