How to Color Code a Planner

Color coding your planners can make life more organized. Though it takes a bit of work in the beginning, it's well worth it when you find yourself accomplishing more of your intended tasks easier and more efficiently. Learn easy ways to create a color coding key for your planner.

Things You'll Need

• Planner
• Highlighter
• White piece of paper
• Sticky notes
• Different color pens

Instructions

1. Determine what your obligations are. If you are very busy and have lots of obligations list them all on a scrap piece of paper. Take a mental note of what takes up the majority of your time--work, family life, school.

2. Divide your obligations into major categories—assignments, tests, meetings and appointments. Don’t make the categories too specific, you will have to make a key and there will be too many to remember off the top of your head.

3. Minimize your categories but be sure to include every aspect of your life that needs planning. If your obligations focus more on work, you can make one broad category for your personal obligations called “personal.” This will make the few personal obligations that you have easier to look for in you planner.

4. Write down each of your obligations in a neat list on a white piece of paper. This piece of paper should be in your planner but not bound to your planner so if you change them you can keep the piece of paper with you. It should definitely be white because this is the paper you will use for your color code key. Be sure to fit the paper to the size of the planner.

5. Choose different color highlighters and pens for each obligation. To make it easier use color combinations in order to minimize the amount of codes to remember—yellow highlighter with blue ink and yellow highlighter with black ink. However, make sure it is easy to tell the difference between the two.

6. Make the colors correspond with the words. For deadlines and due dates it is best to use red. For paydays, it’s great to use green.

7. Highlight the actual word on the list—where you wrote assignments, highlight the word with what ever color you chose. This will make it easier when you are actually planning your schedule.

8. Choose corresponding sticky note colors in order to portray urgent obligations. When you put them on the day that something is due, it will stick out so it’s not be avoided.

9. Plan your obligations. When using your planner try your best to stick to your color code key. When planning your days, write then down as you did on the code. If you are writing down “Business Ethics Presentation” in blue ink and you highlight it in yellow and also put a yellow sticky note, you know that this is an urgent assignment and it should correspond with your key.

Tips & Warnings

• Remember to choose very few colors and more combinations if you are going to be traveling with your planner in order to eliminate carrying so many different colors with you.

• If you have multiple planners, using the same color code for all of them can be helpful.