After 467 days of no school, on Monday, I made my return. It’s weird really. There was no real anxiety involved, no worry, just… another thing to add to my schedule. Okay, so I take it back. There was anxiety, anxiety over how the hell I’m going to manage 15 credits, working full time and maintaining a functional social life to be exact. I went on an organizational rampage. My dream web application idea was born, in fact, from this little bit of anxiety. So how am I managing?

Shockingly enough, paper.

I am using two notebooks and a paper planner to survive. One notebook sits at my desk at work. Every day I plan to write (on a new page) my to-do list, complete with meetings I have to go to. Meeting notes will all be nicely placed beneath this to-do list. I get to go home when the day’s to-do list is complete. On my computer I have a pipeline doc where I keep track of items that are coming up, but have certain dependencies I am waiting on.

The second notebook goes with me everywhere. Each week, I write down all the school-related assignments I need to complete for each day. Luckily, all three classes have detailed assignment schedules, which makes this incredibly easy. For English? Just check the calendar and make sure I’m keeping up with the online course requirements. Same with Computer Science. For Calculus? Just make sure that we’re on schedule and that the assignments line up to what we’re doing. I don’t get to go to bed until all the school check boxes for the day are checked.

And finally, for my burgeoning social life (that was sarcastic emphasis, fyi), I use a weekly planner to write down events and places I need to be, as well as personal to-do items that also must be done before going to sleep on any given night.

Yes my friends, Elyse, the over-user of all things internet, has gone paper. I know, it’s shocking. But, seeing as there’s no easy way to do this online, I’ve got to find a way to keep things balanced somehow. The trick is seeing how long it lasts!