Weekly planning tools that academics love
Just a quick note before you head into the blog post. Are you an academic who is trying to figure out your long term planning processes? My planning course, plan(it)*, can help support you as you figure that out. Check out the link for more info.
A conversation about weekly planning wouldn’t be complete without a discussion of the tech/tools used to do said planning. As someone who thoroughly enjoys talking all things planning, I've definitely heard a lot about the different tools that faculty and graduate students are using. In this post, I’ll highlight a few popular tools that can help you get your weekly planning done.
Notion
One tool that has gotten a lot of press in the academic world lately (from myself included) is Notion. Notion isn't necessarily just a planning tool, they bill themselves as an "all-in-one workspace," so it can absolutely help you plan/organize your work, but it can also do a lot more. I've generally found that whatever planning processes you can dream up, Notion can usually do it. At the moment I use Notion for organizing my projects and tasks, storing notes, doing course prep, tracking health related stuff, and a number of other things. It has the ability to remind you to do things (I haven't used this function though) and has a calendar function (which I use for course planning and content planning for the blog). You can embed your google calendar; however, that requires you to make your calendar public, so I don't use that feature. Here’s a look at how I use Notion. Plus a link to my Notion dashboard template in my Etsy store.
Google calendar
The second tool that I'll mention is google calendar. Lots of people, including academics, use google calendar as their calendar of choice (if they’re into electronic calendars). It's super easy to use, you can easily schedule meetings and invite people to them, you can share calendars with others which can be super helpful for collaboration or coordinating home activities. It allows you to visually see what's happening each week and for others to see when you're busy/available. You can set recurring events, events with reminders, and the list goes on and on. Google calendar has been my longest running weekly planning tool that tells me what I need to do and when.
Trello
Another tool that I've used and often hear other academics talking about is Trello, which is set up Kanban style with easily movable “cards.” There was a stretch of time in grad school where I used Trello for my weekly planning. I set up a weekly dashboard with cards that showed exactly what I was working on that week. I also had a general project board that showed the status of each project. Personally, I feel like Notion can do everything Trello can do (and more) so I don't see a need to add this tool back in to my current process. But, if Notion is feeling too unstructured for you, Trello might be a better option. Like Notion, Trello isn't specifically for weekly planning or to do list management, but it can definitely serve that purpose if you want!
Dry erase boards (or similar)
Having an easily accessible large board where you write out everything that's going on for the week is definitely another tool that many academics use, myself included. One of the first things I purchased for my office when I started my tenure track position was a dry erase board. And a wall sized chalkboard was something Mike made for my office at home. During grad school I wrote out everything that I was working on, Kanban style, on a white board in my home office. Granted, it wasn't portable so sometimes I'd take pictures of it to remember the status of projects while I was on campus. Not ideal if you're switching spaces a lot but can definitely work if you are only working out of one space. Currently, I've got daily routines written down on my chalkboard at home where I can check them off once they're done.
Paper planners
There are lots of academics who love their paper planners. I’m always amazed at the people who decorate theirs with super fancy writing/drawings. The only time paper planners have worked for me was right after Ellie was born and I could not handle electronics. One popular planner that I've heard multiple academics mention is the Get to Work Book by Elise Blaha Cripe. I haven't tried it but if I was going to use a paper planner I'd probably check out this one first!
Asana
I remember in my first year or two as an assistant professor attending a training on using Asana in higher ed settings. I'd previously used it and the training prompted me to reintroduce Asana back into my weekly routine (although its reintroduction was short lived). Asana is a program that's specifically focused on task management. You can create tasks and reminders and it even provides you with little celebrations when you check off a task. Lots of people seem to love it, but personally, I prefer something less fancy. I don't like all the bells and whistles and prefer a simpler interface... which brings me to the next tool.
Dynalist
Okay, so I've never actually heard another academic talk about Dynalist except for myself, although I'm sure they're out there. This was my tool of choice for task and project management/organization, before Notion. It's simple and clean and easy to use. If you're not a fan of Notion because there's too much flexibility, give Dynalist a try. It's essentially a list making tool, so you can create task lists or notes or whatever else for each of your projects. Here's an example of how I used Dynalist to house my publication pipeline.
Phone alarms
Last, but not least, one final tool that plays an important role in my weekly planning process is my phone and its alarms. There are a few times during the week where I consistently struggle to look/remember to follow what I've laid out for myself on my calendar. For example, every Friday afternoon during the school year I need to check and make sure everything for my online classes is ready to go for the next week. You’d think that because it’s something I do every week, I’d always remember to do it, but no such luck. By Friday afternoon my ability to remember anything is usually low, plus it’s usually a time when we make last minute social plans (back when regular socializing was a thing). Instead of hoping I’d remember each week, I had a recurring alarm on my phone set to remind me to do a quick review of next week’s course content. My phone was (usually) always on me, and if I didn’t have it, it wasn’t too far away.