My Planner Makes Me Feel Better

The SOVA Project is happy to feature this blog post written by one in our team of fantastic SOVA Ambassadors—these are young people who help create meaningful blog posts from adolescents’ perspectives. We hope you can use their post to start a conversation with your adolescent.


My anxiety starts to get bad when I feel like I don’t have control over the things around me. I like to know what’s going on around me and what is going to happen in the future. I think this is why my planner is so important to me. By filling out my planner I create the structure I need to keep anxiety under control.

I’ve used lots of different planners and have found that certain planners work best for me. I think it’s important to experiment with different planners to find what method of organizing is most compatible with you – if you’ve always hated using a planner you might just be using the wrong type. For example, I can’t stand online planners. Similar to how some people much rather read a physical copy of a book vs. reading online, I find the act of physically writing down my schedule to be therapeutic. This next preference might sound silly but I also can’t stand thick planners. It overwhelms me. I rather have a simple, black and white, lightweight planner. On the other hand, there are people who prefer a huge planner that gives you room to plan your day on an hourly basis. 

Being able to have a tangible thing that contains a visual of what’s going to be happening in my life provides me with a sense of comfort. When I’m anxious I can look at my planner to ground myself and be reminded that I know what’s going on. Writing down important deadlines and due dates eases my anxiety about them. It provides me with a sense of control over my life and the things going on around me.

If you have anxiety that easily clutters and overwhelms you I highly recommend you try using a planner.


Does your child use a planner? Does it help them? What methods of organization would you recommend for your child?

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