College is different from high school, in more ways than one. Not only do the teachers and people change, but so does the environment, the workload, and the expectations. In high school, things are pretty much handed to you or spoon fed to you. In college, it does not work that way.

In the transition from high school to college, something needs to happen. Something in your brain needs to turn on and you need to realize you can't just coast anymore because now you're in the big leagues. You, my friend, need a planner.

I know how simplistic this sounds. Writing things down doesn't necessarily mean you're going to do them. Getting a planner is not going to make college any easier if you aren't mentally prepared for it.

If you're thinking this way, you're wrong.

Writing down everything you need to get done might not guarantee you'll do it but it will put whatever it is on your radar. You will have thought about it beforehand. Writing it down is good, scheduling it is even better. Figure out your schedule, figure out what you need to get done and how long it will take and write it down. Say "from 3:00 to 4:00 I will write the body paragraphs for my paper" then, at that time, sit down and do it. The first step to cutting back on procrastination is scheduling your tasks and to do that you need a planner.

Having a planner keeps you from needing to remember things. It keeps you forgetting what day your midterm is on because you will have written it down weeks before. You won't have to remind yourself your essay is due next weekend because it will already be in your planner and you'll see it every time you look inside.

Having a planner will give you a bird's eye view of what your day looks like. We've all had those times when someone asks us what we're doing on a certain day and we have to dig deep into our memory to figure what our schedule is. With a planner that problem is nonexistent because your schedule is written down and ready for you to glance at when you need to.

In short, having a planner takes stress off of your brain. You are replacing the unnecessary things in your brain like your schedule and upcoming tasks with things that you will actually need like the information for the tests you'll need to study for. It gives you less things to stress about and in college the less stressed you are the better you will do.

Let's face it, no one is prepared for college. Even the best students in high school have trouble adjusting when they get to college because it is a complete shift. However, the longer you stay the easier it gets, and you start to realize what works for you and what doesn't.