Planner,

Thank you for being there on my best days when all I have planned are my classes, maybe work and a nice dose of binge-watching Netflix, as well as on my worst days when I have two tests, a paper due and back-to-back meetings, without even mentioning finding time for showering and eating. It is safe to say that I would not have made it through my schooling years without you.

However, I remember a time when I naively mocked people who had one of you, but now I am enlightened. With a simple glance at a page, I know my path for that day and when I could maybe squeeze in a quick Starbucks break with some friends. You eliminate my procrastination no matter how hard I try to procrastinate and remind me not to make the long trek to class before remembering that my professor had cancelled class the previous morning. I am grateful for that as well.

Sure, by the end of the year you may be in tatters or shreds, bruised with lead and stickers, each page covered with reminders and due dates, but you never gave up or forgot about me and my plans. You kept space for my notes and reminders for books to buy or websites to check out, and I recall the joy each year of picking up a new one of you.

It is these simple things that I owe to you, my planner. You keep me sane and without you am lost, doomed to forget a meeting or an assignment. But with you, I can achieve anything, as long as it is in my schedule.You keep me in check.

I still use you frequently today although my schedule has become less busy and hectic, but you do remind me of Skype dates with friends, making time to go to the gym and again getting those elusive homework assignments done. It is a shame for those who do not use a planner, as it can become not only your best friend, but also a calendar and reminder that always has your back whenever you forget something.

For all of that, I thank you.