Students, I know you hate planning, BUT…

What’s up, middle school, high school, and college students?

I know you hate planning.

What’s up? My name is Seth Perler. I’m an executive function coach in Boulder, Colorado, and I help students navigate this thing called education.

And I know you hate planning.

I know you hate planners.

I know you hate writing down a plan.

I know you want to keep everything in your head.

But I’m telling you this as someone who grew up struggling with ADD, ADHD, planners, school, and all of this stuff. I’m also someone who works day in and day out with middle school, high school, and college students who have lots of missing assignments, incompletes, late work, and other academic struggles.

I work with a lot of students who tell me:

“I hate planners.”

“I don’t like planning.”

“I don’t want a planner.”

“I lost my planner.”

“I don’t need a planner.”

“I can keep it all in my head.”

Yada, yada, yada.

Look, my job is to make students’ lives easier.

The students I work with don’t come to me because everything is working perfectly. They come to me because they’re struggling, and they want things to be easier.

I know many students truly believe they don’t need planning.

But here’s the thing:

You want to be healthy, happy, and successful.

Your parents want that for you.

Your teachers want that for you.

The people who care about you want that for you.

Right now, as a young person, you want to have a fantastic life.

But you also want to become an adult who has a fantastic life.

You don’t want to become an adult who struggles financially, struggles with a career, struggles in relationships, or constantly feels overwhelmed by life.

You want freedom.

You want fun.

You want choices.

You want opportunities.

You want possibilities.

You want a great life.

You don’t want a mediocre adulthood, and you certainly don’t want a life filled with unnecessary struggles.

In order to create the life you want, you need strong executive function skills.

And one of those skills is planning.

I want to explain something about the difference between the mind of someone who struggles with executive function—someone like me, someone like you, and many of the students I work with—and the mind of someone who naturally has strong executive function skills.

Here’s what many people don’t understand.

When you and I try to get something done—whether it’s homework, writing a paper, studying, organizing, starting a business, learning an instrument, pursuing a hobby, or anything else—our brains tend to work in a very chaotic and random way.

We know we need to get things done, but we often don’t have a clear structure.

As a result, we may eventually complete the assignment or accomplish the goal, but we waste a tremendous amount of energy along the way.

Our efforts leak out into the ether.

We waste time.

We waste energy.

We jump from thing to thing.

We work inefficiently.

People who naturally have strong executive function skills often do the opposite.

They create a plan.

Whether it’s written down, stored digitally, or organized in some other way, they spend time creating structure before they begin.

Then they work through the plan efficiently.

As a result, they conserve energy and get things done faster.

Their minds tend to operate in a more step-by-step, linear way.

Your mind and my mind often work in a more global, flexible, and random way.

Now, that isn’t all bad.

In fact, there are advantages.

People like us are often highly creative.

We can think outside the box.

We can make connections that other people miss.

We have gifts that come with this type of thinking.

But our resistance to planning often holds us back.

What happens is that we lose time, energy, and quality of life because we’re unwilling to create structure.

When you’re willing to plan, you create a system that helps you accomplish what needs to get done.

You get things done faster.

You reduce stress.

You create more freedom.

More fun.

More opportunities.

More joy.

A better quality of life.

That’s why I’m making this video.

I work with so many students who tell me:

“I hate planning.”

“I hate planners.”

“I don’t want to plan.”

“I don’t need to plan.”

But once they’re willing to change that mindset and start planning, their lives become easier.

They get things done more efficiently.

They’re less stressed.

They feel more in control.

Now, I’m going to end this video with the simplest planning advice I can give anyone.

If you’re thinking:

“Okay, Seth, I get it. I understand. I believe planning might actually make my life better. I do work chaotically. I do waste time. Things take me forever. I wait until the last minute. And if I’m being honest, that’s probably not helping me.”

Then here’s what I’ve got for you.

Grab a note card.

I personally like colorful note cards.

Take one and carry it with you.

At the top, write today’s date.

Then, every time a teacher assigns something, every time you think of something you need to do, every time a responsibility comes up, write it on the card.

That’s it.

Get it out of your head.

Do not use your head for planning.

Use the card for planning.

Every time something comes up, write it down.

Keep adding to the list throughout the day.

At the end of the day, start a new card for tomorrow.

Transfer any unfinished tasks to the new card.

Then continue.

That is the simplest planning system imaginable.

Don’t rely on your brain to remember everything.

Use your brain for creativity.

Use it for conversations.

Use it for learning.

Use it for interesting ideas.

Use it for things that matter.

Don’t use it as a storage system for every responsibility in your life.

Get those responsibilities onto something external.

A note card.

A planner.

A phone.

Anything.

Just get them out of your head.

I’ve used this strategy with many students, and it helps.

Now, this isn’t the ultimate planning system.

It’s not the final goal.

The real purpose of this exercise is to help you build the habit of planning.

Planning is a skill.

Just like playing guitar is a skill.

There are many skills involved in learning guitar, and there are many skills involved in planning.

Planning is actually a very complex skill.

But this gives you a place to start.

It plants the seed.

So if you think you hate planning or hate planners, I encourage you to let go of that mindset.

Instead, say:

“I don’t love planning, but I understand its value.”

“I understand that planning can give me more freedom.”

“I understand that planning can give me more fun.”

“I understand that planning can improve my quality of life.”

“And I’m willing to start.”

Then, little by little, you’ll get better.

Month after month.

Year after year.

And eventually, you’ll develop a powerful planning skill that helps you achieve your goals, your dreams, and your hopes for your future.

So anyhow, I hope that helps.

Again, my name is Seth Perler. I’m an executive function coach based in Boulder, Colorado, and I help students navigate this thing called education.

Have a great day.

I’ll see you soon.