Proper Planning

By Khylil

I swear that organization is a weakness for me! It is not like me to do one thing without feeling like I left something behind! This isn’t anything unusual though as it becomes a more repetitive phase of certain events. For instance, last week consisted of me studying for two different exams, being best man for a wedding, and then getting used to my receptionist position during the entire week. This may not sound like much to some, but it becomes very hectic if I were to repeat a list for future events and hope that I don’t stress out the week or month after. I am pretty organized on the day I am working on, but when it comes to planning for the future, it gets really stressful. This is one of the few stumbling blocks with my autism.

I usually plan for future events using three different calendars– my phone (for school, work, and events with friends), my whiteboard calendar (housing and days I should see my family), and my agenda (everything else that can’t fit between the two calendars). This may be strange to others but, I need these three calendars just to make sure I am doing well in my everyday life. I wish to decrease the amount of scheduling that I need in life, but it really gets hard for me to do that.

That’s where the problem comes in now. There are so many things I want to do in the future, but it’s really hard to plan since I’ve been stuck in what I want to do now. Whenever I plan decisively on certain events, I don’t do them as much because my attention span focused towards my school life and I don’t write them down on my whiteboard. If I cram everything on my phone it’s a strain on my eyes to see it all and makes it hard to stay organized. Slowly but surely, using my phone might have to be the new way to get around because I want to plan more on one agenda instead of writing all over the wall on my whiteboard.

Hopefully, this is relatable to those who may have a very hard time using their time properly. It’s the biggest battle when transitioning to independence, especially when there is school and work.