"Did you write it in your homework planner? It is really important!" That is the number one, most common phrase I have heard in my life. I began to hear this phrase from second grade. We all had a blue homework planner that had the subjects and thin line for each subject. And every homeroom, teachers checked our homework planners. Writing in my homework planner was my habit, but as I got older, my teachers started checking homework planners less, everyday, every week, every month, and not at all. And now I had almost forgotten the existence of the "homework planner." And finally it was found down deep in my locker when I was cleaning it. I guess I started to have confidence that I could remember all the things I used to put in my homework planner.

But now I realize the importance of my homework planner after not using it for about three months. I didn't forget my homework those days, though was always thinking and worrying: Is this due tomorrow? Do I have any other homework? Those times were quite a waste of time. And because of not using homework planner, I tended to not be organized about my schedule. So I always finished my homework at the last minute. That was hard so I went to sleep late. I didn't like it at all. The hardest time was in the morning when I had to wake up since my sleeping time will be less time than the time the teenager should sleep which is about 8 hours to 10 hours.

The reason why I started noticing the importance of the homework planner was in Math class. The seating arrangement changed and I came to sit by Mana. I was able to see how neat her binder, folder, and homework planner were. And when I looked at mine, they were a disaster. Well my homework planner was not a disaster. It was blank. But Mana's was very clean, colorful, and cute. That weekend, I took all my binders home and cleaned them like Mana's. I just loved it. Also I started using my homework planner by using colorful pens. My goal for me was when everyone was panicking like,"That's due tomorrow! Oh my god!" I want to be able to say, " I finished that last Friday!" I want to feel the feeling of when you are a head. This feeling, I bet, is a very happy one and very relaxed.

With my experience, I've learned that even if you have a good memory, you still need something like a homework planner, because as you get older, there will be more things in your schedule and things will become very busy. There was an article about the benefits of the homework planner by Marie Gerber. It was about her time in college and about how she couldn't live without her planner. She said that her friends got low grades in college due to their poor organization skills. Though, Marie, the author of this article, convinced them to use planner. As those friends got used to the using the planner, their grades went up. Also she said that the benefit of using the planner was that you can keep track of your big assignments to small assignment, that slips away from your mind easily, and also you can schedule your assignments.

I especially agree that planners can help you get good grades. Homework planner is not a subject, so you don't get graded on this, though, I believe it will lead us to good grades in all classes, same as her opinion. I think writing in the homework planner and scheduling things in it are a habit you should put in your head and your lifestyle right now because Ms. Gerber's friends noticed the importance of it in college and they were able to get a good grade. Though they could have noticed earlier. Well it's really never late to start because it is really a good habit and you can do it quickly. But I do recommend that you should get used to using it before you make a big mistake. In business, one mistake can end up badly; you can even get fired. While being a student you can make many mistakes and learn from them. And I would like to experiment how to make a good homework planner and how to keep using it for the sake of my future.