5 Best Planners for ADHD College Students

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Looking for the best planners for ADHD college students? Look no further my friend!

We all know that planners are an important tool for success in college, but all planners are not made equal, especially for students with ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder).

In fact, choosing the wrong planner can end up having the opposite effect. Instead of feeling organized and productive, you could end up overwhelmed with trying to make your planner work for you. 

(I didn’t find my holy grail planner until junior year and it was a game changer when it came to my time management and productivity!)

Well luckily, there are planners that fit perfectly with how your brain works!

I’ve listed the 5 best planners so you don’t have to go through the trial and error of finding the one that fits you best.

It’s already challenging enough being a college student with ADHD, so I’m here to help make your college life easier and less stressful!

So if you’re ready to excel in college with a planner that you can’t leave home without, keep reading for the five best planners for ADHD college students!

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Planning is not the easiest for anyone with ADHD, let alone college students with ADHD! 

Does this sound like you:

• You’ve brought a planner before, got really hyped about getting organized, then three weeks later forgot all about it.
• You write all your daily tasks down, then don’t follow them, and find yourself not getting anything done. 
• Writing down all your tasks and to-do lists overwhelms you, so you avoid planners at all costs.

If this is you, first you’re not alone! And second, planning in a way that doesn’t work for your brain sucks.

But it doesn’t have to!

Planning can be fun as long as you use the right planner for you. So that’s why I’m sharing the best planners for ADHD college students! 

What Makes the Best Student Planner for ADHD College Students?

When you’re looking for a new planner as a college student with ADHD, you want a planner that will help manage your ADHD symptoms!

Here’s some things that are important for your planner to have:

1. A paper planner (paper-based) so you can write down the information. The physical act of writing can help you remember and retain the information better vs. a digital calendar or planner.
2. Undated so you can structure the weekly sections in a way that works for you. Undated planners are great because you won’t waste sections if you happen to forget about it. Instead of feeling like you need to buy a new planner to start fresh, you can just pick up where you left off without the guilt. 
3. Flexible sections so you can customize different sections based on your needs (like writing your daily affirmations, breaking down important tasks, or even adding your class schedule in different colors) 

Good news, all 5 planners in the list below meet these criteria! 

5 Best Planners for ADHD College Students

Here are some of the best planners for college students with ADHD:

1. Clever Fox Daily Planner – ✅Best ADHD Daily Planner

• Best ADHD Day Planner
• Undated daily, weekly, and monthly calendar pages for 1 year
• Durable and thick pages– Great for throwing it in your bookbag without getting messed up!
• Flexible sections to break down weekly priorities and goals
• Great reviews! 

This Clever Fox Planner is our top choice for ADHD college students!

This planner is undated so you can start your planning at any time!  What I love about this planner is that there isn’t a lot of white space to fill up with unnecessary goals/tasks so you won’t get overwhelmed.

The best thing about this planner is that it helps students with ADHD break down large projects into smaller manageable steps. On top of that, it also has a vision board section so you can get creative and visualize all your big ideas. 

This planner comes in a variety of colors to suit your style and make it your own. It also includes many features such as habit tracking, calendar stickers, and a mind map!

This is definitely the best college student planner for students with ADHD!

Pros of Clever Fox Planner

• Not locked into specific months/year
• Pen holder and elastic loop to hold the planner together
• Pocket for extra notes
• Dot gird section at the back to customize your planner 

Cons of Clever Fox Planner

• Inaccurate number of days in weekly and monthly schedules
• Small writing space 

💡Here’s A Gem: Did you know there are tons of stores that give out discounts just because you’re a student?! Yeah, you read that right. And to make it easier on you, I’ve compiled a list of over 100 student discounts you can use at your favorite stores. Grab the list below and save your coins💸

Bullet Journal – Best Budget-Friendly Planner for ADHD Students

• Customize pages and create your own planning system that helps with your symptoms of ADHD
• Less guilt because it’s not associated with days or a timeline
• Great for students on a budget

This bullet journal is a great planner option for students with ADHD!

Bullet journals are awesome because you can customize them to work with your ADHD brain. Need to brain dump and don’t have space in a traditional planner? You can create a page in your bullet journal dedicated to brain dumping! A man with ADHD created the bullet journal concept, so this type of planning is known to be highly effective for people with ADHD. 

I highly suggest this bullet journal for students with ADHD! It is very affordable and is super durable for every day on the go as a student. The bullet journal is a great option to use as an ADHD student planner!

Pros of ADHD Planner

• Highly customizable and adaptable for your specific needs and ADHD brains
• Pages don’t bleed through
• Lightweight, but still thick covers and pages
• Large pocket for loose papers and notes

Cons of ADHD Planner

• Not for students who want a traditional academic planner
• Time-consuming to create your pages and a small learning curve to create your own systems
• May take some trial and error

The Bulletproof Planner: Executive Functions and ADHD Academic Planner – Best ADHD Academic Planner

• Made specifically for students with ADHD
• Sections to break down large projects and school assignments into small tasks and complete them

This planner is made specifically for students with ADHD, so it’s designed with a deep understanding of ADHD-specific needs.  

College can be stressful, so using this planner can help to reduce stress and overwhelm that comes with planning and organization for school. It features sections to help you prioritize homework and make a plan to complete your assignments on time.

I’d recommend this planner for students with ADHD who have no experience with planning and may struggle with their academics. It is clunky and a bit juvenile, but if you’ve never used an academic planner before, this would be a good idea to use this as a starter planner. 

If you are looking for the best academic planner to use to stay on top of your coursework, this is a great option for you!

Pros of The Bulletproof Planner

• Great for keeping track of academic priorities
• Well-structured
• Easy to use for beginner planners

Cons of The Bulletproof Planner

• Large size and not really portable
• Doesn’t include sections for personal tasks
• Best suitable for young people (middle school and high school)

Panda Planner – Best Premium Planner for ADHD Students

• Undated daily planner with weekly and monthly layouts
• Emphasis on gratitude and reflection
• Reviews have mentioned that this planner changed their life!

The Panda Planner will make planning fun!  

This planner includes daily layouts including a morning review, schedule, tasks, priorities, and an end-of-day review. There are also weekly and monthly layouts with areas for goal tracking and reflection. It’s a great holistic planner for students who want to create routines, need extra help sticking to planning, and want to stay motivated as a college student. 

If you want to look forward to planning your day, you need to buy this planner for college!

Pros of Panda Planner

• Comes in a variety of colors
• Premium build with a thick cover, ribbon for turning pages, and thick planner pages that don’t bleed through
• Encourages motivation and productivity

Cons of Panda Planner

• Enough pages for only 6 months
• Could be too much for someone who wants a simple planner or academic calendar

ADHD & Me – A Daily Planner – Best Value

• Journal and planner
• Learn about how to best work with your ADHD
• Proven strategies to increase productivity and make planning easier

This ADHD tool is really cool for ADHD college students who struggle with planning. It’s more than just a planner. Instead, it teaches you how to cope with your ADHD and how to use it for your benefit to be productive.

ADHD & Me features an informational section at the beginning that tells you all about ADHD symptoms, causes, care, and coping strategies. It also includes areas for reflection, reminders, and self-care for a holistic approach to managing the challenges that come with having ADHD. 

I highly recommend this planner if you want a tool to help you plan and you need pre-made plans to help you plan best with your ADHD!

Pros of ADHD & Me

• Contains reminders for personal rewards
• Daily planner pages and weekly overviews
• Helps you cope with your symptoms
• Affordable price

Cons of ADHD & Me

• Its informational section could be distracting if you want a traditional planner
• Loud cover design
• Limited time slots from 5:00 AM to 9:00 PM on the daily planner layouts

3 Ways Planners Can Help ADHD College Students

As a college student, one thing necessary to succeed is a college planner! There are too many extracurricular activities, class assignments, social events, and deadlines to keep track of without one.

Specifically for students with ADHD, here’s how a good planner can help you stay on the right track: 

1. Reducing Stress

College can be stressful because there’s always something going on or something you need to do.

If you have ADHD, it can be especially tough to remember all the things you need to do, like assignments, presentations, and social events.

A planner helps you get organized by writing down everything you need to do like your tasks, important dates, weekly schedule, etc.

By having everything in one place, you are already eliminating some of the stress of college life, because you don’t have to remember everything. It’s all in your planner! 

(say goodbye to all your sticky notes!)

Related: 7 Best Tips to Ace Presentations in College

2. Managing Time

Time management is huge in college! Managing your time wisely is honestly one of the keys to not only academic success but having an epic college experience!

You’ll be managing a complex schedule, so having a planner is super important for helping you see the big picture and not miss classes.

You can plan out your day, week, and month ahead and lay it out in a way that your brain can understand.

Related: How Many Days of College Can You Miss: Everything You Need to Know

3. Academic Success

Yes, a planner can help you do better in your classes too!

When you have ADHD, your brain is typically overwhelmed with thoughts and it’s hard to complete tasks.

A good planner helps you break big tasks into smaller, more manageable chunks, so you can complete them without being overwhelmed.

Let’s say you have a big debate project due in a month. Instead of feeling intimated by all the work you need to complete, you can use your planner to set aside time each day or week to work on different parts of the project.

Since you’re not rushing to complete entire projects right before their due dates, you bring fresh ideas, have time for edits, and you’ll probably get better grades!

If you’re a college student with ADHD, it’s crucial for you to have a planner that works for your mind and motivates you to keep using it! 

Related:100+ Insanely Funny Debate Topics for College Students

Before You Go

Now that you know all about the best planners for ADHD college students and our top pick, the Clever Fox planner, it’s time to put your planner to use! 

As a college student, you’re bound to have a few early morning classes in your schedule. To help you excel in these classes, check out this post giving you 7 secrets to help you survive 8am classes in college!

I hope you loved this post about the best planners for ADHD college students!

Check out more college tips:

• 7 Best Tips to Ace Presentations in College
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