Time Management Solved: Centered Student Planner 2022-2023 Review
Take a peek at the all new Centered Student Planners in this review
Disclosure: Product for this post was provided by The Centered Student. All opinions are my own.
⚠️ Heads up – this review is old and outdated! See our review of the new 2023-2024 Centered Student Planner for the most up-to-date info and details.
With a new school year comes the anticipation and excitement of shopping for a new planner. A good academic planner won’t help you merely survive, but actually thrive. You’re striving for balance — not another responsibility that will overwhelm you.
As a student, a planner is just as essential for college as a backpack or a laptop. Which is why finding the right college planner for you is of the utmost importance.
Last year the Centered Student Planner earned a spot on our list of the best school planners for college students. So in this review, we’re revisiting it to see what’s changed and to give you all the juicy details.
Here’s what you need to know about the new Centered Student Planner 2022-2023.
Centered Student Planner Review
The Look
Debuting in five gorgeous new colors, the Centered Student Planner got a major facelift this year. And that’s a good thing!
From the cover to the binding, to the weekly spread pages, accessories and other add-ons — everything, and I do mean everything, has been revamped. Thankfully the features that made us all fall in love with this planner, the heart of it, remained intact.
So while I didn’t have any real gripes about the previous version, I must say all this change is for the better. Now let’s dive in and take a look under the hood.
The Details
The Centered Student Planner is an evidence-based paper planner devised by college professor, Virginia Horan. Based on 30+ years of teaching and a track record of success in the field, this planner is made with care to cover everything a college student needs.
Markedly, after witnessing students struggling with anxiety, future planning, and the stressful juggling act of balancing life, school work, and emotional wellness — she also came up with The Centered Student System.
This hybrid approach incorporates happiness habits and mindfulness techniques to teach time management skills that not only work, but actually stick.
In fact, the Centered Student Planner is the cornerstone of the Centered Student System. They go hand in hand to create the ultimate academic success tool.
Inside the Planner: Overview of Each Page
My first impression of this years planner was an audible, “WOW, these are so nice!”
The linen fabric covers are beautiful, both in vibrancy of color and thickness. It has a nice weight in your hands and I have no doubts about the robustness.
I’m a huge fan of the switch to wire-o binding. It lays flat perfectly, or you can flip it all the way around to focus on one page at a time.
When you first open the planner you’re greeted with the inside cover which has a page for recording your contact info (should it ever be misplaced). Clipped onto the gold wire binding is a durable bookmark with a QR code.
Just below the QR code it reads,
Don’t go it alone! Scan here for your exclusive video tutorials.”
Not only is the bookmark great for marking your spot, but it also provides as quick and easy access to helpful professional video tutorials (part of the Centered Student System).
The next page is similar to a preface in a book.
It explains what the Centered Student System is and how it works.
Following that is an overview of all the topics covered by the video tutorials which pair with the planner. You’ll find timely success tips and strategies for every week of the academic year.
As a reminder, all of those are linked directly via the QR code found on the page marker.
Then we have a two-page spread featuring the academic year-at-a-glance.
This covers August 2022 all the way through July of 2023.
Next off are the individual month pages. The spacious squares give you ample room for stickers, appointments, and other date-specific reminders.
As a to-do list addict, I appreciate the section for a monthly to-do list. On a week to week basis at college it’s all too easy to get lost in the weeds. This serves as gentle prod to zoom out and think about the big picture. Additionally, the space for notes provides a great opportunity for reflection and goal setting.
The monthly layout pages are all grouped together before the weekly pages which we’ll check out below.
This brings us to the meat and potatoes of the Centered Student Planner — the weekly pages!
Spread over two pages, the weekly layout makes seeing all your commitments and assignments a literal breeze. This horizontal layout is intentional and very practical. By harnessing the power of visual learning, students can effectively “see” their time and facilitate better time management.
All of the weekly spread pages have:
- 7am – 10pm time slots for Monday – Friday
- Space for Saturday & Sunday planning
- Tip of the Week w/ positive psychology tidbits
- Gratitude section
- Focus This Week section
- What Worked This Week section
- Next Week I Need To section w/ small checklist
- Motivational quote in a fun font
Sidenote — the paper is super thick (140 GSM). My pens effortlessly glides over the pages; it’s a smooth, creamy, and stationery dreamy.
After all of the awesome weekly pages are the note pages. 19 double-sided pages in total!
This section of pages has dotted lines where you can record anything you want.
You might use these pages for writing down your class schedule, meal planning ideas, habits you want to track, or general notes you want to visualize before planning. What’s more, since the pages are dotted, they work well as a defacto bullet journal too.
Finally, tucked into the back pocket of the planner, you’ll discover a tearpad of to-do lists.
The to-lists were a student favorite last year so now the planner comes with 50 sheets worth! Use them as a convenient way to organize all your tasks in one place, then map out the time to complete them.
Specs
Here’s a quick rundown of the important specifications for the 2022-2023 Centered Student Planner:
VIDEO: Centered Student Planner Flip Through
The video above shows a cover-to-cover flip through of the Centered Student Planner to give you a better idea of the full effect.
What Comes With The Centered Student Planner?
When you first open your Centered Student Planner, you’ll be pleasantly surprised to see it comes with a few extra goodies.
Here’s what’s included:
My favorite extra is the tearpad of weekly to-do lists. Since I always have an ongoing list of things to do (which typically can be found scribbled on various scraps of paper all over my desk) it comes in quite handy.
Everybody loves to check stuff off. But compared to digitally checking off a box, ticking something off of my to-do list with a nice pen – well, that hits different. The feeling of satisfaction is unparalleled.
Even better, those lists can be tucked into each weekly spread for an overview of tasks you can easily move from week to week.
Accessories & Academic Success Tools
Here are some for my favorite accessories from the Centered Student.
Because as a stationery nerd, I believe that the way you feel about your tools has a huge influence over the level of thought and time you put into things. Taking notes, studying, and planning are easier when you actually enjoy the tools you use.
The Smarter Sticky Note
My overall favorite new planner accessory are these Smart Sticky Notes. The fact that they’re transparent is so cool and useful.
They’re literally perfect for annotating in books without marking in the book – underline, write in the margins, circle in different colors, whatever you need!
Then when your class is complete, simply pull out the sticky notes and the book is preserved for future use. This is a huge perk especially if you rent textbooks instead of buying them (gotta get that full deposit back).
Sassy Stickers
The Sassy Motivational Planner Stickers are cute and colorful, I’m digging them!
They’re top of the line quality and function just like you’d expect from other big brands.
The Penultimate Pen
For all you stationery junkies out there who’ve tried and discard countless pens because they don’t feel right…this pen is worth a try!
The Penultimate Pen is a great choice for anyone who wants to upgrade their pen game without spending a lot of money. It has a sleek, modern design and comes in two colors, Classic Black and Stripe It Up (pictured above).
The pen feels comfortable in the hand, the ink flows smoothly, and who doesn’t love it when your pen matches your planner?
Final thoughts on the 2022-2023 Centered Student Planner
As you can see, the Centered Student Planner is more than just a planner: it’s a complete academic planning system with a little something for everyone. It’s like having your own personal college professor with you at all times. And that feels very supportive.
The Centered Student Planner’s entire layout is all about setting you up to succeed at college. It will help you get a better grasp on time management, manage your workload effectively, and feel less stress about getting your work done on time.
It’s the perfect planner solution for college students all kinds. I’d say it’s particularly ideal for college freshman and those who’ve tried using a planner before without much success. The level of benefit it offers is unparalleled, you’re not going to find anything else like it on the market.
In short:
My honest thoughts are for all the extra value included with the planner (not to mention the quality level of the planner itself), $36 seems sooooo low for what you’re getting. I can’t praise this planner enough — it’s noticeably well thought out and, really, an excellent choice!
Editor’s Rating:
Where to Get The Centered Student Planner
The Centered Student Planner is currently available for purchase only on their website, TheCenteredStudentPlanner.com.
Conclusion
So that wraps up my review of the Centered Student Planner for the 2022-2023 academic school year. I’ve shared my honest thoughts and opinions, but I’m just one person.
I’d love to know YOUR thoughts about it. Is this the type of planner you’d use, or are you going to use something else?
Let me know by leaving a comment below!
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About Charlie
Charlie is the co-founder of College Life Made Easy and author of the book 175+ Things to Do Before You Graduate College. She’s a 2015 graduate who teaches overwhelmed students and parents of students how to confidently navigate the whole college thing. As a former broke college kid, she’s passionate about helping students develop the skills they need in order to thrive (instead of just survive), stress less, and actually enjoy the full college experience.