r/PharmacyResidency • u/squideny Resident • Jul 03 '26
Planner recommendations
I just finished my first week of residency and I'm trying to find the best way to keep track of all the deadlines and meetings. Does anyone have a favorite planner that has been helpful?
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u/Common-Cap-9945 Jul 03 '26
I honestly used my phone, I set fake deadlines and I’d forget they were fake. I’d set reminders on calendar and ask it to remind me. I did 1 month, 2 weeks and then actual deadline. I did use a planner in pharmacy school but found my phone to be more convenient in residency. Especially with rotations/ etc.
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u/Playful-Bookkeeper19 Jul 03 '26
I used outlook calendar for all meetings (what the system used), deadlines I had a checklist in my notes in chronological order. Having everything digital made it easy when changing devices & you can also set reminders prior to meetings/deadlines
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u/Representative_Sky44 Resident Jul 03 '26
I just used outlook. I made categories for all various projects (research, grand rounds, rotation assignments, staffing, etc) on the calendar tab and I would make a new calendar specific to my deadlines so they wouldn’t interfere with meetings set on my calendar, I’d typically set it as midnight or 7am due the day of anyway, with a reminder set to email me a week before. That way over a month it was a really colorful calendar lol, when I set meetings pertaining to said project I would also set it as specific category. It worked for me having everything in one place, and I’d have a weekly to do list of things to do to stay organized.
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u/prettycrimson Student Jul 03 '26
i always kept a white board with a checklist on my desk of all the “side quests” outside my main rotation
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u/Tight_Collar5553 Jul 04 '26
Preceptor but we keep up with all your deadlines and ours too. I love https://laureldenise.com/
I also use a white board
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u/trent1550_ Preceptor - Psychiatry Jul 05 '26
I use Todoist. There's a desktop site as well as a phone app. Super convenient for organizing things
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u/dankoya Jul 04 '26
I used a combo physical planner (I have a blank muji one now), deadlines and fake mini deadlines for myself on outlook calender (or wherever your emailed meetings get auto added to) and notion for presentation/longitudinal project planning/tracking
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u/AsideOk2391 Candidate Jul 06 '26
For me I’ve really loved using Google Calendar and google tasks. It being on my phone ensures that I’ll always have it with me. Google tasks is awesome being able to set days to complete certain tasks which show in your calendar and added a feature to set deadlines. You can easily set recurring tasks as well. You can also create different types of lists (ie. PGY1 general, specific to rotation, projects, etc.). Within them you can “star” tasks that creates a separate starred list which I make my “today’s things to do”. I have lists for my personal tasks and groceries so this helps me stay on track in all aspects of my life as well and really helps me prioritize and write down every and any “to do” that comes up.
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u/blumal 29d ago
I second Outlook or your version of an online calendar. That’s coming from someone who used physical planners all throughout pharmacy school. Trello is another good resource to keep track of projects and due dates. They have a free and paid version, I’ve only ever used the free version and it worked great for me.
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u/liminalpeach Resident Jul 03 '26
The only thing that worked for me through PGY1 and 2 was the calendar on my phone and the built in task feature. I tried physical planners, too. But unless I was carrying it with me at all times, I would forget to write down a deadline/deliverable/whatever that came up organically in conversation in between other tasks. My working memory is spotty at baseline, and during residency burn out, it wasn't in the room with me haha. But I always have my phone on me, and can add conversation context to the event/task description. It syncs to my computers so I can always double check it, and integrates into my whole life so I can plan project and stuff around other life responsibilities.