Canvas is good at telling you when things are due. It doesn't tell you when to do them. A list of twelve due dates gives no hint that four of them land on the same Thursday as a game and a club meeting. Planning fills that gap: turning the list into a schedule you can actually follow, with the hard work spread out instead of piled up at the end.
This guide explains a simple way to plan your week, and how Docket does most of it for you.
The idea: plan sessions, not assignments
Most students plan by assignment: "do the lab report." But a lab report that takes three hours doesn't fit in the gap between practice and dinner. It fits as three one-hour sessions on three different days. Planning in sessions does three things:
- it makes big work start early, without you having to remember to start it;
- it shows you when a day is overloaded before that day arrives;
- it turns a vague worry into a short list of what to do today.
Step 1: get everything in one place
Docket can bring in your assignments three ways:
- The Canvas bookmark. Add Docket's bookmark button once. Then, while you're signed in to Canvas, click it and Docket pulls in your due dates, points, instructions and what you've already turned in. It reads your Canvas data in your own browser, using your own sign-in.
- Your Canvas calendar feed, or any calendar file (
.ics), including a Google Calendar export. - Paste the text of a Canvas assignments page.
Then add the rest of your life: your calendar, practices, games, clubs, a job, and how many hours you're willing to study each day. A plan that ignores Tuesday's game isn't a plan.
Step 2: estimate honestly
Every plan depends on how long things take, and most people guess low. Docket starts with an estimate for each assignment based on the kind of work, word and page counts, the points it's worth, and how hard the class is for you. Adjust anything that looks wrong. As you check off sessions, Docket learns how long work actually takes you, and its next estimates get closer.
Rule of thumb: if you've never done this kind of assignment before, add half again to your first guess.
Step 3: let the plan do the spreading
Docket fits study sessions around your calendar and activities. It spreads big projects and test prep over several days, and it flags anything that won't fit before it becomes a problem. When something won't fit, you have real choices while there's still time: start earlier, drop an optional activity, or ask a teacher for an extension early instead of the night before.
Step 4: check off, and re-plan
Each day, do that day's sessions and check them off. Plans change: a practice runs late, a quiz is moved. When it happens, Docket re-plans around whatever's left, so one bad day doesn't wreck the week. You can also export the plan to your own calendar.
Habits that make any plan work
- Plan once a week, on Sunday evening, for about ten minutes, and glance at it each morning.
- Do the hardest session first when you have the most energy.
- Leave slack. A plan packed to the minute breaks the first time something runs over.
- Count test prep as work. Studying for a test is an assignment, even if Canvas doesn't list it as one.
Your data
Docket has no account and no server: your assignments and your plan are saved only in your own browser, on your own device. Nothing about your classes is sent anywhere. See the privacy policy for details.