Are you a fellow college student stressing over your homework? If you are looking for a fun and engaging way to improve your study habits, our planner is perfect for you!

College can feel overwhelming: packed with deadlines, endless homework, and high-pressure tests. But what if making real progress did not mean working harder... just working smarter?

That is where wise interventions come in. A wise intervention is a simple, research-backed way to shift the way you think and act in powerful ways. It is not about overwhelming you with tips or lectures but about creating small, smart changes that lead to big results. And when it comes to building better study habits and strengthening memory, those small shifts can make all the difference.

College students often struggle not because they are not trying, but because they are stuck in stressful, unsustainable study patterns. Wise interventions help break those patterns, making studying feel less like a chore and more like a skill you can master and even enjoy! A few intentional mindset shifts can boost motivation, deepen memory, and create study habits that actually stick.

Our planner is designed as a fun and engaging wise intervention to transform your study routine:

Goal Setting: Focus your energy on clear, achievable goals each week!

Reward Planning: Stay motivated by celebrating your wins, both big and small.

Fun Break Ideas: Recharge smarter with creative study breaks that refresh your brain and boost focus.

Self-Affirmations: Build confidence and a positive mindset to keep moving forward, even when things get tough.

By combining the science of memory and motivation with simple, enjoyable tools, this planner helps you lock in what you learn and feel good doing it. It is time to study smarter, feel stronger, and achieve more, one small step at a time.

Our intervention/planner

This is our cover page for our planner. Below, we have provided a link to a Google Folder with both blank pages for users to write and draw on, as well as example pages to show how the planner can be filled out!

Click the link!!! -> Memory Maker Planner Folder

Assessment page

This page is dedicated to help you reflect on what part of your study habits you would like to change.Whether it be procrastination, inconsistency, or lack of motivation, this is a space for you to think about what is going poorly and how you can create a better study plan for yourself.

You will have the opportunity to plan and write down what steps you will take to break these bad habits. Taking the time to plan out what you're going to do to make this change will give you a solidified play for you to look back on.

Reflecting on what can motivate will help you begin thinking about what rewards you can plan for yourself that will motivate you to reach your goals!

Monthly Example planner page

We have created an example planner page for the month of April. This study planner page is designed to help you stay motivated, focused, and balanced while tackling homework and studying for tests. Positive affirmations boost your confidence, reflections help you process what you have learned, and goal-setting keeps you on track. Built-in break ideas like walks, music, doodling, and favorite snacks give your brain the rest it needs to lock in new information. It is all about building healthy habits that make studying feel a little easier and a lot more positive!

Monthly Awards/motivation planning

Planning rewards for finishing homework and study goals doesn’t just boost motivation: it also strengthens memory. When you pair studying with a positive experience, your brain is more likely to connect what you’ve learned with a good feeling, making it easier to recall later. Celebrating small wins keeps you focused, helps you build momentum, and turns studying into a habit you will want to stick with.

Weekly Goals and Affirmations, Pick your own adventure!

This page helps you start each week with purpose and a clear plan. Here is each section and how to fill it out:

Reflect Back: "What went well last week? What challenged me? What lessons can I take into this week?"

This Week’s Focus: "What are my top priorities, deadlines, or goals for the week?"

Action Steps: "How will I make progress?"

Affirmation of the Week: "I am ________."

Reflect Back gives users a chance to review last week’s wins and challenges, strengthening memory by encouraging active recall and helping you learn from experience. This Week’s Focus helps you organize important deadlines and priorities, making it easier to manage time and avoid last-minute stress. Affirmation of the Week builds a positive mindset, which can improve focus, reduce procrastination, and make studying feel less overwhelming. Action Steps break big tasks into smaller, manageable goals, boosting motivation and making progress feel more achievable. In these sections you will either draw out or write out yourself taking these steps! Visualizing yourself being successful is your goals will help them feel more manageable and achievable! Taking a few minutes to set your intentions creates a strong mental foundation for the week ahead, making it easier to stay motivated, remember what you learn, and build better study habits over time.

Drawing your success

If you choose the drawing route, you will be asked to think about what your goals for the upcoming week are and how you plan to achieve them! Then you will be asked to draw out three steps to achieving your goals.

Writing your Success

If you choose the writing option, you will be asked to write out what your goals are and how you will achieve them. Then you can write a short story about you achieving your goals!

Weekly Example Planner Page

We have created an example weekly planner page for the first week of April. This planner page is designed to help you stay motivated, focused, and balanced while tackling homework and studying for tests. The goal-setting keeps you on track, and the rewards section provides both motivation and strengthens memory. Each goal that is achieved awards a certain number of points, which allows the user to reward themselves. This page is all about building healthy habits that make studying feel a little easier and a lot more positive!

Backed By Science

This planner isn’t just cute, it’s built on real cognitive psychology.

We’ve designed it using wise interventions, which are simple, research-backed strategies shown to create lasting improvements in motivation, memory, and behavior. Instead of overwhelming you with advice, these tools focus on small shifts that make a big impact, helping you build study habits that actually work for your brain.

Organization and Study Breaks

Structuring your time and intentionally taking breaks can boost productivity and prevent burnout. According to Goldstein (2019), well-timed breaks support memory consolidation and refresh attention, especially when paired with organized routines.

Retrieval and Rehearsal

Retrieval practice is actively recalling what you've learned. This is one of the most effective learning tools in education. As Kesteren(2020) explains, retrieval strengthens memory and deepens understanding by connecting new material with what you already know.

As knowledge grows, it fuels higher-level thinking. Kennet (2024) suggests that increasing one's base of knowledge can snowball into greater creativity, stronger memory, and improved cognitive flexibility—essential skills for college and beyond.

Meet the Authors!

Corey Matsuura

I am a senior majoring in kinesiology. When I first started college, I had no idea how to properly study and organize my learning. But, now laerning from my mistakes and studying psychology I hope this website helps you with your studying and don't make the same mistakes freshman me did.

Morgan Boddy

I am a junior majoring in psychology with a focus in occupational therapy. My biggest struggle has been trying to find a balance between school, sports, and work. Doing this project has taught me how to better mamage my time as well as how to find things that motivate me and make studying a more posistive and enjoyable activity.

Kyra Dooley

I am a senior majoring in Biology and minoring in Psychology. Being in college, studying has had to be implemented into my routine. However, sometimes it has been hard to have the motivation to study, and find the will to do so. This project has helped me combine my psychological well-being with my academic succeess.

Aidan Lybarger

I am a Senior majoring in Sports Leadership and Management, and minoring in Psychology! Through out my time in college, I have struggled with finding the motivation to work on my assignments. This project has taught me how to use psychological processes to improve my study skills, and I am so excited to share what I have learned with all of you!

References

Benedek, M., & Fink, A. (2019). Toward a neurocognitive framework of creative cognition: The role of memory, attention, and cognitive control. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, 27, 116-122.

Clear J. (2018). Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones. Avery, an imprint of Penguin Random House.

Goldstein, E. Bruce. (2019). Cognitive psychology: connecting mind, research, and everyday experience (2nd). Australia; Belmont, CA: Thomson Wadsworth.

Kenett, N. Y. (2024). The role of knowledge in creative thinking. Creative Research Journal, 1-8. DOI: 10.1080/10400419.2024.2322858.

Robinson-Jahi, M. (2020). The psychology behind three popular study habits. VQXATL, 1-13. Retrieved from https://voxatl.org/the-psychology-behind-three-popular-study-habits/.

Van Kesteren, M. T. R., & Meeter, M. (2020). How to optimize knowledge construction in the brain. NPJ Science of Learning, 5(1), 5.

Walton, G. M. (2014). The new science of wise psychological interventions. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 23(1), 73–82. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721413512856.

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