I remember the first day I ever forgot my homework: it was a math worksheet from 5th grade.

I had gone biking the day before and completely forgot about the assignment. I had to stay in the classroom while my friends went out to have fun during recess.

While the punishment was small and insignificant, it’s had a pretty big impact on my life: the stress of forgetting a worksheet in a time where every assignment counts can quickly become overwhelming. This applies to any form of work — housework, jobs, classes, organizations, etc.

Last year, I tried to use Sigma Planner to fight this stress. While the app was easy to use, I didn’t have enough discipline to constantly write down assignments (especially when most teachers used Canvas or Google Classroom).

This year, I wanted to make a change — I’ve used Sigma Planner since the start of the new school year. And it’s changed the way I do work. Here’s how you can make the same change (even if you aren’t a student):

Photo: Adi Kakarla

Sigma Planner is a simple and intuitive app to use.

With a 4.8/5 rating from 372 reviews, people love the app’s variety of features, organized design, and customizability.

The app is completely free, with no in-app purchases (as of the time of writing).

Photo: Adi Kakarla

To add a class, press the “+” button and fill in the details.

For each class, you can add a name, icon, color, code, class code, and more.

In addition, you can add class times. Something I find especially useful is the ability to add different times for different days.

With Sigma Planner, you can add a class from 9–10 AM on Mondays and 1–2 PM on Tuesdays. For people whose schools have certain days with a different schedule (for us it’s early dismissals on Mondays), this is a useful feature that’s missing from some alternatives.

The same feature is also useful for people who only have classes on certain days, have an A/B schedule, have extended classes on specific days, or have some sort of non-uniform schedule.

This essentially acts as a calendar designed for people with a consistent routine, not just students. I may use Sigma Planner for school, but I could also use it to schedule my Boy Scout meetings, club meetings, debate tournaments, etc.

Photo: Adi Kakarla

Sigma Planner also helps you manage tasks.

You can choose a course for a task, the assignment type, due date, priority level, and additional notes, all of which are optional.

Since you don’t need to choose a course for tasks, you can use Sigma Planner as a general task manager (even outside of school).

Photo: Adi Kakarla

One of Sigma Planner’s primary features is its customizability.

In terms of appearance, users can customize how courses are displayed, the title styles, the task status display, the app appearance (light, dark, or system), the accent color, the app icon, and even the style of checkmarks.

Users can also add period schedules and block schedules if they have consistent schedules.

If you enable notifications, you can also customize which notifications you receive and when you receive them.

If you’re concerned about security, you can also add a passcode to secure the app.

I mainly use Sigma Planner for school.

Before the school year started, I added the 6 classes I planned to take.

As soon as the first day of school started, I already had homework. Any time I heard about an assignment, I immediately wrote it down.

That was super helpful for reducing stress — I know that I’ll never forget a homework assignment. Even if I make one or two mistakes, the relief from constant stress is worth it.

I’m also thinking about using Sigma Planner outside of school. In the app, I could create a “course” to represent this blog. Whenever I need to do something, I can simply add it via Sigma Planner.

If I were to do this with everything (debate, this blog, Boy Scouts, etc), I could combine all of my to-do lists into a single app.

If you’re a student, you can use the app as it was originally intended.

If not, you can use the app to organize your work into different categories and efficiently complete tasks.

One feature I don’t really use too often is adjusting the priority of certain tasks. Since every assignment is a homework assignment, I don’t really prioritize some over others.

If, however, you’re using Sigma Planner as a general planner for day-to-day work, prioritizing certain tasks can help you make the most of your time.

Additionally, you can also Sigma Planner as a calendar to plan out your week.

I remember the first day I ever forgot my homework: it was a math worksheet from 5th grade.

I had gone biking the day before and completely forgot about the assignment. I had to stay in the classroom while my friends went out to have fun during recess.

While the punishment was small and insignificant, it’s had a pretty big impact on my life: the stress of forgetting a worksheet in a time where every assignment counts can quickly become overwhelming. This applies to any form of work — housework, jobs, classes, organizations, etc.

Last year, I tried to use Sigma Planner to fight this stress. While the app was easy to use, I didn’t have enough discipline to constantly write down assignments (especially when most teachers used Canvas or Google Classroom).

This year, I wanted to make a change — I’ve used Sigma Planner since the start of the new school year. And it’s changed the way I do work. Here’s how you can make the same change (even if you aren’t a student):

Photo: Adi Kakarla

Sigma Planner is a simple and intuitive app to use.

With a 4.8/5 rating from 372 reviews, people love the app’s variety of features, organized design, and customizability.

The app is completely free, with no in-app purchases (as of the time of writing).

Photo: Adi Kakarla

To add a class, press the “+” button and fill in the details.

For each class, you can add a name, icon, color, code, class code, and more.

In addition, you can add class times. Something I find especially useful is the ability to add different times for different days.

With Sigma Planner, you can add a class from 9–10 AM on Mondays and 1–2 PM on Tuesdays. For people whose schools have certain days with a different schedule (for us it’s early dismissals on Mondays), this is a useful feature that’s missing from some alternatives.

The same feature is also useful for people who only have classes on certain days, have an A/B schedule, have extended classes on specific days, or have some sort of non-uniform schedule.

This essentially acts as a calendar designed for people with a consistent routine, not just students. I may use Sigma Planner for school, but I could also use it to schedule my Boy Scout meetings, club meetings, debate tournaments, etc.

Photo: Adi Kakarla

Sigma Planner also helps you manage tasks.

You can choose a course for a task, the assignment type, due date, priority level, and additional notes, all of which are optional.

Since you don’t need to choose a course for tasks, you can use Sigma Planner as a general task manager (even outside of school).

Photo: Adi Kakarla

One of Sigma Planner’s primary features is its customizability.

In terms of appearance, users can customize how courses are displayed, the title styles, the task status display, the app appearance (light, dark, or system), the accent color, the app icon, and even the style of checkmarks.

Users can also add period schedules and block schedules if they have consistent schedules.

If you enable notifications, you can also customize which notifications you receive and when you receive them.

If you’re concerned about security, you can also add a passcode to secure the app.

I mainly use Sigma Planner for school.

Before the school year started, I added the 6 classes I planned to take.

As soon as the first day of school started, I already had homework. Any time I heard about an assignment, I immediately wrote it down.

That was super helpful for reducing stress — I know that I’ll never forget a homework assignment. Even if I make one or two mistakes, the relief from constant stress is worth it.

I’m also thinking about using Sigma Planner outside of school. In the app, I could create a “course” to represent this blog. Whenever I need to do something, I can simply add it via Sigma Planner.

If I were to do this with everything (debate, this blog, Boy Scouts, etc), I could combine all of my to-do lists into a single app.

If you’re a student, you can use the app as it was originally intended.

If not, you can use the app to organize your work into different categories and efficiently complete tasks.

One feature I don’t really use too often is adjusting the priority of certain tasks. Since every assignment is a homework assignment, I don’t really prioritize some over others.

If, however, you’re using Sigma Planner as a general planner for day-to-day work, prioritizing certain tasks can help you make the most of your time.

Additionally, you can also Sigma Planner as a calendar to plan out your week.