Planner Ideas for Beginners

Can a new planner change your life? No. Can using a personal planner help you manage what feels chaotic? Yes, indeedy!

Yet, there are plenty of people out there who’ve tried using a monthly planner and failed. For their efforts, they have a drawer full of stickers, washi tape, notebooks, and other planner supplies to add to all the other things in life that feel chaotic.

To be a happy planner, you don’t need to buy the bougie planner of the same name. But, I’ve got a few planner ideas to start your planner life in the right direction.

1. First off, don’t go shop for a planner yet! 

I’m actually stunned that this is often the first bit of advice you find in blogs and google searches. I’ve met too many people who spend a small fortune on a planner collection that just collects dust. 

Do not buy the planner until you know what you’re planning.

Just because someone else thinks you should track your water or other habits, that doesn’t mean you actually should. 

Instead, spend a few minutes journaling or doodling to think about what you need to plan and organize, such as school, home, or work responsibilities, family contacts, goal setting, etc.

2. Fix what needs fixing.

The best planner is the one that you will use and which will help you manage what feels chaotic in your life. A good planner no only makes sense of all the stuff, but it also helps you achieve the goals and accomplishments that are important to you.

But, you may already be doing some of those just fine. You don’t need a planner to reinvent the wheel for you!

• If you already use a digital calendar and check it daily, then you might not need a paper calendar at all.
• If your meal planning is already going well and saving you time and money, then you don’t need a meal planner.
• If you have a to-do list system that helps you get things done, a traditional planner may not be the thing you need.

Think about the things that skip your notice such as bills to pay or tasks to complete, those are the things that planning could help. 

And maybe making appointments on time, planning meals, and getting ish done are things you need help with. It doesn’t matter what it is as long as you’re mindful of your needs.

Identify what you really need to plan or organize.

3. Start small with a sample planner.

You don’t need any fancy planners and you don’t need to spend a lot of money to get stuff done. Unless you have an unlimited budget, start your planner life by using what you have.

Rather than spend a fortune on a planner that may or may not work for you, test out a few different options. Consider the following:

• Use a paper notebook and try your hand at bullet journaling. This is a type of planner idea that incorporates freeflow journaling and list making.
• Find a planner that you like online and make a quick mockup in Canva or Word and try it out for a few weeks. Some planner companies may even sell samples or offer a free PDF to test. You can get a free sample of the Print & Go Planner.
• Try my post-it note to do list system. It is what finally clicked for me.

Start using this planner and put it through its paces for a month or six weeks to see what you like or don’t like about it. That’s actually what I did when I designed the Print & Go Planner. I created a 3-month version of it and made tweaks as I went along.

Why invest time in a sampler? There are loads of women out there who spin their wheels setting up their new planners with stickers and markers and then never use the darn thing. Why waste time?

4. Consider going digital.

I do love the tactile experience of paper, markers, and post-it notes, but there are some downsides to keeping a physical planner.

• What if it gets wet or damaged?
• What if you forget it at home?
• What if you need to erase it?

With the advent of tablets and PDF annotation apps, you can have all the prettiness of a planner, but in a format that won’t smudge or smear and can go with you everywhere you take your phone.

I switched to an ipad with Goodnotes in 2023 and loaded it with my personal planner in pdf form. Ditching paper clutter and using a digital planner has been wonderful for managing all my planner activity in a convenient digital form. 

Going digital has the added benefit of easily adding images and texts from the web, something that is a little harder to come by with paper planners. Plus, there’s less paper waste.

5. Remember who’s boss.

Whatever you choose to do, keep in mind that the planner is there to serve you. It’s not meant to be your master.

The planner is to help you manage what needs managing and act as an extension of your brain so you can free up space for other things.