Starting a planner *for normal people*

Planning is easy. Doing is the hard part 😂

I’ve had a planner since 2000, mostly generic pre printed ones from bookstores. I’ve found I need 1) a big monthly view 2) vertical week layout 3) lots of space. I’ve used the big Planner Pad for the past 4 years and love it, although it took me 3 years to figure out how to customize and use it to keep me coming back to it. I am chronically ill so I have a challenging relationship with “to dos” and schedules as I can’t trust my health from day to day. So I use my planner for 1) journaling about the day and tracking what I did and how I feel 2) scrapbooking 3) managing to-dos and appointments. Once I started doing active scrapbooking/art in my journal it all clicked…now I can’t wait to use my planner.

Love Jetpens!

Just wanted to say a big thank you as this video is absolutely brilliant and it's just what I needed. I love the idea of a planner but can honestly say I have no idea how to actually use one as I am a complete beginner. I love the way that you have shown us different layouts. I have a couple of notebooks at home so I'm going to attempt a layout and see how I get on. I always feel like the day runs away with me so it would be so good to plan things out then I may not get so overwhelmed. I wish I could let you know how I get on😊

This was a massively helpful, commonsense planning process! Thanks for sharing!!

What is the reason for the title? I didn't know if it was going to contrast between neurodivergent and "normal", or if it really was specifically for "normal". Because if it is really the latter, there isn't a reason for me to watch

I'm 45 and have had a planner every year since I was in high school. My mother started me out with one. I've only recently started paying attention to the planner community. I think there is a lot of unnecessary excessiveness in it but there are some new things I learn every now and then.

Every one of your planner videos gives me two or more new ideas which is just wonderful.
I've been using the back of a dot journal I use as a commonplace book to trial out different layouts ahead of 2024, which I'm going to start in a nice new notebook

Very good and nice >>>>>>> Thank you .

I'm binge watching all your planning videos and now you are my go-to in terms of planning! New subscriber here :)

What’s a ‘normal person’?!

Wow I rlly needed this video cus I just buy planners and never use them😭

Absolutely loved this video as im in the middle of creating a hybrid digital - analogue system ( for the monthly, weekly and dailies) and digital for capturing and probabably scheduling but havent made the scheduling a habit yet. But I tried to go completely digital and realised I just felt like something was missing ... the slow organic process and satisfaction of using a paper planner. Luckily you touched on the absolute basics of planning in this video , will be rewatching it as a set up my planner 😊😊 !! Thank you so much for your content !!
Also idk if it was just me who's never heard this before but , I would never understand the need for a monthly and weekly and a daily untill you explained how you sort of use the previous one to set up the other, with each getting more detailed 😮😮. I have literally never understood the point of these layouts untill you said that so thank you for enlightening me ❤ !!

This is really helpful for someone like me who is feeling very overwhelmed in not knowing how to start a planner! 😊

Thank you Rachelle. I am getting ready to start one of these and learning so much from your videos. I did subscribe of course.

Just ordered my journal and some stencils tonight. In my head, I am already calling it my TaDa Journal (instead of To Do), as I am going to watch how much I get done. Then I get to go TaDa at the end of each week. LOL

Here's some thoughts running through my head at the moment, in case they help someone. I was thinking that the "What worked" and "What didn't work" each week would be really useful. But I thought I'd call mine. "What to celebrate" and "What Can I learn from" Then list all the things I learned that week from what didn't work as planned to remember and look back on later.

For me personally, I am the world's biggest procrastinator, which I am going to work to improve on through this journal, My thoughts of what might help me most with that is when I list monthly goals.... to put a letter next to each, R=I feel completely ready to do it. H= I am feeling hesitant. Then write all the Rs into the week to be done. And stop and break the H's into as many smaller steps as feels comfortable and then find some fun way to do them and/or a reward as each is completed

Love the idea of adding in inspirational quotes too!

Thanks again for all your help.

Thanks the details guide. It really help me a lot 🥰

Really helpful thank you,over time I have had plenty of false starts with planers in the hopes of being more productive and organised

I've tried, so hard, to find more planner tubers and I just can't. Your charisma, demenour and video layouts can't be beat! I just admire your channel so much. If it's had a large uptick in the past week it's probably because I've binge all your content over and over for the past couple weeks, haha. Thank you xo, Renee

I have a small planner to keep in my bag to use as a quick reference planner and “to do list”/shopping list. I use a notebook to make a more intensive planner and daily journal.

My ADHD brain just stopped working after I read for normal people then continued watching anyway😂

I have a genuine question? When you do your daily to do list doesn’t that seem redundant if all you are doing is taking what you planned on the weekly pages? Couldn’t you just read from the weekly layout the to do list you have to do if it’s already written there or is there some other function for doing this?

You plan exactly how I plan. And I try to do weekly and monthly reflections as well, but I find that that is what overwhelms me. I sometimes get over perfectionistic with the way I am doing things and then it’s like my brain just shuts down and doesn’t want to think about it anymore. I just can’t handle the stress and sheer mental effort. For example I was today looking at my monthly reflections from back in 2020 and I wrote some pretty useful stuff about habits I need to establish to be more productive, things that worked for me that I have since abandoned, and a bunch of other useful stuff, but I just experienced this wave of information overload. I just don’t know how to keep things simple but progress at the same time.

❤❤

I think I’m just realizing now that I dislike the traditional monthly calendar layout with the boxes, I always have a hard time fitting what I want in them. I love the first option in comparison.

ahh thanks so much for the great reminder that we can start a planner with just a plain notebook. since i’ve not done well with pre-printed planners (but am tempted to get one), using a blank journal will help me figure out what layouts work best for me. i’m trying analog this week because of your video!

This was super helpful! Thank you.

So helpful. I followed along and made both spreads in my A & O.

I love Jet Pens! My faves are uni Power Tank 1.0, Uni ball Signo Bold 207, and the Schneider Slider Rave XB. I had to use a special calendar for work for 30 years and that was my paper planner. I’m now retired and trying to get back into paper planning in addition to the digital calendar that is essential for reminders and alarms. It’s a bit tough to get back into as the work calendar was extremely basic and I’m trying to tap back into my creative side. The thicker pens were better for work, too, so I think I have to downsize to work in a planner more efficiently. Thanks for the tips, I’ve been going through your helpful vids and just subbed 😊

Your thumbnail is supposed to say "sponsored".

No spiral bound, discs or ringed planner?

Have you ever tried planning with the Commit30 planner? I’m “using it” this year and had one last year too, but it does have some really good reflection opportunities in it. ☺️

My planner peace has been cheap letter size off the shelf and a notebook from a dollar store. Just finished my 2022-23 academic yesterday and moved into my 2023-24 this morning.

I like using highliters. JetPens has Sarasa MarkOn gel pens that are very black and do not smear with a highliter 😊

I started planning two years ago. I started out with a horizontal planner with only checklists and I thought that I wasn't "doing planning right", so I bought myself a big vertical layout Happy Planner and a whole bunch of stickers and started using it last September- and now I'm overwhelmed... and I've still for the "I'm not doing planning right" feeling. I refer to my phone's calendar app more than I do the planner that is always sitting open on my desk right next to me.

What you have shown here is closer to what I want to do: it's very simple and looks quite manageable. Thanks very much for this video 🙂

Love this! Super helpful! It's nice to see the method to the madness. 👏

My planner is $1 grid composition notebook. With $0.5 erasable pen. It works.
I don't care how it looks like as long as it works. Takes all the pressure off. Oh, and notion

Great video! I think it’s very approachable 😊

For someone like me, I think I’d get overwhelmed by a blank book. If I have to do something like draw a spread before planning, might end up just not planning. But I found printing sample layouts was really helpful to find what I like and I’m still experimenting. It gives me the flexibility to change at any time but I can also just grab a page if I need to plan

Maybe I’m weird, but I don’t always do a daily to do list. I keep a running list of things on my plate and have different sections for things that need to be done by certain times (which could be EOD)

I have been using a planner of some form since 2010. I started bullet journaling since 2017. I am now in a hobonichi day free with a my own method that I enjoy. Did I watch this whole video? yes. Would I consider myself a normal person definitely not... :P

New subbie here 👋 Great video on planning 👍

This tour of “Woods” is SO good! Enjoy!!

Funny you should mentioned that June-ish reassessment of your planner system… 6 months into the year and I have discovered I overcomplicated things. I'm staying in my Sterling Ink for weekly/monthly schedule, common planner, journaling, but going back to my Weeks for work. It was a really good idea to try the Franklin-Covey one page a day for work, but discovered that I need a lot of note space and for strategizing and planning and it doesn't have that. Weeks is a little better, but again not sure if it's the right move. But I have another six months to figure out alternatives! Enjoy your camping trip!

I love that journal! :) Super cute!

I ❤ the way you present your information. It just jives with me! I have always been a pre-printed planner person and this year, decided to have a “draft” BUJO to play in. It has been great to feel like I can make mistakes, try things out, and figure out how I “tick” in the that format. I am going on a weeklong trip, taking that BUJO and allowing myself to let it become what it may-journaling as needed, brain dump, just anything. I do love, also, have one small, portable “go-to”.

Thank you! I am in the process of deciding to go back to bujo or stay with a preprinted planner. I worry about not having all the months to see with bujo. I know you do with the yearly page but my mind almost needs to see that month. Hmm, any suggestions?

This is a really practical planner startup video! I love your approach and how you condensed your presentation into the essence of planning. That planner box set is adorable!

I suggest an even easier approach: RING PLANNER. With a ring binding you can change things freely and is super flexible! Ex: forgot the yearly? Just open and add it in. The monthly spread is not useful? Open the rings and remove it. You like the notes page but need them in another position? Just open and move the pages.
Plus you can print pages more seamlessly, and have any format and a clean layout all the time.

How about a video on planning for your hobbies? Like crafting and such.

I get sooo giddy when I get a notification about your videos! Then I saw the title and got even more excited ! Your ability to make planning practical helps me ‘learn’ my planner style and not get overwhelmed!

I like how you touch on the difference between scheduling and planning. What really sets a planner apart is when it is used to think through and use your time intentionally. Just keeping track of your schedule is great, but thinking through everything else is the next level.

Very useful points. Thank you. Now I know why so much of my hobo weeds is left empty.