GRWM to set up my new planner
spending some time now will save you later
And I hated using it.
We had to keep track of our assignments in it, and our class schedule, and a parent had to sign off that you both wrote your assignments down and completed them.
I’m not sure if this was their attempt to teach us how to manage our own workloads or how to use a planner. If it was the latter, they totally failed.
Either way, the idea of using a paper planner was NOT it for me.
Looking back, I’m not really sure how I kept everything straight in high school or college, but I made it work.
It wasn’t until I had my daughter that I started using a paper planner. I was out of the new baby fog and juggling being a stay at home mom, freelance work, and learning how to be a person again.
I tried picking up a planner from Target on a day when I felt like the right stationery could fix me.
But all I felt instead was pressure. Pressure to color code. Pressure to write everything out perfectly. Pressure to do exactly what the planner said to do.
It felt like I was right back in middle school, waiting for my parents and teachers to tell me I did it right.
Except there were no adultier adults around. No one to check my work.
I had to figure out how to make my planner work for me.
It was 2016 and I had started following Emily Ley online. Unsure how I even found her but she was in the throes of postpartum with her twins and she owned ran a company that made planners that were simple but structured and I just felt like she got it.
I’ve been a superfan ever since. Simplified planners have seen me through starting and closing down a business, a divorce, navigating entering the full time workforce again, my goals, my hopes, my dreams, and all of the things I’ve got going on in my life.
I totaled up how much I’ve spent on Simplified products throughout the years as I was thinking about this post—a whopping $1654.56!
I keep coming back for more. It’s just the right blend of structure and space for me.
Once my daughter hit school age, I started using an academic year planner instead of a calendar year because it’s easier to have her whole school year in the same book.
Simplified academic planners start in August, so today I want you to GRWM to set up my 2025-2026 Simplified planner! I’m sharing how I do it, what goes in it, and why it makes my life SO much easier every single day just by spending a little time on the setup each year.
Get the school schedule in there right away
On the calendar spread and on the individual days/weeks. Half day? No school? Spring break? Add it all in there.
Add birthdays, anniversaries, and other important dates
One day I’ll have a perpetual list of these, maybe. But for now I just copy them over from the previous year. On the calendar spread and on the individual days.
Pro tip: Add a reminder a week or two ahead of those dates to buy a card/gift so you’ll always be prepared!
My dad’s birthday is June 15th, no chance he won’t get a card on time now. Don’t forget appointments you’ve already made (lookin’ at you, dentist)
Say it with me friend, on the calendar spread and on the individual days (and at the scheduled time too, if your planner gets that detailed).
Because my ass isn’t going to remember my September 17th 11:45am appointment until they call to remind me, but by then it’ll be too close to the day and I’ll have to reschedule so I can make sure I don’t have any meetings during that time.
My dentist office hates to see my number pop up 🙈Trash and Recycle Days
Okay hear me out: trash is every week, but recycling is every other week and I can *never* keep it straight. So I add it to my planner on 👂 the calendar spread and the individual days.
Pro tip: Add a to-do the day before each one to take the trash and/or recycling bins out and you’ve got built in reminders for yourself all year long. Your February 19th self will thank you.
Those bins are OUT the night before, no exceptions! Pay Days
One thing straight and two things for sure about me? I know when I’m getting paid. BUT it’s nice to see it in the planner. Something about seeing cash coming your way when you’ve just had the longest week ever hits different.Any vacations you’ve already booked
I’ve got a tentative trip to Mexico pseudo-planned for my friend’s 40th in March, but it’s not booked so I’m gonna wait to add it in.
But if you’ve got a trip signed, sealed, and just waiting for you to show up at the airport? Add it in.
We went to Disney in January which was very fun but also our one big trip for the year and as I sit here in July writing this, I am not happy with my January 2025 self knowing I won’t get a good long trip again until SPRING.
I digress. I hope you have more vacations than me :)Decorate to your heart’s content
I don’t do much color coding or stickering or doodling if I’m being honest. The more I do, the more pressure I feel to perform. And I just can’t do it in my own planner.
But what I WILL do, is sticker up the holidays, pay days, equinoxes/solstices and whatever else feels good, because a fun sticker is a nice surprise.
Themed stickers make each month feel way more fun. I put gifts on the Saturday I’ll probably go out for Christmas presents, and the weekend after I think we’ll go ice skating and bake Christmas cookies
And that’s the planner setup, gang. In a couple of weeks, I’ll sit down to map out what’s coming up in August and officially swap over, but for now, it’s just me and my 2024-2025 Simplified against the world.
P.S. Want to see more about my monthly/weekly/daily planner ritual? Leave a comment and lmk!