Let’s be honest: I don’t always feel like I have my life together. I make planners for a living but I still have days where I forget what I wrote, miss something important or just stare at my to-do list completely blank and overwhelmed.

But what I do have is a routine. Not a perfect one. Not a rigid one. Just something that helps me come back to the page, especially when I feel like everything is spiraling or I’m mentally juggling too much. If you’ve been wanting to build a planning routine, but don’t know where to start, or you’re burned out from trying to keep up with someone else’s system, this is for you.

1. Check in when it makes sense (daily, weekly—or whenever you need it)

You don’t need a 5 a.m. miracle morning or a Sunday night ritual to be a “planner person.” What matters is choosing moments that feel doable for you. For me, that usually looks like a quick check-in in the morning, sometimes at the studio before emails, sometimes while I’m flopped on the couch and even sometimes trail-side with a pen and dirt-smudged page. I have tried the full on Sunday reset, which can be helpful especially when I’m staring down a full week or trying to wrangle finances but five to ten minutes here and there is usually enough.

Maybe your check in is once a day. Maybe it’s every few days. Maybe it is once a week, circle a few things, carry a few tasks forward, and call it good. You don’t need a big window of time. You just need a moment. Let your planning routine fit your energy, not the other way around. The important thing is to keep showing up.

2. Start with a brain dump, not a to-do list

Before I even look at my schedule or write anything formal, I dump everything out. It doesn’t have to be pretty. Appointments. Worries. The thing I forgot to text someone. The random Costco item. It all goes on the page.

Once it’s out of my head, I can start making sense of what actually needs to happen. That’s where I start plugging things into my planner. Appointments get scheduled, daily to-do list is made etc.

3. Use the sections in a way that works for you

Just because a page is labeled doesn’t mean it has to be used that way. Some days I only use the weekly spread. Some days I need a full daily page to process everything I’m juggling. And there are definitely weeks where I skip entire sections and just jot things down wherever I land. You don’t need to use every part of your planner every single day. And you definitely don’t need to use them the way someone else does.

The monthly pages might become a place to track memories. The quarterly section might turn into a project brainstorm. The “tracker” might become a reading log, monthly vision boards or just stay blank until something clicks.

You are not failing if you skip pages. You are not failing if you don’t finish a layout. These pages are here to support you not box you in. Use what you need, when you need it, and let the rest be quiet until it calls to you.  

4. Lower the bar. And then lower it again.

A lot of people get tripped up thinking they need to use their planner perfectly. That if you don’t fill it out beautifully or keep up with it daily, you’re doing it wrong. Nope. Some weeks my pages are full. Some weeks it’s just a scribbled note and a dinner plan. Some weeks I forget what day it even is. A routine is about coming back, not about doing it all the time without ever slipping. You can miss a day (or five) and still have a planning practice that supports you.

5. Make it yours, not Instagram’s

You don’t need the all the stickers. You don’t need the perfect handwriting. You don’t need 47 pastel highlighters and a washi tape catalog, of course, unless that stuff makes you happy… in which case, go for it (many of these things make me happy too)!  But if all you want is a space to get your thoughts in order, store your schedule, and have some kind of loose plan for the week? A pen and a book is all you need.

Final Thought

Your planner is just a tool. A really beautiful, thoughtfully designed tool (if I do say so myself wonderland222.com), but still… just a tool. You are the one with the goals. The life. The messy, beautiful brain.

Everything I shared here? It is just what’s worked for me. But that doesn’t mean it’s what will work for you and that’s the point. Build a routine that fits your rhythms. Your season of life. Not your productivity guilt. Not someone else’s aesthetic. Not mine, either.

You don’t have to do this the “right” way.  You just have to do it in a way that feels yours.  Pen. Paper. Page. That’s enough to begin.  

Liisa Roberts ~