4 Tips to Stick to Your Goal of Using Your Planner All Year
Every year, many of us decide to plan and journal more often. Recently, a YouGov poll found that being happy and improving mental health are among the top New Year resolutions for the year 2025. Building a plan for our days has long been proven to help fulfill these targets.
However, as January gives way to other months, resolutions often peter out, and keeping up with self-development plans is tricky when hundreds of things compete for our attention.
Your all-new planner may be lying on the desk, feeling ignored and left out of the events in your life.
So, what can we do to stick to the habit of writing in our planners? We have four practical tips to help you enjoy the benefits of planning and journaling without losing interest.
#1 Widen the Scope of Your Planner
A prime reason many don’t stick to writing in their planners after the first few weeks is plain monotony.
For example, you may have started a gratitude journal and managed to pen three things you’re thankful for daily for a week. It now seems repetitive.
A new Applied Psychology study found that constantly trying to feel happier requires mental effort and can lead to fatigue over time. Consequently, you find it hard to think of new things and start questioning the point of it all.
Why not increase the scope of your planner?
It shouldn’t be restricted to a conventional role like writing down appointments or making grocery lists. Instead, it can be a little bit of everything that brings you happiness.
For example, on a tough day, you can use your planner to doodle or write a few favorite pick-me-up quotes. You can make mental maps to understand things that trouble you and find a solution.
Your planner can also become a bucket list for travel destinations or items you want to purchase on the next shopping spree.
Widening the possibilities of your planner also makes it fascinating reading for later in the year. Browsing through the pages on New Year’s Eve will let you revisit your year in a flash.
Now, that is a huge incentive to keep at it!
#2 Try Using an Undated Planner
We discussed how a planner that does not restrict you can help you maintain the habit of writing more frequently. An undated planner works well for achieving this goal.
Suppose you planned to run a half-marathon on the weekend but you binge-watched your favorite television show instead. Returning to your planner and having “Running is Life” staring you in the eye can be very discouraging. If you create an undated planner, you can start afresh at any time. You don’t have to stress about losing a day or even a month.
The core advantage of these planners is the inherent flexibility and immense creative liberty.
We know how life can get ahead of us. We should be able to cut ourselves some slack and resume when we feel able.
According to Plum Paper, those who have changing schedules and hate wasting pages can benefit from this approach. You can also try picking layouts with more leeway for moving things.
#3 Don’t Stress About Belonging to the 5 a.m. Club
The so-called 5 a.m. club has left many feeling defeated. This group of influencers and thought leaders proudly claims to rise before dawn, squeezing in a full routine before most people hit snooze. They journal, do yoga, play with their pets, and even power through fifty pages of their current book—all before breakfast.
If you are an avid social media user, you may feel guilty about not getting much done in the mornings. It can be hard enough to get ready, pack lunches, and leave the house!
In reality, you don’t need to stress about fitting into a club by carving out time early in the morning for writing and reading. You don’t even have to confine it to those peaceful moments before bed.
Setting a rigid schedule for these activities can easily turn them into just another chore, and that’s the last thing we want!
Embrace spontaneity; enjoy your favorite book or jotting down your thoughts whenever the mood strikes! Find joy in your passion without the pressure of a timetable.
For the first few days, keep yourself open to writing in your planner whenever you like. You may find a natural rhythm starts to emerge. For instance, more reflective people can find journaling at night helpful. A Type-A personality may appreciate morning planning to control how their day will pan out.
#4 Review the Benefits of Planning
As human beings, we stick to a habit when we perceive tangible benefits. No amount of water-drinking reminders may work unless you feel the advantage of staying hydrated in energy and freshness. Likewise, we recommend reviewing the advantages of planning to reiterate how the habit helps you.
Suppose you started to keep a planner to reduce daily anxieties and manage stress. Verywell Mind notes that freewriting practices like a brain dump can relieve stress and ease racing thoughts.
It lets you unburden your mind from any nagging issues, from future ambitions to interpersonal relationships.
After a week or two, evaluate how writing things has helped you with these goals. Perhaps it helped you attend your appointments on time or become more productive while working from home.
You can also ask your loved ones to contribute with their feedback. Have they noticed a change in your stress levels since you started the practice?
Recognizing the impact of a habit can motivate you to keep at it.
I hope these tips will help you pay more attention to your loving and capable planner, eager to help you sort your days and ease your mind.
Building good habits can be demanding, but you will feel their rewards in due time.
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