• Home
  • Blog
  • Start Here
  • Free Printables Index
    • Printables
  • About Me
  • Contact Me
  • Policies

Scattered Squirrel

  • Home & Life Organized
  • From Scattered to Sane
  • Understated Rainbow
  • Pretty In Pastel
  • Personal Planner
    • Weekly Planner Printables
    • Daily Planner Printables

How to Keep Your Planner From Gathering Dust

Filed Under: Planning and Planners

A new year or a new season in your life begins and you decide that you need a planner to help you stay on track. You spend time choosing or making the right one. The excitement builds as you finally feel like you’re gaining control of your time. Time goes on and before you know it that planner is gathering dust on your desk. It’s been at least a week since you last looked at it, if not longer. Sound familiar? Don’t worry, I’ve got some ideas to help keep your planner dust free and working for you!

Here are some tips to help you get the most from your planner.

Keep your planner dust free and working hard with these quick tips.
This post contains affiliate links. We may earn a commission for purchases made through these links. See our disclosure policy for more details.

Planners are a fantastic tool for organizing your time, your projects, and keeping you on track. Whatever your time or life management needs, chances are there is a planner or planning system out there to fit them (here is one I’m using ). So why is it, that despite our best intentions, often times our planners end up sitting on a shelf collecting dust and doing absolutely nothing to help us? Most times it’s just a matter of making a few tweaks and changes to really get your planner or planning system working for you.


Make Your Planner Work For You

We all have our own way of doing things, and planning is no exception to that rule. Finding a planner or planning system that works the way you need it to can be tricky. It takes a little trial an error, but there are ways to get the most out of your planner. I’ve collected a few suggestions to help you keep your planner from gathering dust and turn it into the powerhouse productivity tool you need it to be.

Don’t be Afraid to Try Something New

Don’t be afraid to mix things up. As your planning needs change, you might need to try something new. Maybe a weekly planner just isn’t cutting it for you. Perhaps you need some additional planning pages to help stay on top of everything.

Free printables are a great way to test the waters with new layouts and formats.  Print out just enough for a week or two and take them for a test run. You can find a variety of printables here in the Free Printable Index or on the Printables Pages.  I also have a Pinterest board full of planner printables that you can check out for even more ideas.

Go Digital

If you’re more of a digital person than a pen and paper system, make use of the many apps and programs that are out there to help you plan your days.  

Personally, I use very few apps for planning purposes. I love Trello for mapping out ideas and planning bigger projects, but for the most part, I’m a pen and paper girl. To better help you digital planners out there, I went on a hunt for ideas for digital planning and came across this video by Laura from How to GYST.  

In the video she discusses the apps and programs she uses for her planning purposes and she uses them all together. It’s worth checking out to get some ideas.

Simplify Wherever Possible

When it comes to your planning process, keep it as simple as you can.  If it’s too complicated to use you might end putting your planning system on a shelf where it gathers dust.  I’m guilty of making my planning system more complicated than it needs to be, all in the name of making it more ‘organized’.  To avoid making the same mistake I did, make sure you’re organizing your information so that finding it and using is efficient and easy to do from wherever you need to plan. For example, if you like to colour code your tasks but most of your planning happens when you’re away from your home or office, make sure you choose colours you keep with you or use highlighters so you can go back and quickly highlight any new items you added. Also, don’t feel like you need a hundred sections in your planner.  Pick what you actually need and will use, anything else is just taking up space.

Make it Yours

If you’ve ever looked up planners on Instagram or Pinterest, you’ve probably seen the plethora of images that show these beautiful planners that look almost like works of art.  Planners are no longer confined only to the realm of productivity tools. They’ve become a hobby for many people, and there are now a ton of different ways to decorate your planner to make it reflect who you are.  

I personally love adding in my own dividers, blending pretty and function. I also like to add stickers to my weekly planning to make it a little more fun to plan and to look at. You can take this as far you would like too.  If making your planner unique to you will help make you want to use it more, then by all means, go for it. Just keep in mind the previous tip – start out simple and work your way up from there.

This also leads to my final tip …

Use Your Planner

Yeah, I know this one seems obvious, but do you know how often people will spend the time to set up their planner, plan out their week, and then not look at it again until the following week?  I know I’m guilty of this often. A planner or planning system only works if we use it. They can be a powerful tool, but they’re not a magic fix all. We still need to check in with them on a daily basis at the very least. If not, then they’ve just become a dumping ground for the things we want to do, not a tool to help keep us on track.

There is no right or wrong way to build a planning system.  The key is to build one that works for you!

Planners are no longer the boring, time slotted, agendas they used to be.  More and more people are embracing the idea of a planner or a planning system as a way to keep their lives more organized and to help make time for the things that really matter to them.  My hope is that some of these tips help you to get the most out of your planner so that you can spend less time planning and more time doing.

Did any of these tips jump out at you as being helpful?  Drop me a line in the comments below and share your thoughts and any tips you have for how you get the most out of your planner.

If you enjoyed this post and the printables, I’d love it if you’d consider pinning it. I have three pin options to choose from below.
  • Keep your planner from gathering dust and make it work hard for you with these tips.
  • Reclaim your productivity and put your planner to good use.
  • Get the most from your planner with these tips to help you make it work for you.

Subscribe to the Scattered Snippets Newsletter

Every few weeks I send out a newsletter with links to all the newest posts and printables!
With your subscription, you also get access to our Secret Printables Library!
Don't miss out on the fun!

Previous Post: « Plan Your Goals so You Reach Your Goals
Next Post: Use Natural Design Elements to Help You Sleep Better »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Laura says

    8 February, 2019 at 8:52 am

    I used a planner way back (haha, that makes me sound so old) when I was in college but haven’t in years. For this year, I almost put together a planner but decided that I just wouldn’t keep up with that (maybe one year) so instead I bought a Clever Fox Planner. It’s undated so if I DO miss a month or whatnot, I am not left at the end of the year with a half-filled planner. I love it. It’s focused on building habits and meeting goals – exactly what I would have been putting together for myself! (sorry, i realize this sounds like an ad for the planner…)

    Reply
    • ScatteredSquirrel says

      18 February, 2019 at 9:15 am

      That sounds awesome! I checked out the Clever Fox planner when I was looking for my planner for this year and I really like their layouts. I love the undated option, especially if you’re not sure you’re going to use it every month. Sometimes we just don’t need a planner for what we have going on. I can’t wait to hear how it works out for you.

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Search This Site

Welcome!

Hi there I'm Alli, as a recovering clutterbug I know, first hand, what a struggle it can be to find harmony in the chaos. It's why I like to share my thoughts, tips, tricks, and ideas to help others find their own approach to everyday life. Read More…

Let’s Connect

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
Free Productivity Webinar

Scattered Squirrel Newsletter

By filling out the form below and clicking go, you are agreeing to share your email address and name with us for the purpose of sending you periodic newsletters to share new posts, printables, and special offers with you. You can see our privacy policy for mote details.

Privacy Policy

You can choose to unsubscribe at anytime.

Recent Posts

Get a better sleep by incorporating some natural design elements into your bedroom decor.
Keep your planner dust free and working hard with these quick tips.
Don't let your goals stay wishes. Use these goal setting printables to help you plan your goals so you can reach your goals.
When you're feeling scattered it can be hard to find your focus. Try out some of these tips to help reclaim your calm.
Organizing and decluttering your home can be a daunting tasks. Here are my top five favourtie organizing resources to help inspire, encourage and motivate you on your organizing journey.
Looking for a beautiful pen to dress up your planner? Check out these from Pens and More by J and J. Not only are they gorgeous, but you can have them personalized for a one of kind look that suits you to a T.

Footer

Terri Guillemets Quote

Scattered Squirrel Newsletter

By filling out the form below and clicking go, you are agreeing to share your email address and name with us for the purpose of sending you periodic newsletters to share new posts, printables, and special offers with you. You can see our privacy policy for mote details.

Privacy Policy

You can choose to unsubscribe at anytime.

Scattered Squirrel is on Captivating Theme by Restored 316

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.OkNoRead more
Revoke Cookies