My husband jokes that my planner has become a hobby unto itself. He’s not wrong. I’ll admit, I’m totally dependent on my planner. On paper, at least, I’m very organized.
After several years of using a bullet journal, I switched to Passion Planner last year. I still use what I refer to as a modified bullet journal method. In fact, one of the things that initially drew me to the brand was the many blog posts and articles I saw about people bullet journaling in their Passion Planner. It offers structured monthly and weekly pages with lots of blank pages and free space for plenty of flexibility. You can read more about why I love this planner so much here.
My 2021 planner was delivered a few weeks ago, and I love it! I can’t wait to start using it. I’ll show my setup for that closer to the start of the new year, but in the meantime, I wanted to share how I currently plan with my Passion Planner.
1. Monthly planning
I keep big events on my monthly planner pages – holidays, birthdays, meetings, deadlines, special events, etc. I also track things here that I need to see quickly, without digging through weekly pages – when did I last change out my contacts lenses, when did we change the air filters at home, etc.
2. Weekly planning
My weekly pages are for my detailed weekly planning – daily schedules, to-do lists, meal plans, habit trackers, etc. Everything here is color coded: my work is purple, personal (appointments, events, etc.) is pink, my husband is brown, my boys are green and blue, church is orange, family is yellow. I started doing that when I went back to college to finish my degree in 2010. I had to be able to tell what was going on each day with a glance. It worked so well I’ve continued it all these years.
3. Blogging and writing
I use a great free printable chart for tracking my blog and social media stats each month. It gives me an idea on strengths and weakness as far as social media sites are concerned and shows me if I’m headed in the right direction. You can download it here.
4. Crafting
This is the first year I kept a craft log and it’s been fun! I keep a record of each crochet project, when I started, when I finished, and details about the pattern, hook size, and yarn used.
5. Reading
For the past several years, I’ve done Modern Mrs. Darcy’s reading challenge. I love it because it’s very flexible but also pushes me to read a little bit outside my comfort zone for some books. I also track what I’ve read with a little review on each book.
6. Christmas
I keep a list of Christmas gifts I’ve bought and how much I’ve spent on each person in the back of my planner. Closer to Christmas, I also highlight each gift as I wrap it. That helps me make sure I don’t forget any gifts. Not that I’ve learned that from experience or anything…
7. Important Details
I use the last page in my planner for important details I might need in a hurry – our dog’s microchip number, my professional license numbers, and other odds and ends. It’s nice to have it all one place so I don’t have to dig when I need it.
What type of planner do you use? Are you sticking to your current setup for 2021 or are you changing things up?
Amanda Holland 
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