(Going back through the drafts folder and I realised I never finished my 2024 set up post but it’s up now and you can go check it out here.)
For the past few years I’ve made no real plans for what I wanted in my planner apart from the basics – a year in pixels, monthly and weekly spreads and a few other bits and pieces.
I do think I’ve found my planner piece in a ring bound planner and just printing dot grid paper so I can create my weekly spreads to my heart’s content. I prefer being able to design my own spreads and not being stuck using a pre-printed inserts. That said for certain things – like Christmas – I do like a good pre-done insert. Lights Planner Action Christmas inserts, I’m looking at you *heart eyes*
I’ve been following Jess at JashiiCorrin (& part of her Patreon then YouTube subscription) for a while and recently binge watching all of her new year planner set up videos – which you can find here. One of the things she does is a WANT analysis of her past year’s planner. What is a WANT analysis? Its looking at the following areas and brainstorming. WINS (things you enjoy & work well), AVERSIONS (what didn’t work or you didn’t enjoy), NEEDS (what is necessary for the year ahead) and TRY(new or old things you want to try out). It’s also explained in the video I’ve linked below.
After lots of thinking and brainstorming, here’s my list
WINS (worked well, liked, keep doing)
- Ring planner with printed dot grid pages
- Pre-designed month spread on 2 pages from Lovely Planner
- Yearly collections book. Something new I started last year.
AVERSIONS (didn’t work, didn’t like, stop doing, change)
- Trying to do too much in a month. I’m ditching a bunch of extra pages I had at the end of each month that I’d fill in at the start of the month but would drop off as the month went on.
- Not making planner time. And then when I do feeling overwhelmed when I need to create the layout then fill it in.
NEEDS (plans, events, challenges, pain points)
- Monthly spreads
- Weekly spreads
TRY (have a go, test run, curious about)
- Planner Day once a month to set up the upcoming month’s layouts. Just setting up the layouts to make my weekly planner time easier. See point two in Aversions
- R&D binder
- Long Term Collection journal
- Media Journal in my A5
I also looked at some other questions Jess has in her resource library (which you can check out for yourself by signing up at https://mail.jashii.com/resources?utm_medium=product_shelf)
My current planning system
What journals, planners and apps did I use in your planning system this year?
- A5 ring bound planner with a mix of dot grid inserts and planner printables
- Artful Agenda digital planner app on my phone and laptop
- A5 bound book for yearly collections
- A5 bound book for long term collections
What is the status of each of my planner system elements? (i.e. are you keeping them as part of your system, retiring them, or setting up new versions of them)
- A5 ring bound planner – keep but with a few changes
- Artful Agenda digital planner app on my phone and laptop – keeping as this is super useful when I’m out and about or at my laptop
- A5 bound book for yearly collections – loving this, so keeping but making it more accessible so I update it more & adding reminders to actually do updates
How easy was it to keep up with my planning system this year? What made it this easy / difficult to keep up with?
As I pointed out under aversions I struggled with motivation to set up my weekly spreads each week. Sometimes I just wasn’t in the mood, other times I was just busy.
My next planning system
What journals, planners and apps are you going to use in your new planning system?
| Journal / planner / app | Purpose |
| Everyday planner (A5 Planners Anon ring bound) | My everyday, go-to planner. Yearly, monthly/Weekly, Media journal, Uni stuff. |
| Artful Agenda (on phone and laptop) | For noting appointments when out & about so I don’t double book myself |
| Yearly Collection (bound book planner) | Housing my yearly collections – yearly goals, 25 in 2025, Then & Again, Monthly favourites, Goober Readathon and my Year in review |
| Long term collections | For all the long term collection I want to keep. Things that will last more than 6 months. |
| Mental Health journal | Not 100% sure what I’ll put in here as yet. |
If you want to see this all in action – Jess has a video for you – How I Planned My 2025 Bullet Journal Setup 💜
