Bought a New Year Planner? Tips to Ensure You Keep Using It Past January

*This post contains PR items. Please see the end of the post for more details.

There's a lovely, warm feeling in opening a brand new, blank, unfilled planner for the start of a new year. People buy planners for various reasons, whether it's to write down important dates and social engagements, for work purposes, or to keep track of their kids' parties and clubs. Or even buying one to help with wedding planning. You may be someone who keeps using their planner right through to December 31st (you trooper, I'm also in this category), or your planner ends up gathering dust by February (oops!). 

I'd be seriously lost without my planner and to-do list notepad. I have enough going on with balancing each aspect of my life, my brain can't remember things like birthdays, as well as my shopping list for Morrison's, on top of that. I need to write down the majority of my to-do list and important dates, e.g. hospital appointments. It's safe to say I optimise my planner to the max!

If you're someone who struggles to use their planner to its full potential, then this post is for you. You don't need a fancy pants planner, just one that you can use daily and get the most use out of. Once you do that, I'll guarantee you will use it every day until the Big Ben rings at midnight on NYE. 

Here are ways to ensure you keep using your planner past January:

1) Pick the one that suits what you need it for

As I said, people buy planners for different reasons. The big question you need to ask yourself is:

What do I need a planner for?

Once you figure out what aspect of your life needs a planner, it becomes pretty easy to choose one. Do you want one for the academic year? Do you need one to plan your wedding? Or do you need one just for everyday use? Once you know the answer, you can scour the shops and/or online for the perfect one for your needs. 

2) Leave it somewhere where it's visible

There's no point plonking it somewhere where you can't see it and then inevitably forgetting to use it. Maybe leave it on your coffee table, workspace, or bedside table; it'll be a reminder for you to fill it in when necessary. It can go anywhere as long as it fits nicely into your routine. 

3) Schedule a time of the day/week to write in it

This works differently for everyone, based on their daily routine. For me, I like to fill my weekly planner every Sunday. It gives me a broad idea of my schedule for the week ahead and allows me to complete tasks successfully. Some may prefer to do this on a Friday evening, after the working week has finished. 

In terms of my to-do list, I like to complete it daily, every night before sleeping. My daily to-do list changes throughout the week, so I'd rather complete the following day's to-do list the night before. 

Scheduling a time to fill out your planner becomes a habit which you'll stick to. This, in turn, allows you to get full use out of your planner.

4) Make it fun

Writing in your planner doesn't need to be a dull task. You can have different tabs for each aspect of your life, use highlighters/pens and have colour codes for each colour you use. You can bullet journal or use fun stickers to jazz up your pages. 

Thanks to Personal Planner, you can completely personalise your planner from cover to cover. You have a choice of fun and essential themed pages, which include:

• Year Overview pages (including year reflection pages)
• Cleaning schedules
• Travel bucket lists
• Budget planners
• Bookish themed pages (including a book log)
• Habit tracker pages
• Sudoku pages

...and many more!

I've found that owning a personalised planner, one which I have designed for my own needs, motivates me to use my planner all year round. With Personal Planner, you can include the pages and features you know you're going to use. You don't have to include them if it's not to your taste.

Read my full review of Personal Planner and its planners.

5) Don't stress if it looks or gets messy

A sign of a well-used planner is any coffee stains or scribbles on the page. We all want our planners to look perfect and aesthetically pleasing for photos. But honestly, don't stress if it gets a little stained or scruffy. That shows it's been used to the max and that it's been well-loved by the planner's owner. 

A planner is my ideal way to plan organised chaos

My life can be chaotic at times. Whether I have hospital appointments to attend to, blog post/social media post deadlines to remember, and birthdays I daren't forget, my planner has become my ultimate, comforting companion.  

Do you rely on a planner to keep you organised? Let me know!

*This post contains PR items from Personal Planner. All views are my own. For more information, please read my disclaimer. Thank you for your support!