New Year Planner Set Up

This year has been wild already. I officially started my resolutions in February, only to realize I didn’t want to have any resolutions this year. The last few years have been hard enough and putting unrealistic expectations on myself seemed like it would affect my mental health. So, instead, I am simply keeping track of everything through my New Year Planner Set Up and being mindful and intentional about how I spend my time.

In the past I would have a planner for everything:

Food diary and meal planner
Blogging, lifestyle, and daily planner
Book planner
To-do list planner
Gratitude planner

Spoiler: They rarely got used.

I would go through spurts. They were filled out for a week, or I over-planned and didn’t leave any time for self-care. In short, it became unhealthy….

Table of Contents

New Year Planner Set Up

This year is simple. Straightforward. Though, still imperfect.

I am trying two planners!

… and that’s it. Wish me luck.

Carpe Diem Limited Edition Black A5 Boxed Set Planner

I bought this planner as the planner to rule them all!

This one is tracking everything. One I can mix and match with my monthly mood. A planner that can help me focus on challenges, and habits, and one I can customize myself.

What I’m loving

The biggest pro to this planner is I feel sustainable using it. In the future, I only need the inserts. I can keep reusing the binder for years to come. It’s sleek and sophisticated. I love the gold hardware. Plus, there are pockets for stickers, cards, pens, etc. I genuinely love the look and vibe of it.

I appreciate that everything came blank so I need to fill it out. This makes me sit down at the beginning of the month and build a plan. Ex. January I had a No Spend Month and I created a challenge for it. Every month can be something different.

My meal planner and grocery lists are customized in canva by myself. They’re so helpful. I don’t stick to them religiously but I don’t stray from the food. I stray from the days and times I eat, so it’s working.

What’s not working…

Using the planner every day. I want to be that girl!… I am not that girl.

I’m a weekly to-do list maker. It gets written in a notebook and slowly checked off as time progresses. Especially with chores. I think I need a chore board to fill out. Something that lives in my bathroom, or something.

I know what I need to do, it’s just never on the day I intend to do it. Ex. I’d love to wash my sheets every Monday. I’m lucky if it happens on Wednesday.

What will make it better

I need a better home for it. It currently lives on my craft cabinet, instead of my desk where I work and sit from 9-5 every day. Ideally, I would keep it where I can see it.

Day Designer 5x8 2023 Weekly and Monthly Planner

Day Designer 5×8 2023 Weekly and Monthly Planner

My blog planner.

Last year, and the two(?) previous years, I bought the Daily Day Designer Mini Planner. I love this planner for a lot of reasons (check out my past review here).

Cover options
Gold ring binding
Heavy paper weight
How my pen glides on the paper
The stickers

However, I can’t travel with this planner. It’s bulky. I don’t want to take it with me anywhere. Not even for a weekend getaway.

Instead, I took a picture of the monthly blog post plan and called it a day. I rarely used the daily pages. When I did, I filled them with work notes and chores. There was never enough room and I never checked things off.

So, when I saw that Day Designer created a less expensive, way thinner AND smaller planner… I jumped.

What I’m loving

Though the paper is significantly thinner, I found a workaround and fill out the month with post-it notes. I love that I can move them from day to day if I’m behind or need to change things up.

I take it everywhere. Finally! A portable planner to meet my lifestyle! I have it with me, at a cafe, right now.

It has checkboxes! Perfect for blog post to-do lists. Ex. Take photos for Book Review! It also comes with the same stickers as the OG planner, a binder, and notebook pages in the back to plan future posts.

What’s not working…

Using it – Haha!

The past two months have been tough. January was filled with travel. February has been long hard hours at work. Though I love blogging and it’s one of my creative past times, it’s also not something I want to do after sitting at a computer for 8 hours all day.

So, there’s nothing wrong with this planner thus far.

What will make it better

Again, using it and time to focus. I would love to set up a section in my apartment for blogging where my planner lives and where I sit every time I blog. Though, I tend to get the most accomplished at coffee shops so I need to find a way to work that into my lifestyle more.

I have a note in my planner to give a recap on this planner set up at the end of the year. I’m excited to see what worked for me and how I used each planner.

What planners are your favorite and what are you using this year?