Let’s talk about Planners!

Do you Plan? Are you a Planner? Do you love them or hate them? Do you even know what a Planner is and are you entirely lost as to what I’m even talking about?

A Planner is, in its simplest terms, a diary. A good old fashioned paper diary that we write our appointments in and get annoyed when we have to cross them out because it messes up our whole day. BUT! It is also so much more than that.

After I Burned Out, I was in a dark place. I didn’t move very much, spent most of my day crashed out on the couch, watching West Wing re-runs after I’d essentially completed Netflix and Prime Video. I had no structure to my days, no routine. I slept a lot, I ate what I had in the fridge and ordered in what I didn’t. 

Before I Burned Out, I was in a different, and yet equally dark place! I did nothing but move, flying from one country to the next, barely sleeping, eating terribly, drinking too much, and always, always working. Despite this, I had no structure to my days then either. I hardly knew where I needed to be and when I needed to be there, I often walked into meetings with no idea what I was actually there to talk about - because I was on the verge of Burnout, and I had lost the will to do anything more than just exist.

Both versions of me needed a Planner!

But only the Burned Out version was able to finally listen and do something about it. This had nothing to do with my own will power and everything to do with my having a doctor, a therapist and a coach who kicked my ass into gear and got me organised so I could focus on my recovery. 

I recorded EVERYTHING in my Planner - at the behest of my therapist at the time. The time I got out of bed. Every load of laundry I achieved. Every time I cooked an omelette. Every Meditation or Yoga class. Every walk I took around the block. Every shower I managed to take! And over time, I was able to look back over my week and see - and celebrate - all the little wins I was making on my slow and steady recovery journey. 

There are SO many Planners out there, it can be hard to know where to start!

Back then, I used a Planner called the Passion Planner. I still highly recommend it to anyone starting out. It’s got a great layout, it has inspirational quotes each week, it helps you set out goals, note down moments of happiness from your week, and encourages creativity which I love. It also has a load of free printable inserts you can use for habit tracking, meal planning, mood tracking, whatever you fancy.

Now, I use my Planner to maintain the life balance that I found through my Burnout recovery.

I created my own layout that works for me - with each of my days laid out with plenty of room to detail anything from work appointments to meditation sessions. I print out the pages and stick them in an A4 sized notebook, leaving pages between each month for journaling space and reflections. I have an embarrassing amount of patterned tape and stickers that I decorate it with each week, and I often print off photos of my puppy or my family or my friends and stick them in wherever there’s space. I write in my appointments at the start of the week and then fill everything else in as I go. I colour code to keep track of my balance - purple for work, pink for self-care, yellow for life stuff like cooking, eating, shopping, etc, green for getting outdoors in nature, and blue for creativity - something that I am trying my damnedest to reintroduce into my life after Burnout sucked it all out of me.

When I look back at my week and see too much purple and not enough pink or green - I know I’m falling back into bad habits and that I need to refocus my work time and ensure the time I’m working is productive - and not obsessive. I can see if I’ve missed my daily meditation and be sure to set reminders to make sure I do it. I can see when I’ve gone weeks without social interaction with friends and make sure to reach out to someone and step outside of my bubble for a while - even if it’s virtually. 

It helps to create a clear visual overview of your week - and keeps you accountable.

I also have Daily Gratitude blocks at the bottom of each day, with space to write at least three things that I’m grateful for that day which I always try to do just before bed. And I have a space on the side for notes that I write my non-negotiables, and daily to do lists in. If I have more to do that week than I can fit in that space? It means I’ve overloaded my schedule and therefore, some of that stuff has got to go into next week.

This is how I keep myself on track. It’s also how I notice when I’ve fallen off track - and how I bring myself back! I try my damnedest not to judge or be too harsh on myself when I look back on a week and realise I stopped filling it in by Wednesday, or when I’ve completely neglected my highlighters until the last second.

Want to try my printable Planner for yourself? Sign up to my mailing list and I’ll send you the PDF (as well as a free meditation!) so you can give it a go.

You can also head over to my Instagram for all of this week’s videos, full of tips for using your planner for both Burnout Recovery, and Burnout Prevention. And let me know what has worked for you!

Mx