Do you have a planner, goals, and priorities, but find yourself struggling to use your planner consistently? You’re not alone. Without a consistent planning routine, it’s easy to feel like you’re treading water, making little progress toward the things that matter most.
Here’s the truth: consistency builds the habit of planning. When you plan regularly, you not only remember more tasks and details, but you also become more organized and efficient with how you spend your time.
Planning doesn’t mean you need to structure every minute of your day, but it does mean identifying your priorities, scheduling key tasks, and creating a simple plan to ensure you’re focusing on the areas of your life you’ve intentionally chosen to cultivate.
Let me show you how to develop a consistent planning routine that will help you use your planner effectively, improve your productivity, and achieve your goals with ease.
The Two Essentials for Consistent Planning
If you want to start using your planner consistently to improve your productivity, you’ll need two key things:
1. A Functional Planner
The planner you use matters. Most planners on the market only provide basic tools like yearly reference calendars, monthly spreads, and weekly agendas. While helpful, these inserts represent just a small part of a complete productivity system.
A functional planner is designed to support your planning process from start to finish. It includes all the space and tools you need to:
- Get your ideas out of your head and onto paper.
- Prioritize tasks effectively.
- Organize projects and schedules in a way that’s manageable.
The Charmed Life Master Planner is my planner of choice because it provides a comprehensive system to help you manage your time, tasks, and goals. With tools like Brain Dump Inserts, Project Planning Pages, and Daily and Weekly Agenda Spreads, this planner ensures that everything you need is in one place—no scattered notebooks, no missing pieces.
>> Get your copy of the planner here!
2. Functional Planning Routines
The second essential element is creating consistent planning routines. I sit down to plan almost every single day, but I don’t follow the same process every time. Instead, I use different routines for yearly, quarterly, monthly, weekly, and daily planning.
These routines allow me to break down my big-picture vision into small, actionable steps that I can tackle each day. By following these routines, I ensure that I stay on track with my goals and always know what to focus on next.
When you combine a functional planner with these routines, you’ll have the tools and structure you need to plan consistently and make meaningful progress toward your goals.
The Essential Functional Planning Routines
Consistency in planning isn’t about spending hours each day with your planner—it’s about following a series of routines that align your goals and priorities with actionable steps. These functional planning routines will help you break down your big-picture vision into manageable pieces so you can stay on track, day by day.
Yearly Planning Routine
Purpose: Set the vision and direction for your year.
You can’t create the life you want unless you know what that life looks like and have a plan to get there. My yearly planning routine focuses on clarifying goals and breaking them into actionable steps.
Here’s what I do:
- Set my goals for the year.
- Break larger or longer-term goals into milestones.
- Define objectives for achieving each goal and assign them to specific quarters or months.
- Populate my planner with known tasks, events, and due dates.
Quarterly Planning Routine
Purpose: Create a 90-day plan of action and check your progress.
Planning for 90 days at a time gives you enough focus to make progress while staying flexible to adjust your plans as needed.
Here’s what I do:
- Check progress toward my goals and milestones.
- Adjust plans to account for obstacles or changes.
- Generate a quarterly business plan.
- Populate action plans for the next quarter’s objectives.
- Allocate tasks to monthly trackers and master task lists.
Monthly Planning Routine
Purpose: Set reasonable expectations for what can be accomplished in a month.
Overloading your monthly to-do list is a recipe for frustration. My monthly routine ensures I have enough time to focus on what matters most.
Here’s what I do:
- Brain dump new tasks and ideas for the month.
- Populate my monthly calendar with important dates.
- Check progress on project plans.
- Fill in my monthly master task list and tracker.
- Assign important projects and tasks to specific weeks of the month.
Weekly Planning Routine
Purpose: Outline a schedule to manage tasks and expectations for the week.
The week is the perfect unit of time for time management—168 hours to allocate instead of being constrained by just 24 hours in a day.
Here’s what I do:
- Get clear on the week’s objectives and priorities.
- Assign tasks, events, and deadlines across the week.
- Create a weekly to-do list.
- Ensure I’ve planned for self-care and other essential habits.
- Optional but impactful: Check in with key people in my life to align expectations.
Daily Planning Routine
Purpose: Create a prioritized schedule for each day.
At this point, my goals and tasks are already organized, so daily planning becomes about showing up and executing the plan.
Here’s what I do:
- Review my ideal daily schedule, scheduled items, and weekly to-do list.
- Assign my top 3 priority tasks for the day.
- Identify other tasks to work on to fill my time.
- Leave white space in my schedule for unexpected items or interruptions.
Each of these routines builds on the one before, helping you move from a clear vision for your year to small, actionable steps for each day. With these routines, you can feel confident in your plans and stay consistently productive.
Tips for Sticking to Your Planner Consistently
Developing routines is essential for consistent planning, but sticking to those routines requires a bit of extra strategy. Here are some additional tips to help you integrate your planner into your daily life and make it a habit:
1. Set a Daily Planning Time Block
Dedicate a specific time each day to review and update your planner. Whether it’s first thing in the morning, during lunch, or in the evening, consistency is key. Treat this time as a non-negotiable appointment with yourself.
2. Use Reminders to Build the Habit
Set phone reminders to prompt you to plan and check in with your progress throughout the day. A morning reminder can help you set your day’s priorities, while midday and evening reminders ensure you stay on track and reflect on your progress.
3. Keep Your Planner Visible
Out of sight, out of mind! Keep your planner open and in a place where you can see and access it easily. This visual cue helps you stay engaged with your plans and reduces the likelihood of forgetting to use it.
4. Start Small
If you’re new to consistent planning, start with just one routine—like daily planning—and build from there. As you grow comfortable with the habit, add in weekly, monthly, and quarterly routines to enhance your system.
5. Make It Enjoyable
Add personal touches to your planner that make you excited to use it. Use colorful pens, stickers, or motivational quotes. When your planner feels like a tool and a source of inspiration, you’ll naturally want to engage with it more.
6. Reflect and Celebrate Progress
Take time to look back on what you’ve accomplished. Reflection not only helps you improve your planning process but also reinforces the value of using your planner consistently. Celebrate your wins—big or small!
By following these tips and pairing them with functional planning routines, you’ll turn your planner into a daily tool for focus, productivity, and progress.
Consistency doesn’t happen overnight, but with these strategies, you’ll soon find your planner becoming an essential part of your day!
Learn More About Planning for a Balanced and Successful Life
Are you ready to take your planning to the next level? If you’ve ever wondered how to balance all your work tasks, personal responsibilities, and the many other priorities in your life, my upcoming workshop is designed just for you!
Mark Your Calendar: How to Plan for a Balanced and Successful Life in 2025
🗓️ Saturday, January 18th at 12pm EST / 9am PST
In this live workshop, I’ll share:
- How I juggle work, personal life, and other key priorities without feeling overwhelmed.
- Strategies for aligning your daily plans with your long-term goals.
- Detailed guidance on how to use your planner to stay productive and focused across all areas of your life.
- Actionable tips to balance your tasks while creating time for the things that matter most.
This workshop will give you a deeper understanding of how to plan intentionally and productively, so you can approach your days with clarity and confidence.
✨ Don’t miss this opportunity to start 2025 with a clear plan and the tools you need to succeed!
Click here to register for the workshop and learn more.
Let’s make 2025 your most balanced and productive year yet! 🌟
xoxo,
