11 Dec 2014

what I write in my planner

Each Sunday, I post a re-cap of how my week looked in my planner and I blur out a fair bit but today, I am going to reveal what some of those blurs hold. In this post, I want to show and tell what I write in my planner and why.

My Smythson binder holds my current planner and within it, I write down a vast array of things: university-related things (such as lecture times), social things, work-related things and financial things. In essence, it is my life but on paper and this is why I felt the need to blur our some more personal things (especially when it comes to financial things) but I feel this means in each weekly post, blurring out so much detracts from why I started posting my weekly spread in the first place.

So, let's start with the obvious things I write down. At the top of the right-hand side, I write down which week of the current module it is and also what that week's case is as the we do case-based learning at the medschool I am at. In each day, I write down what time there is teaching and this includes anatomy sessions, lectures, group work amongst other things. Sometimes, my friends and I opt to do some extra group work amongst ourselves (where we go through things we aren't so clear about) and this is denoted by a Martha Stewart teardrop sticker.

I also write down any financial outgoings or incomings in my diary - in the example below, I splurged on Escentual and blagged a bargain on eBay - and also where the outgoing/incoming would be going from/into. On the flip side of this, I also keep track of any returns I send back to online stores - most notably to ASOS and House of Fraser. ASOS because of their amazing free delivery and free returns service they do (so I can feed my shopping fix from home) and House of Fraser as I get vouchers for them on a regular basis.

In terms of work, I note down which shift I am meant to be doing according to a weekly rota and at the back of my binder, I also make sure I keep a record of the actual hours I did and the expected pay as a result.

Sometimes, I also decide to keep a record of what book I am currently reading and in this example, I used a strip of washi tape to help me do this.


In terms of to-dos, I note down anything and everything I want to have done by the end of that day. Sometimes, it isn't the end of the world if I don't manage to get something done - for example, in a picture above, I have 'book eye test' unchecked but that is because I had an eye test abroad in December and know that, although I am due an eye test with Specsavers here in the UK, this can wait until I am less busy.

Another thing I like to write down are TV programmes I want to watch and one of my favourite ways to do this is to draw a TV box around the name of a TV show.

Grocery lists and recipes I want to try out also make it onto my weekly pages. 


Social events usually stick out like a sore thumb as they are so few and far between! Studying obviously takes precedence, and then work because, unfortunately, money is essential to survive, which means socialising usually draws the short straw when it comes to allocation of my free time!

Blogging to-dos crop up from time to time and they usually appear in the form of 'blog: title' or 'content blog post'.

One of the things I want to improve on in the next year or so is to go to the cinema more. My list of films I want to see is pretty long and I know that I don't go often enough for my liking. Baby steps have already been taken in that I now note when films are coming out and also when to go and see them! 


If there is space in my planner, eBay sales are recorded so that I know how much I sold that week. I only sell clothes that are sitting in my wardrobe and aren't being worn on a daily basis so these sales are usually few and far between. 

Birthdays are, of course, written down in my planner! 


It has taken my quite a few years to get to this stage of knowing what to write down in my planner and what to write in my journal (which I do once a week) so I hope you've enjoyed this peek into the reasoning behind the content on my planner pages.

Are there things you record in your planner that is unique to you? Or are there things you miss out on purpose for one reason or another? :)

10 comments

  1. I don't think there is anything particularly unique in my planner. I have reminders, to dos, events, blog stuff, housework and exercise listed down. But I like that you track books and shows. I may start doing that too :-)

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    1. Every planner is unique so I don't accept your first sentence! I have to keep track of TV programmes otherwise I forget they were on hehe x

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  2. I try and keep track of everything I have to do and have done for the day in my planner. I notice that if I just put the big tasks, its easy for me to forget the small ones! Most of my week day pages look the same over and over again, and that may change in the future as I build new habits, but I need reminders of everything I need to do. I also keep my meal planning on my daily pages, so there's no excuse as to why there's nothing for dinner, ha!

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    1. No task is too little to write down :) And it's so satisfying to check something off a list, even if it is a little task :) x

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  3. Hello, I follow you at quite some time, but never comment before. :)
    You're very organized and your blog is and inspiration. You have a beautiful handwriting.
    I have a question about your planner: do you colour code it or you just go with the flow?

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    1. I colour code my university stuff, such as lectures in one colour, group work in another, anatomy sessions in another, etc. Thank you for your lovely comment :) x

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  4. Hello, I'm curious, how do you track events that are weeks or months away? Do you track them on these weekly pages or somewhere else? Love your blog!

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    1. Hi Unknown (interesting name! ;) ) - I'm not quite sure what you mean. I don't have that many events that are months or weeks away so I'm not sure it's really applicable to me! I write in distant events and I always glance a few weeks ahead at the beginning of each week so I'm aware of what's coming up soon (if that makes sense)? x

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  5. This was really interesting to see! I don't think I utilise my planner as much as you do... I tend to just stick to lecture times, work times, reminders and to-dos!

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  6. Hello from Malaysia! I stumbled across your blog on bloglovin and i absolutely LOVE the way you decorate your planner! We don't have much choices for planners here so we just have to make do with whatever there is. Mine is already falling apart, as a matter of fact :(
    I like to write my assignments and have mini to-do lists for them as it helps me do things in time and not procrastinate.

    p.s the washi tapes are so cute. I need to find me some washi tape!
    p.p.s your handwriting is cute as well ;)

    -dewiseribayu.blogspot.com

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