My New Super Simple Weekly Planning Setup
Workflows and SetupsSo, I tried bullet journaling in 2022 and then evolved into my own system mixing both analog and digital tools. But this year? I fell off the planning wagon hard. Like, barely-planned-a-thing hard.
Here are the lessons I learned from my epic planning fail:
- Too much on my plate: Digital tools let me add infinite tasks, which is a recipe for overload.
- Guilt trip: Seeing unfinished tasks made me feel paralyzed. I knew I couldn’t finish them in time but didn’t want to erase them either.
- Out of sight, out of mind: Planning is pointless if you forget to look at your plan. I always forget to check my task manager and then my notebook planner of choice.
Tasks vs. life experiences: I collected tasks more than memories, when it should be the other way around.
So, for the rest of this year, I'm starting fresh with a new setup using just three tools: Weekly Planner, Memo Pad, and Reminders App.
Weekly Planner
![](https://scribbles.page/rails/active_storage/representations/proxy/eyJfcmFpbHMiOnsibWVzc2FnZSI6IkJBaHBBdjExIiwiZXhwIjpudWxsLCJwdXIiOiJibG9iX2lkIn19--86735841bec06b0b7473cdfdec28a0b9d7872a47/eyJfcmFpbHMiOnsibWVzc2FnZSI6IkJBaDdDRG9MWm05eWJXRjBTU0lKYW5CbFp3WTZCa1ZVT2hSeVpYTnBlbVZmZEc5ZmJHbHRhWFJiQjJrQ0FBaHBBZ0FHT2dwellYWmxjbnNIT2dwemRISnBjRlE2REhGMVlXeHBkSGxwWkE9PSIsImV4cCI6bnVsbCwicHVyIjoidmFyaWF0aW9uIn19--fa3dbe24e376882dfd8c9dddfec0441143a8bd41/IMG_6076.jpeg)
I use Kinbor, the budget-friendly knockoff of Hobonichi Planner, as my weekly planner. I also have Hobonichi Weeks which I use for memory keeping at the end of the month.
My system is simple:
- Left side: Time blocking space.
- Right
side: Tasks that will get transferred to available time slots.
At the beginning of each week, I'll list all the tasks I want to do, prioritize them, block my time accordingly, and transfer them into my calendar or reminders app. Then I'll write a weekly reflection at the end of the week.
Memo Pad
This is my daily reflection tool for the week.
![](https://scribbles.page/rails/active_storage/representations/proxy/eyJfcmFpbHMiOnsibWVzc2FnZSI6IkJBaHBBdjUxIiwiZXhwIjpudWxsLCJwdXIiOiJibG9iX2lkIn19--bef61f1eb85a12e7643813c47cd294a6e5b03cd3/eyJfcmFpbHMiOnsibWVzc2FnZSI6IkJBaDdDRG9MWm05eWJXRjBTU0lKYW5CbFp3WTZCa1ZVT2hSeVpYTnBlbVZmZEc5ZmJHbHRhWFJiQjJrQ0FBaHBBZ0FHT2dwellYWmxjbnNIT2dwemRISnBjRlE2REhGMVlXeHBkSGxwWkE9PSIsImV4cCI6bnVsbCwicHVyIjoidmFyaWF0aW9uIn19--fa3dbe24e376882dfd8c9dddfec0441143a8bd41/IMG_6072.jpeg)
- Top of the page: Write down the date and jot down The Weekly
Highlights at the end of the week.
- Bottom of the page: List the four most important things to get done that week.
At the end of each day, I'll write down up to three highlights of the day. If there's a specific task for a particular day, I'll note it in the right corner and erase it when it's done.