This page may contain affiliate links. This means that if you click on a link and make a purchase then I will receive a small commission. You can see my full disclosure here.
It’s a magical time of year when all the planner girls and guys decide on their new planner or planners for the new year. I love the fresh start feeling that goes along with a new set of planners. In this post I’ll be talking about my 2022 Planner Setup and what planners I am going to use for (at least the beginning of) 2022, along with how I plan to use them.
Don’t you just love when we get to set up our new planners for a brand new year? I absolutely do! There’s just something about it that makes me believe that this will be the year I finally get my life together. 😂
I know you know what I’m talking about.
But regardless of the crazy and unexpected spins that a new year often gives us, having my new planners ready to go is essential in not actually going crazy in the first 3.2 seconds of the year.
Each year my setup changes just a little. But I’m getting into a groove where not much is changing year to year anymore. I still love trying new planners (and I have one of those in here this year), but I’m thankful to say that I’ve found a system that seems to be working. At least for this time in my life. I know as well as anyone that things can change and sometimes your planner needs change too. And that’s totally okay.
IF you want to see my planners in more detail, also check out my YouTube video where I go through each one.
My 2022 Planner Setup
Daily Planner
In the past I have used the Daily Petite Planners from Erin Condren (which I still love!). But when they came out with the A5 sized Daily Duo, I decided to make the switch. I even still love the Petite Daily layout better (I don’t really need times in my daily), but having it on a coil makes it so much easier to use on a regular basis, because it can stay open and not take up a lot of room on my desk.
Having a daily planner in my 2022 planner setup is essential for me. I love having all the extra room to write all the things that I think of during the day. And then when the page gets busy and overwhelming, I move on to the next day.
Weekly Planner
When I started using a daily planner, I thought that would eliminate my need for a weekly planner. But I found myself getting confused and not able to plan well without the weekly view.
So I’m starting the year with the ultimate of weekly planners (you’ll understand what I mean in a minute), and we’ll just see where it goes through the year.
This year I combined the Erin Condren LifePlanner with the MakseLife 6 month undated inserts. I love both layouts, and wanted to try both to see which worked better for me. This is purely experimental, and I will continue to evaluate it over time and see if I want to continue to use both, or just pick one.
See more about how I combined the Erin Condren LifePlanner and the MakseLife Planner here
I have a few ideas of how I can use the second layout. But really, my main purpose of putting them together wasn’t because I needed extra planning space, but because I wanted to try both. It might seem excessive. But this is how I figure out what works for me.
You can see more about how I combined the two planners in this YouTube video. If this is something that you think you would be interested in doing, I highly recommend checking out the video because it was not as easy as it seems like it would be (the pages aren’t the same size and I had to make some adjustments- just for starters). There were a few times along the way when I didn’t know if it would work.
I’ve loved the Erin Condren LifePlanners for years! And for the past few months, I’ve really been enjoying a very simple weekly planning with the EC Focus Planner, which is horizontal. The monthly note pages right after the calendars have also become helpful to me and I didn’t want to part with that. Plus, I’m kind of obsessed with the tab colors of the Flora design.
But I’ve also been really intrigued by the MäksÄ“Life Planner and the goal setting system inside. I love Sierra’s design of the goals being incorporated through the planner, and included with each week. That is something that I felt is missing with the Powersheets Goal Planner. I need a space to choose weekly goals too.
We’ll see how this goes. I don’t know how it will end up, but right now I’m really excited to give this a try in my 2022 planner setup.
On-the-Go Folio (Traveler’s Notebook Style System)
I absolutely love the On the Go Folios and Petite Planners from Erin Condren! I just can’t imagine my 2022 planner setup without it! The size, the feel, and the customization of including the books you need in the Folio (which is pretty much a Traveler’s Notebook style system) are just amazing.
I’ve been using these products for years, and there’s only one of the four petite planners that I’m switching out of my Folio (find the black leopard print one here) for 2022.
I don’t even remember which one I took out, because I never used it anyway (it was probably an empty plain notebook). But here are the books that I’m including in my On the Go Folio for 2022:
Monthly Planner
This Monthly Petite Planner is the one I use for work. This version has 18 dated months (July 2021-Dec 2022) and then a bunch of notes pages behind it. It is ideal for what I need at work.
My job is (in part) payroll and maintaining the iPads that our employees use. This planner works perfectly for 1. tracking my own hours, 2. tracking the employee’s days off & PTO, and 3. having a reference of important info I need, along with space for meeting notes.
Meal Planner
The Petite Meal Planner has my favorite meal planner layout ever. I do customize it a little for how I like to plan, but it works so well for me and has the perfect amount of space for writing what I need.
Plant Journal
This Plant Journal is the new planner that replaced the one I don’t remember. I’ve been making our garden more of a focus lately, and I love that I can track what each plant needs in this Petite Planner.
You may also be interested in:
2021 Erin Condren Petite Planner Launch
Wellness Journal
Another one of my favorite layouts is the Wellness Log Petite Planner. It has space to track your meals, activity, sleep, water, and steps. It has been nice to have a place to keep all this info together, and it is just one of my favorite “sub-planners” to use.
Goal Planner
In addition to using the MäksÄ“Life Planner, I’m also going to continue to use the Powersheets Goal Planner for my third year. Powersheets has been really helpful for me. It allows me to have one place that is completely dedicated to my goals. And the monthly preview, brainstorm, and tending list allow me to think about the goals that I want to set each month, and if each goal is a one time action, or something that is repeated weekly or daily.
You may also be interested in:
2022 Powersheets Goal Planner Review
Finance Planner
This year I’ve put my finance planner into a 3 ring notebook. Again. I did this in 2020 and it worked well. But last year I decided to make it more compact so I spiral bound it. I loved that too, but there were some features of the 3 ring binder that I missed.
First, I like to put my paystubs in with each month. This is not only a great place to store/file them, but it also makes it easy to reference the numbers on them when I need to.
Second, If I need to adjust something through the year, it makes it really easy to have it in a binder. I ended up uncoiling and recoiling my finance planner a couple times last year to make adjustments. Just having it in the binder makes it feel like I have more freedom to change anything that isn’t working through the year.
Also, because I budget for each paycheck (approximately), if my pay frequency ever changes through the year, I can add or remove extra budget pages.
Both last year and this year I’ve combined two different sets of printables to create my finance planner.
Content Planner
I got a little experimental the past couple of years trying to make a weekly planner work for my content (blog and YouTube) planner. As excited as I was about both of them, it just wasn’t something that worked for me.
So I simplified it this year and I’m going with what I have ended up using both years anyway- an Erin Condren Monthly Planner.
I love this option because it has the monthly divisions and calendar. Instead of weekly pages, it just has lined note pages which are perfect to just jot down anything that I need for that particular month. Every month my needs change in this area and different things are going on. Having that blank space that I can make into whatever I need has been the perfect solution.
Why I Use So Many Planners
The short version is that it is what works for me. But of course it’s more complex than that if you want to look at why.
Everyone is different, and everyone has a different life situation that they need to plan for. What works for me, may not be what works for you. And that’s exactly as it should be.
I get stressed out when I try to remember too many things and keep them in my head (and I forget easily). I also get stressed out when I don’t know where to write down those things I want to remember. Or know where to find them later. Because of this, I tend to need a lot of room to write.
Some things I like to have together. Some I like to keep separate. Two things I have realized definitely need to have their own planners are my finances and my blog & YouTube planning. There is just too much to write to keep all of these in the same planner.
I love the Powersheets system for goals, but I also love that MäksēLife puts your goals in with your regular planning.
This is the way that works well for the way I think. It helps me to stay organized, know where to write things, and where to find them later. But I know this because I’ve tried a lot of things. I pay attention to what is working and what doesn’t. If I start a planner and then never want to use it, then I know its a system that doesn’t work for me. I need to find things that make me excited to use them. And are functional for the way my brain works.
Starting the Year with My 2022 Planner Setup
I’m so excited to be using these planners for 2022 planner setup! I also love that many of these are similar to planners I’ve already been using. It almost doesn’t even feel like I’m going into a new planner. Which just makes it easier because I’ve already found my groove in it.
I hope to keep you updated each month how each planner is working (or not working).
*Spoiler alert… There was something that didn’t work at all. Take a guess and then click the link below to see if you were right!* 😂
You also might be interested in: February 2022 Planner Update: Taking a Planner Break
What planner or planners are you using this year? I’d love to hear all about it!
