The secrets to curating the ultimate planning system for 2024 that will save you a lot of money.

Are you feeling overwhelmed by all the 2024 stationery releases? Before you buy any more stationery this year for 2024, read this. We have some tips, and a different planning perspective and approach to share with you that might just save you a lot of money.

So it’s that time of the year, all your favorite stationery shops are releasing their 2024 range and you’re trying to decide which supplies to grab and where. There are so many amazing options, we’re nothing short of amazing planner shops out there. 

I’ve been a planner for over a decade, like serious planning, not just 'my teacher forced me to buy a diary from the Newsagency to write down my homework' planning, and having tried multiple systems, I’d like you to consider your planning systems with the below approach:

1. What is your focus for 2024? 

Reflect on this year so far. How has it been? How are your goals tracking, did you even set goals? Have a review of 2023 and make a decision on your area of focus for the upcoming year. Do you want to double-down on taking control of your finances, are you finally ready to make a real commitment to your health and fitness, do you want to focus on improving your mental health? Write this down.

If you need help thinking about some areas of focus, our productivity planner starts with this every week. Just have a look below and grab some ideas.

2. How in depth are you going with each area of focus?

Now that you have your focus areas, think about how in-depth you want to go with each area. This will help you decide how you organise your planning system and setup to keep you on track.

Think about your needs, in terms of space and layouts - do you write everything in detail or just make brief notes. Is the area of focus a section in your planner, or do you need a whole planner to keep track of everything? Maybe you need to dedicate a whole planner to your finances, because you’re managing your personal finances along with your household and you follow a cash-envelope system. Maybe you just need a section in your planner to set a budget and keep track of your expenses.

The goal is not to have a planner for every single thing (though you could if you wanted to), but rather to streamline your planning, so you actually make use of your tools.

3. Okay, NOW you decide on your inserts. 

Usually, this is where we start, but because we’ve taken some preliminary steps to reflect and be intentional about our year, this step should hopefully be easy and less overwhelming.

Now let's figure out what inserts we need. Make a list or table of your areas of focus and write down the inserts or layouts you need to help you stay on track. Think about how many inserts you need for these areas of focus, and start grouping them into sections of your planner (or new planner if required). This will tell you how many planner/s you need. Note down the shops that carry the layouts that suit your needs most and shop from there. 

Remember, the perks of having a planner means you can mix and match and curate something personalized to you. Let your needs dictate what you buy instead of the other way around. Hopefully with this method, you can be more intentional with your planning and put together a system that works for you.

I’ve popped an example for you below of my planning system for 2024 that I put together in good old Excel. Feel free to copy it as is, but I’ve also added it as a template in our August Freebie folder for our email subscribers.

Hopefully this helps, because it’s time to find planner peace.