I’m trying to answer more reader FAQ’s here on the blog. One of the questions I’ve been asked is what to do when you run out of space in your planner? So here are my suggestions!
1. Sticky notes
The quickest and easiest option on this list – add some sticky notes!
Planning the entire week using only sticky notes
Or make your own with some washi tape
Using the daily and weekly Momentum Planner by Productive Flourishing
2. Use a discbound notebook
You’re probably already aware of MAMBI’s discbound Happy Planner but there are plenty of other discbound notebooks to choose from (see this post). Since you can add, remove and rearrange pages as often as you like it’s ‘impossible’ to run out of space!
- Guide to Discbound Planners & Frequently Asked Questions
- ARC by Staples versus MAMBI – Which discbound system is better?
3. Separate notebooks
I keep most things in separate notebooks:
- Blog post ideas (and separate pages for each post type)
- Reference notebook – insurance info, password log etc.
- Weekly planner (I rotate to a different one almost every week)
- List notebook – usually in my ARC – just a bunch of flexible list pages pre-printed for whenever the occasion arises
- Project / goals notebook (although I do dabble with separate planners for this too such as the Mi Goals)
- I used to keep a separate notebook for budgeting but have since switched to spreadsheets I made in Excel
Read more: Choosing sections for your planner: what to keep in your weekly planner versus a household binder
My current favorite book for lists are the A5 ARC and the MAMBI Happy Notes.
Happy Notes Half Sheet Review + DIY Half Sheet Printable Inserts
4. Consolidate
Most people tend to use their planner for budgeting and add reminders on their monthly calendar when things a due. The boxes of a traditional monthly calendar are quite small, so instead, use a bill checklist – all of your bills broken down by month on 1 page… super space saver!
This bill checklist is in the free printables library
Similarly, monthly habit trackers save tons of space and make it easier to see which habits (or routine tasks) you need to focus on improving. Download a free printable habit tracker here.
Read more: 12 Planner Layout Ideas for Monthly Habit Tracking in Your Bullet Journal
5. Stop Duplicating
Writing things that are due on the monthly view and again on the weekly.
Another space waster: writing out recurring tasks. Just use a colored dot sticker and a key instead. Or abbreviate the task name to a number or a letter. For my blog post workflow, I use letters to represent each task. D = post drafted, E = post edited etc.
You could also switch to using a message board or a family calendar rather than keeping your entire family’s plans in your planner.
Related: How to use the monthly notes pages of your planner
6. Washi Tape Flaps
A strip of washi on 1 side means you can still write underneath:
I tried this when I used the Passion Planner
7. White out
I use white out (specifically, white out tape) all the time. Since most planners are made in the USA and I’m in Australia, a lot of the holidays aren’t relevant to me which is where white out comes in handy. Some planners also have the entire world’s holiday’s printed. The Leuchtturm has country codes printed on the weekly, which reference a worldwide holidays chart. A good idea in theory… but it wastes a lot of space.
Leuchtturm 1917 Weekly Planner Review
8. Use more pages
Maybe you’re running out of space because you’re using 1 page to plan the week.
9. You’re planning too much
Move some things to your reference book.
Or start recording the expected time and the actual time it took you to do tasks. Time blocking and scheduling things in an hourly planner may help too!
This printable is from the checklists kit in my shop.
10. Use smaller line spacing
Most planners tend to have about 0.25″ line spacing. A few that have lines closer together are:
- Unique Planner
- Milligram A5
- Agendio (you choose the line spacing)
Rainbow and Neutral Weekly Planner Spread Using the Unique Planner
11. Use a horizontal planner
The main problem I have with vertical planners is that they just don’t have enough space. By the time you write a task you use half the box and need multiple lines. I always fit more on the page when using horizontal planners, or even better, the planners with days of the week on 1 page and a lined notes page or list on the other page.
Related: How to choose the right horizontal weekly layout for you
My all time favorite type of weekly spread -1 page days of the week + lines on the right
Life Inspired Weekly Planner Review (Lined Horizontal + Checklists Layout)
12. Use lined writing space
I tend to find my handwriting is bigger when writing in an unlined planner (and also ends up crooked!).
If there are other FAQ’s you’d like answered, please comment below with your question!
More helpful posts:
- 10 Reasons why I plan using printables (and why you should too!)
- How to choose the right habit tracker for your planner
- Choosing sections for your planner: what to keep in your weekly planner versus a household binder
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Love your blog! I was wondering if you are familiar with the STIL Bumble planner? I am in love with the beautiful yellow color and I really want a hardbound planner. I’m just afraid that the writing space is too small. Any thoughts?
Hi Anita,
Glad you’ve found my blog helpful 🙂
The STIL planner is on my list. I like the layout of the Bumble Planner too! The task list is an entire page so you’d only need the daily section for appointments. You could number the tasks and just write the number in the day’s box that you intend to do that task. Saturday and Sunday are combined but you could add a sticky note if you run out of room to write.
The AUD – US exchange rate is quite low at the moment so I’m holding out on buying a lot of planners (including the STIL planner) in the hopes there’ll be some good Black Friday sales later this year.
Love your blog. I find that I am a minimalist also. A busy life with a side hustle dictates that I need functionality rather than creativity. How do you switches between multiple planners, especially for your weekly tasks? Do you leave the dates blank until you use it and then date it?
Hi Robin,
I use a mix of dated and undated weekly planners. It doesn’t bother me if a dated planner has expired, I just use date dot stickers or whiteout and re-number. I do big picture planning using project planning printables, monthly planning (list format for each day, not traditional box calendar layout), running lists organized by theme (e.g. videos to film for the blog), last time I did (e.g. cleaning), excel spreadsheets to organize travel planning etc. I refer to all of those and then pluck out things from each to add to the weekly spread.