I’ve been making printables for more than 6 years (and have made over 4,000 printables in that time!). Yet I still can’t find that perfect planner. So last year I was on a mission: try 52 different planning systems (one for each week of the year). I tried a mix of pen & paper and digital planning systems. Then, at the end of the year I was going to combine all of the elements of the planners I liked throughout the year, to design a custom planner that was once and for all going to be THE planner I stuck to using.

However, it didn’t turn out that way! See: 52 Lessons learned after trying 52 different planners in 52 weeks

Spoiler: planner peace for me is trying different planners. I can’t stay loyal to one planner (I get bored.) So I’ve continued to use different planners almost every week. Sometimes I post the spreads here on the blog.

Do have a planner you’d like to suggest or want me to use a planner you’ve designed? Send me an email via [email protected] 🙂

The 52 planners in 52 weeks ‘challenge’ started as I was already taking photos of my weekly spreads to refer back to later. Since I was already taking photos and doing an analysis of how the week went at the end (what things I did and didn’t like, what I would change etc.), I figured others might find it useful and started sharing them here on the blog.

In each post I share a ‘before the pen’ photo (the planner as you see it when you buy it) and ‘after the pen’ photos after I’ve tweaked the planner to suit my needs. I don’t post a photo of what the planner looked like at the end of the week as I add personal / private things after I take the ‘after the pen’ photos. Please keep in mind that the spreads look neat at the start of the week by by the end of it I’ve usually added random scribbles, or sticky notes when I’ve run out of space etc.

Anyway, I hope you find the posts below helpful, and that they give you some ideas to adopt to your own planner!

See past week’s of the challenge:

How (and why) I pre-plan the week using the Plum Paper horizontal lined with notes layout

Week 1: Using a daily habit/routine tracker to plan your week
Week 2: Planning using daily checklists
Week 3: Plum Paper Vertical Planner – Better than the Erin Condren?
Week 4: Minimalistic planning: how to plan your week using a blank notes page and stickers
Week 5: Planning by category and task, rather than by day
Week 6: Planning using the Horizontal Erin Condren Life Planner
Week 7: Pros and cons of using a 1 Page Weekly Planner
Week 8: Weekly Planning using the Plum Paper Memory Keeper Book
Week 9: Customising the Erin Condren Hourly Planner for task based planning
Week 10: Minimalist 1 page planning using washi tape
Week 11: How to plan your week using Trello
Week 12: Planning using the Plum Paper Horizontal lined with notes
Week 13: Using a Kmart lists book to plan your week (planning by task, rather than by day)
Week 14: Using a simple, 1 page weekly planner with only 3 sections
Week 15: Trying a freehand weekly planner inspired by bullet journalling
Week 16: Minimalist 1 page categorised planning using black pen & highlighters
Week 17: Using the Plum Paper Vertical Weekly Planner
Week 17 (part 2): Daily planning using to do lists categorised by time
Week 18: Making a DIY printable planner with a flexible layout & using planner stamps
Week 19: Mi Goals Weekly Planner
Week 20: Weekly planning using only a checklist and habit tracker – download a free printable
Week 21: Using Microsoft Word to plan your week
Week 22: Using Erin Condren size planner stickers in the Mini Happy Planner
Week 23: Using Limelife Planners Weekly Layout C
Week 24: Using Erin Condren Size Planner Stickers in MAMBI Classic Happy Planner
Week 25: Using the Erin Condren Teacher Planner for weekly planner
Week 26: Using a weekly planner notepad to plan the week
Week 27: Using the Frank Horizontal Weekly Planner
Week 28: Planning the entire week using only sticky notes
Week 29: Plum Paper Me Planner
Week 30: Using the Goal Digger Planner by Susana Cresce
Week 31: Using the Ashley Shelly Planner for weekly planning
Week 32: Using an undated Officeworks A4 Horizontal Planner
Week 33: Colorful Bullet Journal Inspired Weekly Spread
Week 34: Review of the Planner Pad Weekly Planner
Week 35: Planning with a functional minimalist DIY weekly planner printable
Week 36: Using the daily and weekly Momentum Planner by Productive Flourishing
Week 36 (part 2): Trying out the Day Designer Daily Planner by Whitney English (Review)
Week 37: Using the Bloom weekly planner notepad
Week 37 (part 2): Planning using the daily plan bar method (bullet journal inspired)
Week 38: Using the Do It All Weekly Planner by Orange Circle Studio
Week 39: Weekly Planning using Studio Stationery notepad
Week 40: Using the MAMBI Happy Planner Horizontal
Week 41: Weekly planning using Microsoft Excel
Week 41 (part 2): Using the Limelife Daily Planner (free printable)
Week 41 (part 3): Daily planning bullet journal style (using a Plum Paper grid dot notebook)
Week 42: Using the Focus Journal Daily Planner
Week 43: Using the Emily Ley Weekly Plannner
Week 44: Planning the week using stamps (MAMBI, Carpe Diem & Creative Devotion)
Week 45:
- Using the priority quadrant for weekly planning
- Using the Sarah Pinto Weekly Planner
- Using the Slice Planner (daily planner + app)
Week 46: Using the Nourished Planner (free printable)
Week 47: Planning by category rather than by day using a Kikki K Notepad – ‘Work Smarter : Live Better’
Week 48: Using the Dabney Lee for Blue Sky Weekly Planner
Week 49: Using the Create Your Own Planner
Week 50: Using a landscape page orientation weekly planning notepad
Week 51: Weekly planning using only a printable to do list
Week 52: Using a Kikki K Weekly Planner

52 Lessons learned after trying 52 different planners in 52 weeks

After trying 52 planners, these were my top 7 favorite weekly planners

2018, 2019 & 2020 Planner Spreads

BULLET JOURNAL SPREADS

Digital Planning

Read all planner posts on the blog here.

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