For week 50 of the 52 Planners in 52 Weeks Challenge, I considered doing a bullet journal spread but the thought of coming up with a creative bujo layout seemed like too much effort. I wanted something already done so I could just plug in the information and get to work on implementing the plan! Most of this week was spent finalising the Create Your Own Planner Kit so I didn’t need too much space for planning.

I was not compensated for this post. I purchased the planner myself and all opinions are my own. 

Setting up the week

I found this notepad on Amazon (for only $10USD!) and liked the in-built habit tracker, priority section and to do list. I thought the proportions would be perfect to use as as blog planner! The notepad is by a brand called Peachly.

Most planners tend to be portrait page orientation. After having tried a couple of landscape page orientation planners over the past couple of years (in the form of printables I’d made), I like the extra column width / writing space they offer for weekly planning.

The notepad is A4 page size.

I did end up filling the sidebar so just used a sticky note for over-flow tasks.

Related: Ultimate planner page size guide (with printable reference cheat sheet) 

The notepad has a built in habit tracker – very convenient!

I stuck with my usual blog post workflow:

• D = Draft
• E = edited
• I = Images
• D = Digital download created
• P = Pinned to Pinterest

Related: Using the Mi Goals planner for monthly blog post content planning 

I also color coded although there weren’t too many things to keep track of this week so I probably didn’t need to… It did add a nice pop of color to the page though!

• Pink = blogging
• Purple = personal & habit tracking
• Blue = product (the Create Your Own Planner Kit)
• Yellow = little things (quick tasks)
• Red = priority

Related: How to color code bill paying in your planner (7 different ways) 

Pens Used

I used the Uni Pi’s pens. They’re dual tip with a fine tip on one end (this is the tip I used) and a fat marker style tip on the other end (which I use for writing titles).

Related: Favorite pens for writing headings in my planner 

The yellow ink of most pens is hardly visible but this pen brand is easy to see 🙂

There was bad bleed through on the back side of the page but no ink ended up on the next week’s page below so not a big deal.

Related: Cheap versus expensive pens: is there actually a difference in quality? 

Pros of planning using a notepad

• Almost always come undated so you can start planning anytime
• Don’t have to carry around an entire planner – you can just tear off the page and take it with you
• Affordable
• This notepad had lined writing space which helped keep everything neat and tidy!
• Rather than having to open and close a planner all the time, with a notepad you can just glance at it and all your plans are right there, neatly laid out
• Don’t pay for extras pages you may not need (like dates at a glance pages, tabs, contacts pages, notes pages etc. that tend to come standard with traditional planners)

Cons of planning using a notepad

• Likely to run out of room – since notepads are only 1 page you’ll probably end up needing a sticky note for the overflow (like I ended up doing).
• No monthly calendar or add on pages, although you could tear the week off the notepad and add to a notebook (my favorite is the ARC discbound). Another option is to punch on the left side of the page (the shorter side) and then fold it if you’re using a smaller notebook

Like this:

Related:  10 Quick planner hacks you need to try (planning tips & inspiration)

Would I use this notepad again?

Yes, I quite liked this notepad! Most weekly planning notepads only have space to plan the days of the week and don’t include a sidebar or habit tracker.

Planning using a notepad would be ideal if you:

• Just need to jot down a few things each day
• Don’t want to pay the cost of a planner
• Don’t need all the extras that come with a traditional planner
• Use in conjunction with a digital planner
• If you like to use a whiteboard / dry erase monthly calendar but pen and paper to plan your week
• Need a family calendar (you could add a strip of magnetic tape to the back of a notepad and put it on your fridge)

Catch up on past week’s of the challenge

• Week 17 (Part 2): Daily planning using to do lists categorised by time 
• Week 18: Making a DIY printable planner with a flexible layout 
• Week 42: Using the Focus Journal Daily Planner 
• Week 47: Planning by category rather than by day using a Kikki K Notepad – ‘Work Smarter : Live Better’

More planning posts

• Ashley Shelly Planner Review – Weekly Planner (pros, cons and a walkthrough)
• 7 Planner supplies I don’t regret splurging on
• How to make a planner bookmark (DIY Page Markers Tutorial)
• 5 expensive pen brands that are worth the money (I have no regrets for splurging on them!)