I am a paper planner junkie. I am always searching for the perfect one, and every year I look forward to picking out a new planner to try out. This year I decided to try something a little different: use a bullet journal for daily and weekly planning and lists, and a Powersheets Goal Planner for big picture planning and goal-setting.
This system worked well for me this year; so much that it’s what I’m going to continue into 2021. I wanted to share a few things about the Powersheets Goal Planner and why I like it.
{look and feel}
It is nice and sturdy, with gold coils, and the pages lay flat when you open it. The cover I chose is a colorful floral print, and the tabs and included stickers (1 sheet) are bright and colorful as well.
{organization}
The first section of this planner is over 20 pages worth of guided brainstorming to help you decide what matters to you and what you want to focus on for the year. It takes time to complete this section, but I asked Aaron to take the kids one morning and I enjoyed the process of going through these pages.
After all the brainstorming pages, you’re ready to create goals for the year. It walks you through how to take what you had brainstormed and narrow it down to the goals you want to focus on. Then, you take each goal and break that down even more with mini goals and starting steps in which you give yourself deadlines.
{monthly tabs}
Each month is broken down into sections:
- The first page is a space to write out things you want to do, things you’re excited for, things you’re concerned about, and things you’re hopeful for.
- There’s a 2-page calendar spread, which I use to plug in the dates from my goal-setting pages, as well as birthdays, appointments, and other deadlines to remember. I like having a monthly calendar on paper, even though I also use Google calendar for blog planning and family appointments.
- The next page has you list out the goals you want to focus on that month (taken from your “Goals” section) and the action ideas for accomplishing the goals
- The “Tending List” page is the one I refer to all month. On that page you list all the monthly action items you want to accomplish, then items you want to do every week, and finally a section for marking off items you want to do every day.
- The last page in the monthly section is a “Month in Review” page with prompts to help you reflect on the month.
{seasonal tabs}
At the beginning of each season there is a section devoted to the upcoming time of year. Each season is a little different in its focus, but all of these sections include a “Goal Refresh” section where you reflect on different areas of your life and revisit your goals and make adjustments if necessary.
At first glance, it looked like my Goal Planner for 2021 was missing these sections, but was relieved to see that they’re still there, they just don’t have dedicated tabs separate from the other months.
{overall thoughts}
This planner and goal-setting system works really well for me. I have always loved setting goals, but this planner has really helped me to break down my goals into actionable steps that I will actually follow through on.
It does take time, especially at the beginning, to think through what you want to focus on and then write out goals, mini-goals, and smaller steps, but for me it is totally worth the time I put in.
At $60, it’s not the cheapest planning option, but because it works so well for me I find that it is money well spent.
Do you use a paper planner? What kind of planning system do you use?
