The 8-Week Planner Challenge
If you’re like us and let your routines fall to the wayside over the summer, fear not! Fall is approaching and it’s a natural time for us to get back to routine. School is back in session and the back to school feeling is in the air. This is the perfect time to revisit your planner and get back into routine with writing in it. It’s hard to believe we are entering the last few months of 2022! Now is a great time to page through your planner and find ways to enhance what you’ve already included. Today we’re sharing 8 fun, weekly challenges to enhance your planner. Take on one challenge each week and your planner will be all the richer and more reflective of your past days and months.
Weekly Challenge #1: Add photos to past posts
Photos are a great addition to your weekly pages. This week, sit down with your phone and put in a range of dates. Find photos that correspond with each week in your weekly/daily pages. You can add the photos to a folder on your phone and then submit for printing at your local photo shop or online. After you print your photos you can tape them in with fun washi tape or photo corners. Add a caption and date below your photo additions.
Weekly Challenge #2: Catch up on Year at a Glance & Month at a Glance Pages
Depending on how you use your Year and Month at a Glance Pages you may have fallen behind with recording details. Revisit each and add details where you can. Jot down the big and small events that kept you busy. You can highlight or emphasize the great moments. This applies to mood pages too! If you’ve fallen behind, revisit your weekly pages and fill in blank space where you can.
Weekly Challenge #3: Bucket lists
Check back in with your Bucket List pages. Can you add details or ratings to your list? If your Bucket List pages are still blank, consider using them to track your favorite books, movies, tv shows, and podcasts. This provides a wonderful time capsule for your year with all of your highlights collected in one place!
Weekly Challenge #4: Revisit tracking lists
This week revisit your tracking pages. This can include health pages such as wellness, mood, and measurements. You can also revisit lifestyle pages such as goals, expenses, and utilities. If you haven’t tackled these pages or fell off along the way, go back through and add in information where you can. Simply checking back in with these pages can uncover some hidden motivation to tackle and take on challenges and goals you’ve set for yourself.
Weekly Challenge #5: Highlight your weekly favorites
This week gather a pad of sticky notes and go back through your weekly/daily pages. Evaluate the week and add a sticky note highlighting the best moments and favorites you remember for that week. You might look back on a week and remember a special outing you went on, a funny moment, a fantastic recipe you tried, a show you watched or an audiobook you finished. Jot down the best of the best of that week on your sticky note. You will have an easy highlight reel of your favorites throughout the year.
Weekly Challenge #6: Revisit Meals & Meal Planning
This week is all about food! Go back through your meal planning pages and highlight favorite meals and snacks. Pick some fun art tools to mark down your favorite meals and highlights. Take this a step further and make a list of all of your highlighted favorites. This list is perfect for weeks when you have no idea what to cook or little motivation in the kitchen. Pro move! Photocopy your list and hang on your fridge for an easy snapshot of your go-to meals and snacks.
Weekly Challenge #7: Hi/Lo Reflections
This week we’re going back through each month to reflect on the best and hardest parts of the month. If you’ve included some lined or blank pages in your planner, use this space to write a short paragraph summarizing the month. Highlight what you want to remember and what challenged you. Years from now you can pull this planner off the shelf and read about your year, the best and hardest parts. If you’re struggling to write consider these simple prompts as you reflect on each month:
Describe one of your best days this month. How did you spend your time? Who was with you? What details do you remember about the day?
What has the past month taught you? What did you struggle with? How can you move forward in a positive direction?
Tell me something funny that happened this month. Can you include a quote?
Weekly Challenge #8: Letter of Encouragement
Have you ever written a letter to yourself? This week we’re giving ourselves some self-love. Loving ourselves is not always easy. Negative self-talk has a way of creeping in and pulling us down when we are overwhelmed or stressed. This week, set aside some time to write yourself a letter of encouragement. If it feels weird, think about what you would say to a good friend who is struggling or going through a tough time. What could you say to boost confidence, give encouragement, and show kindness? Place a special tab on this letter and when you are feeling low, pull this letter out and read it to yourself. Let it remind you of your power, strength, and all you are capable of.
Happy fall! Enjoy getting organized and back to routine!