Planner Layouts: Find Layout Ideas for Your Planners

There are infinite numbers of ways you can design your planner layouts and bullet journal pages. You can make them artistic or utilitarian; colorful or black-and-white; fancy or plain; elaborate or simple. Read on if you’re in search of inspiration for pictures of various planner layouts, or if you need ideas for which sections you might want to include in your planner layouts.

Monthly Planner Layouts

It is beneficial to do monthly planning. I highly recommend including month-at-a-glance planner layouts in your planner or calendar, because monthly layouts allow you to easily understand and reflect on which portions of the month will be busiest and which portions might offer you down time. This can also help you to re-arrange your schedule so you can meet all your goals.


Speaking of which, a monthly planner layout is also a great place to consider writing down your monthly goals — and perhaps even outlining the actions you want to take to meet those goals.


Let’s take a look at some inspiring monthly planner layouts:


February Monthly Planner Layout Idea Including Monthly Goals List


February Monthly Planner Layout -- Photo courtesy Estée Janssens

February Monthly Planner Layout — Photo courtesy Estée Janssens


August Monthly Planner Layout With Mood Tracker


August Monthly Planner Layout With Mood Tracker. Photo Courtesy of Estée Janssens

August Monthly Planner Layout With Mood Tracker. Photo courtesy of Estée Janssens


Monthly Bullet Journal Layout or Planner Layout With Mood Tracker -- Photo Courtesy of Estée Janssens

Monthly Bullet Journal Layout or Planner Layout With Mood Tracker — Photo Courtesy of Estée Janssens


November Monthly Planner Layout Idea Including Monthly Goals List


November monthly planner spread including list of goals for the month. Photo courtesy of Estée Janssens.

November montly planner spread including list of goals for the month. Photo courtesy of Estée Janssens.

Weekly Planner Layouts

Weekly Planner Layout With To-Do List

Weekly Planner Layout With To-Do List -- Photo Courtesy of Elena Mozhvilo

Weekly Planner Layout With To-Do List — Photo Courtesy of Elena Mozhvilo


Weekly Planner Layout With To-Do List -- Photo Courtesy of Elena Mozhvilo

Weekly Planner Layout With To-Do List — Photo Courtesy of Elena Mozhvilo

Weekly Planner Layout for September With To-Do List Included

Weekly Planner Layout for the Month of September -- Photo Courtesy of  Elena Mozhvilo

Weekly Planner Layout for the Month of September — Photo Courtesy of Elena Mozhvilo

Weekly Planner Layout That Includes Inspiring Quote, Goals List, Budget Section and Many Other Sections

Weekly Planner Layout Including Goals, Budget, Blog Post Tracker and Other Sections. Photo Is Courtesy of Estée Janssens.

Weekly Planner Layout Including Goals, Budget, Blog Post Tracker and Other Sections. Photo Is Courtesy of Estée Janssens.

Planner Layout With Goals and Motivational Quote- -- Photo Courtesy of Estée Janssens

Planner Layout With Goals and Motivational Quote- — Photo Courtesy of Estée Janssens

Freehand Drawn Weekly Planner Layout

Freehand-Drawn Weekly Planner Layout -- Photo Courtesy of Estée Janssens

Freehand-Drawn Weekly Planner Layout — Photo Courtesy of Estée Janssens

Artistic Weekly Planner Layout

Weekly Planner Layout -- Photo Courtesy of Estée Janssens

Weekly Planner Layout — Photo Courtesy of Estée Janssens

Creating Your Own Planner Layouts from Scratch

If you’re staring at a couple of blank bullet journal pages or planner pages, it can be a challenge to get from there to a finished layout. If you are perplexed about where to start, let’s empower you to get going by breaking down the process step-by-step.


The first step is to figure out what you want to put in your planner layouts. The related next step is figuring out how to divide up all the information you might want to include — because you cannot fit everything on a two-page planner spread. So after you make a master list of what you want to include, then you can start mapping out how you want to break down the information into groupings of two-page planner layouts.

Deciding Which Sections to Put in Your Planner Layouts

There are infinite possibilities for sections you could put in your planner layouts. The following are just a few of the possibilities:

  • Year-at-a-glance layout
  • Month-at-a-glance layout
  • Weekly layout / Weekly schedule
  • Daily layout / Daily schedule
  • Future Log
  • Goals: Personal goals, professional goals, weight loss goals, fitness goals, health goals, artistic goals, ETC.
  • To-Do List
  • Chores
  • Errands
  • Trackers: Mood tracker, Habit trackers (water, exercise routine, vitamins/ nutrients, TV habits, getting up early, etc), Time trackers
  • Artwork and imagery: drawings, doodles, stickers
  • Quotes
  • Menu planning and meal planning; diet; calories consumed
  • Notes
  • Weather forecast / weather reality (this one is essential for both gardeners and sailors)
  • Fitness/exercise: allocate space for goals plus space to record what you actually achieved
  • Shopping lists
  • Appointments
  • List of phone calls to make and / or emails to send
  • List of places you need to go
  • Travel planner or travel bucket list
  • Budgeting
  • Faith and Spirituality — Some people plan out time for faith-related reading, church / temple / mosque attendance, religious activities, meditation, etc in a separate section, and some just include those activities in their regular daily / weekly schedule.
  • Reading list for school, reading list for work or reading list for personal enjoyment
  • Holiday or Event Planners: Wedding planner, birthday party planner, Thanksgiving menu planner / guest list, Christmas gift planner, etc.

You probably don’t need sections for all of these items. There are going to be some you wouldn’t use; if there are, definitely omit those.


Pro tip: If you’re like most people, the more things you try to track and plan, the less likely you are to track anything or actually use your planner at all. It’s therefore prudent to limit your tracking and planning to a manageable amount.


Before you include a particular section in your planner, ask yourself the following questions:

  • How much time will it realistically take me to include this section in my planner and then keep it updated each day / week / month?
  • Is this section really necessary for helping me achieve my goals (or for helping me in the pursuit of life, liberty and happiness)?

As far as I’m concerned, it’s worth omitting any section that warrants a “no” answer to question #2. For me, I know I can safely leave out things like quotes, because it takes me too much time to chase down interesting quotes and include them in my planner. But if it makes you happy to have quotes in your planner, and you have the time to prioritize searching for quotes and presenting them beautifully, then by all means, there should be a quotes section in your planner.


If you aren’t sure where to start, my advice would definitely be to start small, establish a habit of daily planning, and then expand on that habit once you have a better handle on understanding how you can make greater gains in your productivity.

How to Draw Out Your Planner Layouts

Once you’ve decided what to put in your planner layouts, the next step is to draw them out. You can either make a first draft on scrap paper or just go for it and draw it out on your planner pages.


Decide If You Want to Use Templates and Stencils, a Ruler or Just Do It Freehand


If you want everything in your journal to line up neatly and look tidy, you’ll want to use tools such as stencils, templates or a ruler to make your planner layouts. If you want a more spontaneous look, it’s also fine to draw your planner layouts freehand. There are people who do it both ways, and either way is acceptable.

So there you have it: Those are some of the most important basics you’ll want to consider when you design your planner layouts. Happy planning!

Over to You:

Which planner layouts appeal to you? Which sections and layouts do you like to include in your planner? Did we miss mentioning any essential types of planner layouts or sections people should know about? Let’s talk about it in the comments.

Learn More About Planners, Calendars, Journals and Organizers

Posted By: Amy Solovay


This page was last updated on October 31, 2021.

4 thoughts on “Planner Layouts: Find Layout Ideas for Your Planners

  1. Adria Gomez

    This is helpful, Amy, thank you. I’m new to planners so I am not sure which layouts I need to include. It looks to me like I’d need a monthly layout for sure. Then I’m not sure if I should go with a weekly layout or a daily layout? I’m with you on the quotes. That sounds like too much work to keep up with.

    Reply
    1. amysolovay Post author

      Hi Adria,
      Glad you found the post helpful. Regarding whether or not to go with a weekly or daily layout: If you commute to an office for a job that requires a lot of meetings, go with a daily layout. If your days tend to have a lot of variety, also go with a daily layout. And, on days when you have a busy day that needs a lot of planning, go with a daily layout. Otherwise, I find that a weekly layout is likely to be sufficient.

      Be aware that you don’t have to definitively choose one or the other. If you get a planner where pages can be added to it, you can default to using weekly layouts but then add in a page with a daily layout in spots where you need to plan out an especially busy day. To facilitate this, I’d recommend using a discbound planner system like a Happy Planner, Arc, Tul, Maggie Holmes or Martha Stewart planner. I think discbound planners are the best solution for maximizing productivity, but you can also accomplish this with a planner that has binder rings. You can’t do it with a spiral-bound planner.

      Hope this helps, Adria! Thanks for your comment.

      Reply
  2. Becky

    These planners are amazing! Kudos to the super talented artists who contributed to this page. I appreciate the inspiration.

    Reply

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