Notes pages bookend most daily and weekly planners you’ll find on the market, and they are often interspersed at the end of each month in your planner. Unfortunately, I find planner notes pages are neglected, or at least under appreciated. Notes pages are precious real estate in our planners! And there’s so much you can do with them. One of my most frequently asked questions is – how can I better use my notes pages to complement my planning? I’m here to share 15 ideas with you to turn your notes pages from boring white space to the first place you turn in your planner!

1. Routine Tracker

   There’s a reason the cottage industry of coaches and consultants so heavily emphasizes creating routines and habits within your day. We are the routines and habits that make up our lives. And one of the truths of behavioral psychology is that if we track things, we’re more likely to keep up with them and complete them consistently. Change comes over time, which is why a routine tracker is so helpful. I keep a list of the habits I’m tracking and ‘X’ out each day of the month I completed my habit. Keeping a streak alive, no matter how small the habit, is a great feeling.

2. Home Improvement

   Are you in the middle of a major home renovation? Or are you / your partner a constant project person when it comes to your home space? Consider transforming your notes page into a tracker for the timelines and action items you need to complete this home improvement around the house. Pair this with an expense tracker (see #5) if you’re sourcing your own materials or pricing out your project.

3. Vision boards

   I love using dot-grid notes pages to assemble beautiful vision boards, but lined pages do just fine, too! Having a vision board in your planner will keep your goal and vision front and center at all times. Maybe you keep it low-tech and snip pictures and quotes from magazines, or you use a dedicated photo printer; either way, we do better when we can visualize the end-state we seek. Vision boards are best when you have notes pages at the front or back of your planner, rather than between months.

4. Family schedules (school, work, professional)

   As your family grows and goes through different seasons, everyone’s schedule will change with each new planner you move into. Keep track of their fixed schedules in one place as a central reference point. You’ll never have to flip far to remember when the kids have practice, when their third period class gets out, or where your partner’s Tuesday night bowling league is this week.

5. Budget / purchase tracker

   If keeping a ledger in your checkbook or tracking your finances digitally isn’t your cup of tea, you may want a space in your planner. Notes pages were made for this type of regular check-in, and you can structure the page as you see fit! Color coordinate with highlighters and pens to demarcate the different expense categories.

6. Recipes you want to try

   I love keeping a dedicated “to try” recipe page in my planner to help when my partner and I sit down on the weekend to meal plan for the next week. This saves us so much time deciding what to cook for the week. Take the guesswork and decision-making out of meal planning by sprinkling one of these recipes into your normal meal rotation.

7. Family favorite meals

   As with the “to try” recipe list from above, keeping a favorite meals notes page will make the meal planning process much easier for you and your family. Grocery shopping is cut down considerably when you build next week’s meal plan around a few old faithful dishes you know bring down the house.

8. Travel / trip ideas

   If you live to travel or just love to travel, you probably have trip ideas swirling around your head all the time. Keep track of these ideas in one dedicated place. Trips are more likely to happen if you keep them front of mind and physically manifested somewhere. When February rolls around again and you’re dreaming of warmer days, you can make one of these plans a reality for a quick winter escape, or plan a more intentional trip for summertime.

9. Cleaning log

   When is the last time you deep cleaned behind your refrigerator? If the answer is never, you’re in the same boat as like… 95% of America. You don’t have to be an obsessive cleaner to keep track of the “spring cleaning” type tasks (e.g. cleaning your oven, sweeping behind the fridge, or cleaning the baseboards) that come around periodically. Use your notes page as a reference and tracker to buckle down and keep your space in tip-top shape!

10. Workout / wellness tracker

    I put this idea to the test the last time I trained for a marathon by creating a notes page running tracker! I took one of the marathon training plans and transposed it into my planner, using the opposite side of the spread to track my progress and stay motivated. You don’t need a big race or event to use a wellness tracker, either. Everyone’s wellness journey is unique and aspects may need to be tracked to help you feel accomplished and accountable.

11. Reading log

    A reading log could be for you, or if you have a young child at home learning to read! It’s a wonderful way to keep track of the progress you make on books, along with some brief observations and thoughts about the books. I also keep a column for where I got the book or from whom, to write them a thank you note if the book changed my perspective for the better!

12. Project pages

    Planning a major life project – short of a wedding, perhaps – is a perfect idea for a notes page. Like the home improvement notes page, track your objectives, timeline, deadlines, and action items on a project page. Of course, please don’t forget to leave some space to reflect on what worked and what didn’t, too!

13. Gift ideas

    Staying on top of the many birthdays, anniversaries and holiday gifts is hard enough if you can barely remember what you got your sister for her birthday two weeks ago. This notes page is in my planner each year because gifts and gift-giving is so important to me and my family. I list the most important people in my life, their birthdays and anniversaries, leaving ample space to fill in what I bought them and how much it cost.

14. Date nights

    There’s nothing wrong with recycling the same few date nights, of course! But if you’re looking to introduce a new place to your relationship, a date night ideas page will help you and your partner see more of the city or area you live in!

15. Goals / Quotes

    If you don’t have a dedicated goal-setting planner like the Mäksēlife planner, that is completely fine! Using your notes pages allows you to apply your own goal-setting methodology to your planner to help you set and achieve your goals. I especially recommend using the monthly notes pages if your planner has them, as you’re more likely to see progress towards your larger yearly goals with regular check-ins each month. Additionally, if quotes motivate you, try making an inspiration page of your favorite words and phrases.

Have you found a creative and functional way to use your planner’s notes pages? Let me know if you’ve tried any of these ideas, or any of your own, to take you planning to the next level!