What I LOVE about This Planner!
- Samantha Harper
- Jan 12
- 6 min read
Have you ever fallen into the black hole of the extremely pretty and perfect planner Pinterest images?.... (pppssstttt.... if you havn't don't go look you'll be there for hours, its a true story!) Really, they make you think Ive got to go get all these things to do my planner right this year! If I do it right and I like the way it looks then I will stick to it! Right? Nope sorry, didn't work for me. I have been buying planners for years.... Cheap ones, Expensive ones, Small ones, and Big ones. I used them for about a week.... maybe and they sat on my desk in our office and got piled up with stuff.... (anyone else?)
Well as I spilled most of my 2026 life changing secrets, in last week's post, I wanted to share with you a Planner that fits me pretty well. (if you missed it click the below button to go get all the golden nuggets from it)
It is Jill Winger's The 2026 Old Fashioned on Purpose Planner! (I'll provide a link to grab it below) Her brand "Old Fashioned on Purpose" just speaks to my soul... In my season of life, well really my past 3-5 years of life I have been searching for what my soul needs and where God is leading me. I have found a whole host of great podcasts that have guided me into a nitche that is entirely what I need and this year. So in September of 2025 I preorderd Jill's Planner after watching her videos on how she uses her planner. I knew I wasn't a live or die by my planner type of gal, but I felt the whispers. I ordered through her publisher Homestead Living and waited.... December came and I got my planner! Now I had bought another big planner at walmart to get buy but it wasn't as broken down as I needed. But I practiced there.... and the week of January 1st and I transferred over.
Love's & Changes I Would Make
First, off this planner starts with picking a word for the year.... while that sinks in, I will share mine with you. Intentionality. I spent a few days before January deciding no matter what happens this year, how I want this year to define me. From websters online dictionary, it means "Being Deliberate, purposeful, and aware in my actions, aligning them with my goals, values, and desired outcomes. Involving conscious thought, planning, and a clear sense of my "why."" Choosing my word of Intentionality for this year allows me to choose to be present when with family so those moments no matter how mundain become cherisable, but the same goes for friends, customers, and even strangers. It also translates into my every day tasks and determination with this planner.
JUST YESTERDAY, it was my second chicken day and with about 3 hours sectioned out for it, and after I got done filling feeders. I looked at my pens and was like I really need to replace that net over that pen... it has all sorts of holes in it, my birds could begin to escape.... Ooo but if I do that, I can't get into this corner because of this old pallet fort I built for them, that I stuck in the corner... so I'll need to tear that down and then they need a place to sleep so I won't be able to stop there, I'll have to build them a place to sleep again... Do you see where this was going?
I Did! And I Stopped and thought what does my planner say? And it said Pics of Sale Pullets then Extra Lights in Coop. I literally, was about to reprioritize my life in the moment with things I knew needed done as well and totally miss out on what I had planned for this week. In the above picture ( this weeks tasks) I have Sunday with those tasks which Tuesday's tasks depend on Sundays's pictures of sale pullets being done to do! I almost missed that boat entirely! Having that key word and my choice in that word have really set this year apart already for me!
Next is the Goals page! She keeps the bullet points here pretty short and simple and I filled it up, and added more in the margins on the next page, but I love having that Intentionality again of having listed my goals for this year. There are also more pages that can be used for monthly goals, which I do as well.
Probably, my MOST FAVORITE part is this page on each month before the weekly spreads.
She puts an area in here to get all that stuff bouncing around in your brain out on paper, then pick through that and recognize your priorities, then break any of those projects you need done, into simpler tasks. That way you can get that checkbox endorphines high! I have a lot for January, and I probably won't get it all done, but I might get steps of them done and I can then apply these plans to the weekly spread, by being REALISTIC about the time it takes to get certain tasks done.
She also has TONS of pages for notes that can be taken on or more Brain Dump/ Planning spots. One of these pages before the months start, I am using for Bible Verses & Quotes that speak to me.
She has a blank habit tracker and a Blank My Lists page for each month, right now I am using part of the My List's to put in Birthdays for next month and if I need to make or get presents for them.
Jill also added Monthly Budget page with income spots, monthly expensense, other expenses, and totals. Has the normal Monthly Spread for each Month with each month ending with a blank page at the end of that specfic week, where maybe it should say "Reflections". That is probably what I will title it anyways and reflect back on all aspects of that month.
But the Most Useful part of this Planner is the weekly spreads.
As you can see, I have changed a few things based on my family's needs specfically. We rarely eat breakfast, lunch is usually sandwiches or leftovers, so Dinner is the only spot I need. Seeing Dinner "plans" for each day allows me to be able to be less overwhelmed when its 5pm and I am wondering what is for dinner... have yall been there?
I also moved dinner up to the top and put my power hours tasks up there. Lately, I have been EXCITED and REFRESHED in the mornings. Waking up before my alarms, sometimes way before the alarm. Usually, I wake up about 5am, but sometimes its 4am like this morning. I am awake and thinking about how I can further my dreams and goals for this year. Maybe its because I have this checklist endorphine high... seeing these tasks get checked off or putting a line through them in my case. But the 5 & 6 o clock am hours are for me to put in the mental work as I sip my warm cup of coffee with my natural creamer in it. Yumm.
I keep this planner with me. I am not a purse gal... I am a backpack gal. And Scott, bought me a Carhartt burgundy backpack that has a laptop sleeve, so perfect for this full sized planner. It also has a cooler/ wet compartment completely insulated with great stiching and design. I can fit 6 water bottles in it! Freeze one of them and they will all stay cold! It also has a dry compartment as well above the cooler spot. I will link to it as well, incase you are backpack gal too! (Men, you could defintly rock this one too). But it was very important for me to have ONE BAG, that could hold my water when out on the ranch in our different locations and be able to safely keep my planner and notes from any wetness that could seep in. I went with Carhartt because of their brand's dependability and I did not want to take the chance on any cheap products on Amazon this time. I heard someone say, you should look at some of the clothes you buy in money per wear value. So if you buy an expenisve dress, but never wear it or only wear it once then its value in your closet is what you paid for it. But if its a dress that cost $200 but you wear it once a month then its cost per wear is roughly $17 per month. Twice a month? ~$8/ wear. So I paid $120 for this particular backpack BUT, I use it everyday, so its wear value is .32 cents per day for the entire year. And it is built so well, I bet I will get multiple years out of it. Yikes! Maybe I just unleashed a spending splurge... but I hope it gives you that approval you need to wear that expensive outfit you feel great it more often!
Don't forget to subscribe below so you get my blog updates, but mainly so you can get first notice of when I have birds, chicks, or hatching eggs available.
Here are the links to the planner and the backpack as well! Hope your 2026 Season will be as Intentional as mine.
Comments