My planner setup for July–December is finally finished! I made a few changes this time around, and I’m really happy with how it’s turned out.

Click any section in the contents below to jump straight to that part of my planner.

Preparation

I’ve spent the past week preparing this post and the related Instagram post.

I’ve been so busy between now and my last post. It’s hard to believe that my previous post was about the planners and journals I’m using this year.

While making new stickers for July, I thought it would be a great opportunity to show how I set up my planner. The timing was perfect because July wasn’t just the start of a new month—it was also the beginning of a brand-new six-month planner.

Inside the Cover

① Colour Legends

Consistency is important to me, so I’ve added two colour legends to the inside front cover.

The Key Values colour legend helps me quickly choose the correct highlighter and pen colours when writing my intentions and tasks.

The Colour Hex Codes list is there as a reference whenever I’m creating stickers to match each month’s theme or headers.

Yearly Overview

② Values

As this is my main planner, I wanted to focus on six key values. My reflections journal already covers my Wellness value, so there was no need to duplicate it here.

I’ve also arranged my key values in order of priority, with Home and Relationships at the top, as these are the areas I want to focus on most.

Each key value has two main intentions and one goal to help guide my progress throughout the planner.

③ Calendar

I kept the yearly calendar simple by circling special occasions. The only written entries are school events, as they’re the ones I don’t want to forget.

Monthly Log

④ Special Occasions

To make different events easy to identify at a glance, I’ve drawn coloured borders around each special occasion using my colour code system:

  • Blue – Birthdays
  • Pink – Japanese occasions
  • Orange – UK occasions
  • Honey Orange – School events

⑤ Day’s Sections

I noticed that my habit trackers were becoming overcrowded, and I wasn’t using many of them as often as I used to. Instead, I decided to make better use of my monthly log by dividing each day into five sections:

  • Subscriptions & Finances
  • Exercise
  • Entertainment, Studying & Creativity
  • Reminders
  • Special Occasions

Monthly Dashboard

⑥ Monthly Goals

This page is where I keep all my important notes, goals, and reminders. When I update my habit trackers, I can quickly review this page to see how the month is progressing.

⑦ Habit Trackers

I still update my habit trackers whenever I can. Although I don’t use them as consistently as I once did, they still give me a helpful overview.

This time I’ve split the trackers into three separate sections instead of one large block. I’ve also added a thicker line at the end of each week (Sunday), which makes it much easier to see where one week ends and the next begins.

Weekly Dashboard

⑧ Intentions

Each week, I choose three key values to focus on, aiming to complete two tasks for each one.

Starting in July, I’ve also added Highlights and Admin sections. I’m still experimenting with these to see whether they become a permanent part of my weekly layout.

⑨ Reminders, Meals

The left-hand side of the page is for important reminders, while the right-hand side is where I plan my lunches and dinners for the week.

Daily Spread

⑩ Daily Tasks

One of my favourite features of the Daily Duo planner is the hourly columns, which I use for time blocking.

The left-hand column is for my schedule, while the right-hand column is for family activities.

⑪ Prioritised Tasks

One thing I used to struggle with was having one long to-do list that felt like a wall of pressure.

Splitting my tasks into priorities has made them feel much more manageable.

Priorities: Home and Relationship tasks
Moderate: Work, Planners, Project tasks
Light: Everything else

In the Family section, I record important information for each family member, using a different colour for each person so I can quickly see who each note relates to.

Final Thoughts

I’m really happy with how this six-month setup has come together. Every small change was made to simplify my planning and make the layouts work better for the way I actually use my planner.

Now comes the fun part—putting it all into practice over the next six months. It’ll be interesting to see which changes become permanent and which ones I decide to tweak again in January.

Have you made any changes to your planner recently? I’d love to hear what has worked well for you.