One of the most common questions I get asked is about how to make use of the notes pages that are a standard feature in most planners. Notes pages are a blank canvas you can repurpose to get more out of your planner and planning in general. I like to use every inch and every feature of my planner. It’s not just a scheduling tool, but a tool for organization. You’ve probably leafed through 100 planners before without thinking twice about the blank pages interspersed between each month.

Spending a little time to think intentionally about how you want to use your planner goes a long way. One of the first things I do when moving into a new planner is set up the notes pages. This personalizes my planner from the outset. And it helps me get more out of each day that I plan. Here are my Top 15 ideas for your notes pages.

#1 Routines

One of my forever goals is to create and maintain routines that I enjoy. So naturally, I have a routines page!

There is a section for my morning and evening routines. If there is anything the last two years taught us, it’s that plans can will change at the drop of a hat. While that’s really hard to stomach as a planner, we’ve had to learn how to be flexible with our plans. I use my routines page to declare my ideal morning and evening routines. But you’ll see there’s also room for sticky notes. That way, when a plan changes, I move the sticky note over, grab a new one, put it in my routine box, and update it with my new routine.

At the end of the year I have a fascinating at-a-glance of how my routines shifted and changed over the course of the year.

#2 Apartment Projects

Home management is something I love, but I never seem to have enough time for it. I have a million projects swirling around my head with little time to do them. So I wanted to create a project management sheet that was simple, but could reflect all of the different projects we wanted to accomplish this year. I love this because it’s flexible and can change as we update and do things to our apartment. 

I separated the spaces in our apartment to keep track of different projects in each room/area. You could scale this up if you’re doing a full on house renovation / remodel as well!

#3 Cleaning Tracker

Having a clean and organized home is an ideal I strive for. So I love using a notes page to keep track of the periodic cleaning we need to do to meet this ideal. Since we spent so much more time at home in 2020 and 2021, I feel like our apartment is being lived in more! I got this Cleaning Tracker idea from Pinterest, but you can check out mine here! I break down the sections into daily, weekly, biweekly, monthly, bi-monthly, and annual cleaning tasks. When I sit down each month to plan out the next month, I pull directly from the bi-monthly, monthly, biweekly, and weekly tasks that need to get done.

We may grumble and groan about cleaning, but it’s easier when you have a plan for doing it!

#4 Gift List and Ideas Page

This is–no lie–the notes page that gets the most action in my planner. Gift giving is my favorite activity. It’s how I show the special people in my life that I love them. Naturally, I keep a gift list and ideas pages where I can keep track of the people closest to me and what I want to get them for birthdays, Christmas, anniversaries, special occasions, etc. In our ever-connected world, I see ads and hear about products all the time. If something clicks, I file it away on this notes page for later. Then, if one of my friends gets a big promotion, I have ideas for something that might make them smile.

It’s a simple – but powerful – way to help those around you feel love. Make no mistake, either, there’s no need to fill the list with gifts to buy. I have a separate section for sentimental gifts I can make, too.

#5 Peloton

This page is very specific to me! I like to keep track of my workouts, so I use this page to keep track of my Peloton. We opted to finance the Peloton bike and have a monthly payment. So I keep track of how much we still owe for the Peloton, each class I take, the mileage I logged, and a progress tracked towards my goal of 500 workouts! The cute Erin Condren hexagon stickers fit perfectly inside the hexagons I drew here, so I can mark them off as I go!

#6 Running Log

This is another notes page that is very specific to me. I haven’t been super active the last two years, honestly. But running has always been an activity that I love. So I want to have a spot where I can keep track of my runs! I list out the months and write down what my overall mileage is for each month. I also keep track of the races I am signed up for, and ones that I would like to sign up for. Overall, this running log is a great way to see at a glance how my training is progressing over time.

#7 Book Log

It feels weird to say that I haven’t read a novel all the way through in…I don’t know how long. I’ve leaned more towards biographies and books that relate to planning and organization. But this book log is where I would keep track of the books that I’d like to read. There’s a column for the title, author, and a rating that I would give it. Who knows if I will read all 10, but at least they are all listed here! As a bonus, whenever someone asks me for a gift idea for me, I send them a few of these books from the list. So it’s as much a book log for me as it is a literary gift ideas page for myself!

#8 Date Night

I have two main sections here: Date night on a budget and Treat yourself dates! Look, keeping the spark alive is hard enough when time and money are in short supply. So we help ourselves by brainstorming a ton of ideas that span the spectrum of cost. That way we can go here when we need a creative date night idea! We also have two fun sections listed here to recap the weirdness that was 2020. These were dates we had planned out, but these were some we had to cancel or reschedule, plus some for “quarantine” dates.” You know, just in case those become a thing again in the future.

#9 Vision Board

Vision boards can take on so many forms. It can be visually-based and representative of aspirations you have for an area of your life. I’m planning a wedding now, so you’ll see wedding-themed content on any of my vision boards. Your vision board can be text-based with motivational quotes. The point is, a vision board is the ultimate planner notes page idea.

#10 Passwords

With the obvious note that this isn’t the safest way to keep track of sensitive personal information, I use my notes pages to keep track of my passwords for important websites! I know there is controversy about writing them down. But that’s who I am, so I’m going to write them down. I keep a layer of sticky notes for each of these passwords, since they change a lot. So if you don’t want to pay for a password manager, I’m here to tell you that a notes page is great for it!

#11 PTO Tracker

This is a super simple page! But when I worked my 9-to-5 job, I wanted to track how I was using my PTO. I have a section for days taken off and another one for time reflected. When my paystub comes for the next period, then I can make sure everything lines up. This is also a great section if you have a partner who works – you can track your PTO and theirs as well.

#12 Podcasts

This is where I keep track of the podcasts I love! If I find myself in a podcast rut, I can flip here and see what to listen to next. I break it up into Crime, News, and Fun. These are my three main categories. Leave me a comment and tell me your favorites so I can listen! I get Podcast recommendations all the time and some of my favorite shows have come via recommendations. A special thanks here to those who got me hooked on Higher Learning, Chatty Broads, and Reply All!

#13 Ideas for this Page

While I haven’t fully committed to what I want some notes pages to look like, here are some bonus ideas I have!

Professional Development

Office Virtual Ideas

Podcasts I want to Try

Food Places near the Office (whenever that becomes a thing again)

#14 Sticker Shops

I have a space where I keep track of where I like to buy things from and my favorites! I keep track of sale dates, stickers stores, etc. A true planner plans their year out around sticker collections, right? Maybe!

#15 Purchase Tracker

I have a bit of a sticker collection already, so I thought it would be a good idea to have a page where I keep track of what I have and what I buy so I don’t spend too much on more stickers! It is one of my life’s great challenges and temptations, I promise you. You could repurpose this purchase tracker for any number of categories, however. It doesn’t have to be planner related.

There you have it! Here are 15+ ideas for your notes pages in your planner! Let me know if you have any questions or other ideas on how you use your notes pages. Check out the video below to see these notes pages in action!