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ls messed with me. Because I can’t do that. Then I discovered the real purpose of them and I calmed down.I missed the prettiness though! I’m not artistic so how can I have a bullet journal that’s still pretty?STICKERS!I love stickers. They can be functional or they can just add some flair. They have nothing to do with productivity but, many ADHD people know that pretty and creative makes most things more interesting! One of the reasons I clean off my desk from time to time is to make it look nice. And when my desk looks nice, when my office has pictures on the wall and a bookcase that makes me smile, I want to use my desk and my office more.So, I do the same thing with my planner. I might decorate it pages at a time or a day at a time. Or, if I’m not feeling the sticker vibes, I can skip the decorations.One thing that annoyed me about the bullet journal method was trying to find things. Yes, you’re supposed to create an index. It still bugged me that my journal pages were on page 15 and 21 and 29 and 34 and so on. I want them all together.And what about my daily lists? Same thing. My ADHD brain wants them to be in a section, not all over the book. And brain dumps? I don’t even look at them after I’ve done one. So why are they even there???My solution? A Happy Planner system. Actually, many Happy Planner systems. I’ve tried a variety of layouts and sizes and I’ve come to one conclusion. There is not one that works for me!Damn.Wait — Happy Planners have this nice little disc bound system. You can take pages out and move them around and basically set it up any way you like. And if you’re like me and you’ve bought a crap load of Happy Planners, you have a lot of pages.I created my own.I need

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daily lists. And I need to keep them in front of me because if a list is made and it is not right in front of your face all the time does it even really exist? Not in my mind.Enter the purse/catch all planner. Each week has a space for errands, things to buy and a couple other sections you can label and add to as need. Or decorate them.On the other side of the week is space for appointments, dates, plans.Behind the months, I have pages for lists. I can make my lists as big or small as I want. I generally don’t decorate these. But I look at them often.It’s easy to buy refill pages for the planner or I can add my own pages.I also have a bigger planner that I use if I feel the need to organize my day into time slots. I don’t do this every day. I do it as I need to.In this bigger planner, I also have journal pages. When I need to freewrite, I can just go to town. And I often take notes on YouTube videos, webinars, and pod casts here.I’m working on a gamification system too. Something fun to reward myself for meeting goals and stuff like that. Kind of like Habitica but specifically geared to me. Maybe once it is set up I’ll share it with other writers.My planning system sound ridiculous when I explain it. Others have often commented that it seems like I put more effort into planning than into getting anything done.<shrug></shrug>Maybe I do. But I’m finding my way. Because the typical planning and organization systems don’t work for me. I hear that from a lot of ADHD writers (and other creative people) and I get it.If you’ve found something that works for you, I’d love to hear about it because even if I don’t think it will work for me, I love seeing other people’s planners!</article></body>

Why So Many ADHD Writers Say Planning Doesn’t Work for Them

Standard planners don’t work for me either

Over the years, I’ve lost count of the amount of planners I’ve bought. I’ve read countless articles on “the perfect planning system to get you organized once and for all.”

And as I learn about my ADHD and how my brain works it all comes back to one thing:

Standard practices for planning and organization and setting goals do not work for neurodivergent people!

And because each neurodivergent person has different challenges, the same system will not work for everyone.

So, I can’t give you the perfect organization and planning system to help you manage your writing. I can tell you how I’m finding something that works for me though.

I know I need to know my strengths and weaknesses

For me, realizing that my brain isn’t broken, just different, has been one of the biggest reliefs. It’s not that I’m unmotivated or lazy or stupid. But my strengths and weaknesses need to be taken into account when I’m coming up with a planning system that will work.

One of the systems for planning that I have gotten the most from bullet journals. They are what you need them to be. You can learn more about the basics of bullet journals here.

If you go to Pinterest or Instagram you might think that bullet journals are all about the pretty pages. But they aren’t. They are about being functional. At first, seeing all those pretty bullet journals messed with me. Because I can’t do that. Then I discovered the real purpose of them and I calmed down.

I missed the prettiness though! I’m not artistic so how can I have a bullet journal that’s still pretty?

STICKERS!

I love stickers. They can be functional or they can just add some flair. They have nothing to do with productivity but, many ADHD people know that pretty and creative makes most things more interesting! One of the reasons I clean off my desk from time to time is to make it look nice. And when my desk looks nice, when my office has pictures on the wall and a bookcase that makes me smile, I want to use my desk and my office more.

So, I do the same thing with my planner. I might decorate it pages at a time or a day at a time. Or, if I’m not feeling the sticker vibes, I can skip the decorations.

One thing that annoyed me about the bullet journal method was trying to find things. Yes, you’re supposed to create an index. It still bugged me that my journal pages were on page 15 and 21 and 29 and 34 and so on. I want them all together.

And what about my daily lists? Same thing. My ADHD brain wants them to be in a section, not all over the book. And brain dumps? I don’t even look at them after I’ve done one. So why are they even there???

My solution? A Happy Planner system. Actually, many Happy Planner systems. I’ve tried a variety of layouts and sizes and I’ve come to one conclusion. There is not one that works for me!

Damn.

Wait — Happy Planners have this nice little disc bound system. You can take pages out and move them around and basically set it up any way you like. And if you’re like me and you’ve bought a crap load of Happy Planners, you have a lot of pages.

I created my own.

I need daily lists. And I need to keep them in front of me because if a list is made and it is not right in front of your face all the time does it even really exist? Not in my mind.

Enter the purse/catch all planner. Each week has a space for errands, things to buy and a couple other sections you can label and add to as need. Or decorate them.

On the other side of the week is space for appointments, dates, plans.

Behind the months, I have pages for lists. I can make my lists as big or small as I want. I generally don’t decorate these. But I look at them often.

It’s easy to buy refill pages for the planner or I can add my own pages.

I also have a bigger planner that I use if I feel the need to organize my day into time slots. I don’t do this every day. I do it as I need to.

In this bigger planner, I also have journal pages. When I need to freewrite, I can just go to town. And I often take notes on YouTube videos, webinars, and pod casts here.

I’m working on a gamification system too. Something fun to reward myself for meeting goals and stuff like that. Kind of like Habitica but specifically geared to me. Maybe once it is set up I’ll share it with other writers.

My planning system sound ridiculous when I explain it. Others have often commented that it seems like I put more effort into planning than into getting anything done.

Maybe I do. But I’m finding my way. Because the typical planning and organization systems don’t work for me. I hear that from a lot of ADHD writers (and other creative people) and I get it.

If you’ve found something that works for you, I’d love to hear about it because even if I don’t think it will work for me, I love seeing other people’s planners!