Well, hasn’t January just flown by… 

We’re already almost one month into the year, and it is usually around this time that a lot of us find that your new-year-new-me-fueled motivations are starting to wane. With that in mind, we wanted to provide some guidance on ways you can keep the good habit of using your planner going – and put those beautiful blank pages to work over the coming year.

1. 1. Keep It Simple [or at least start simple]

At the start of a new year, fuelled with optimism, it is relatively easy to fill in every blank space in your brand new planner. And, while there is definitely a time and place for those intensely detailed and aesthetically-complex templates from Pinterest, these usually take a lot of time and effort to lay out, and often add on unnecessary mental load when it comes to using your planner. 

Our advice? Start small, and keep it consistent. Building good habits is all about consistent incremental change… So start by simply setting aside 15 minutes on your weekend to add in your appointments for the next week. Then, once this feels part of your routine, spend 10 minutes each morning setting up your to-do for the day, or in the evening reflecting and/or setting yourself up for tomorrow. You’ll be surprised how quickly sitting down with your planner becomes a habit, and how ‘off’ your week will feel without it.

Still struggling? It might be helpful to instead sit down and list out why you want to form this habit – and how it will add value to your life. This can help motivate you to carve out that time each week/day. And, iIn light of these reasons, you can then more strategically map out how your planner layout and usage will help you work towards the bigger picture.

It is also worth keeping in mind that fancier or more complex layouts do not equal more productivity or organisation. It will be to your advantage to start with one or two simple and highly accessible elements in your planner layout, and as you establish the habit of using your planner, you can always add and modify elements as you need.

2. Ensure It is Visible

As the saying goes.. Out of sight, out of mind.

This principle very much applies to developing the habit of using your planner. Having your planner in a highly visible place, such as your kitchen table or office desk, helps you to associate specific environmental cues with using your planner, which is an advantage to help the habit stick. As basic as it sounds, having your planner in sight also ensures that you don’t simply forget to use it. In the same vein, try to have all the essential planning accessories you need (eg. pens, highlighters, sticky notes, etc) in the same area, so that when it comes time for you to begin planning you’re not wasting time searching for these things.

Does filling your planner at the start of each day set you up for success? Put your planner next to your coffee machine each night, so it easily becomes part of your morning ritual. 

Like reflecting on your day each evening? Keep it on your bedside. 

Or, if you’re the forgetful type, let it live in your handbag!

3. Something is Better Than Nothing

As touched on earlier, it is important to not let some elusive idea of ‘perfect’ stifle good progress. Expecting yourself to be perfectly productive every second of every day is unrealistic and will only set you up for discouragement. Consistency is key. And, if you miss a week, it’s okay to leave it blank and pick back up again the next. 

If productivity is the end goal for you, try breaking down your larger goals into smaller, more achievable (and less intimidating) steps that you can implement into your routine. And, always give yourself margin for days when you know you just won’t have time to sit down with your planner, or when plans get disrupted. Battle the urge to throw everything out the window the second something doesn’t go to plan, and show up for yourself with consistency and grace.

And, don’t feel married to how you started! It’s okay to acknowledge that a certain approach or style isn’t working for you… And we know all you perfectionists are shuddering at the thought, but a change in style, colour, approach – while not aesthetically consistent – DOES show evolution and growth. It’s better to make the change, than to scrap your planner entirely.

4. Make It Fun

Using your planner doesn’t have to just look like rigid lines with appointments, habits and tasks. Incorporate something that brings you joy into your planning routine. Whether that’s creating a self-care schedule for yourself, decorating your spreads with stickers, or writing in positive reminders – anything that will make you look forward to the process instead of dreading it as just another chore to tick off the list. Do what makes you feel good, not what you think it should look like. 

Another creative and fun way to add some colour into your planner use, and to transform your planner into a keepsake of its own, is to set apart a section of your spread as a journal or mindfulness space. This can be as simple as documenting what you got up to in a day or week, or you can turn it into something with more elaborate reflections and musings.

Often, reflections and journaling can be more intimidating than simply listing tasks, to help form the habit try ‘stacking’ it (or associating it) with something you already enjoy and naturally look forward to – for example, after a yoga class – or by creating a new ritual, such as filling out your planner on a Sunday evening with a special dessert or glass of wine, especially reserved for Sundays.

We hope these tips are helpful to you in finding strategies and motivation to keep using your planner! But at the end of the day, remember to be kind to yourself. Your planner is there to serve you and help you work towards your goals – and that your value doesn’t fluctuate based on how ‘productive’ you are or perceive yourself to be. Rest is sometimes the most productive thing you can do.

As we all start to settle into the new rhythms and routines of the new year, there is no better time than right now to cultivate new habits and set [achievable] goals.

Whether you identify as being more ‘free-spirited’ or more ‘meticulous’ in your organisation and planning, our planners are all designed with creative freedom in mind. Our intention has always been for these to be a canvas for you to design the perfect planner for you.

That being said, we’ve increasingly had requests from our community for more ‘tracking’ and goal-setting features to be included in our planner offering.

And this has led us to create the much-loved Habit Tracker Sticky Note to the choose-your-own-adventure lineup of our planner accessories collection. In our 2022 collection, we have also released a brand new Expense Tracker notebook accessory, a.k.a. your best friend in helping you build good money habits and move closer to achieving your financial goals in the new year [and beyond].

Here are some of our top tips on how to maximise our planner features and accessories to build, and track the habits you want to incorporate into your daily and weekly routine.

Use: Habit Tracker Sticky Note

Our Habit Tracker helps you to keep track of your daily habits and routines (for both building good, and breaking bad ones!) it’s intentionally designed for easily accessible yes/no style tracking, as well as documenting quantities.

Some ideas to get you started:

• Hydration
• Meditation
• Workouts, daily walks/runs, or exercise classes
• Journalling
• Watering the plants
• Caffeine intake
• Hours of sleep
• Reading
• Medication
• Calling your mum
• Doing something kind!

Use: Three Boxes

Our weekly [signature vertical layout] spread planners all feature three boxes at the bottom of each day – these can be used to track more detailed things you might like to track daily, such as the number of steps you walked, your mood or emotions or how you feel physically; it’s great to use these in conjunction with the Habit Tracker Sticky Note. For example, you may notice patterns such as on the days when you have 3 coffees that you feel more anxious or dehydrated, or on days where you have 3 bottles full of water you have more energy and don’t experience any headaches. 

These boxes may also come in handy for:

• Your top three priorities for the day
• Do-not-forgets
• Meal planning [eg. breakfast, lunch, dinner]
• …Or three things you’re grateful for each day!

Use: Monthly Spreads

The monthly spreads (found at the front of your planners) are useful for tracking topline goals and habits, or anything you want to have access to, within the wider context of a month.

This type of overview tracking is useful for identifying patterns in your behaviours, habits and wellbeing. The monthly layout also lends itself well as a period and/or fertility tracker. It is also handy as a wellness tracker for staying in tune with any symptoms and conditions of the day (or you could track the overall feelings in the monthly spread, and add more specific detail into the corresponding day on your spread).

Use: Dot Grid Note Pages

The dot grid pages at the back of your planner – or our brain dump sticky note accessory – are quite literally a blank canvas that you can transform into an ultimate habit tracking mastersheet, incorporating any elements you find useful and motivating.

If you’re needing some inspiration, we would recommend searching on Google or/ Pinterest ‘Bullet Journal ____ Tracker’ – and take inspiration from some base templates you find there. The bullet journal’s foundation is a dot grid, so our dot grid pages lend themselves perfectly to this customisable way of journaling, providing the perfect guide for drawing boxes and columns while still maintaining flexibility in layout.

Use: Expense Tracker

Our brand new expense tracker is the perfect companion in helping you work on  your 2022 financial goals. It offers you a consolidated place to note down all of your income and expenses and ’s perfect for anyone who is looking for more structured guidance and accountability in keeping track of and evaluating your money habits. Plus, it fits perfectly into the expandable back pocket of your planner – making it easy to carry with you on-the-go.

And a final little note from us… if you haven’t already, make sure you take the time to reflect on not just what you want to achieve, but WHY you want to. Understanding the why behind the choices we make, and the habits we develop, can help us make healthy and sustainable progress.

Today marks the very first day of your 2022 Emma Kate Co. [weekly] planner!

As we dip our toes into all the exciting and beautiful things of the upcoming year, here are some of our top tips on how to make the most of your planner layout.

Monthly Spreads

The monthly spreads at the front of your planner are indispensable for piecing together the different parts of your days and weeks into one bigger (monthly) picture. Think of it as a top line view!

If you are someone who juggles many different hats in life, the ability to see your important work deadlines, due dates, and appointments all in one neat and tidy grid is a massive time and energy saver for planning efficiently. These dates will still feature in your weekly spreads, alongside any details that are important to that event. It is also very handy to keep birthdays and appointments here too – to prevent double-booking or avoidable schedule clashes.

For the perfectionists, this space might serve you well as a date ‘braindump’ space… Let these pages get messy, so that you can keep your weekly [or daily] spreads looking perfect!

Next time you’re on the spot and planning the next playdate, or in a meeting, or your boss drops a deadline in passing, or your bestie suggests a dinner date, quickly jot the date down in your monthly spread so that you don’t forget! Then, you can go back later and cross-reference to check if you’re actually available, or to neatly slot it into your weekly spread.

Our planner community also love to utilise this space for budgeting + keeping track of bills, managing client bookings, planning projects, campaigns and/or launches, marking out university semesters + assessment due dates, tracking habits [more on that in another blog post to come] and so much more!

Weekly Spreads

We have consciously designed the weekly spreads as blank and open as possible, for you to define your days however you choose. Some like to break the columns down, others move for free-form. The amount of free space can be quite intimidating, but at the same time, very freeing – remember that there are no ‘right’ rules in how to plan out your week. Be brave and honest in experimenting with different structures and layouts, to figure out what feels most intuitive, efficient and enjoyable for you and your season of life.

The essence of the weekly spreads is that it is the perfect place for all the nitty gritty details of your day-to-day. 

Vertical Signature Spreads:

A common layout among planner-users for our Signature Vertical Weekly spreads, is to split the columns in half, to create a top and bottom. There are endless ways to use this distinction, for example:

• – AM / PM scheduling
• – A categorical format – eg. top for work, bottom for personal, etc.
• – Using one half as a scheduling space, and the other half for a daily to-do list

Our Signature vertical layout is also much loved by the list-maker; less for keeping track of appointments and events, and more for writing out a daily task list, and ticking it off as you go. This is perfect if you also use a Google/digital calendar and already have a way of keeping track of appointments [and getting those handy alerts!]

How to Use The Top Box

This is the perfect spot to write down a daily priority or ‘word of the day’, this space is also useful for keeping track of birthdays, menstrual cycles, moon phases, or even your fitness schedule for the week.

How to Use Those 3 Little Boxes

The possibilities are endless! If you didn’t see them and immediately think of the perfect way to use these handy little boxes, then here are some suggestions, based on what some of our biggest 3-little-box fans use them for:

Gratitude
Use this space to record three things you’re grateful for that day! You could do this first thing in the morning, to start on a positive note, or at the end of the day as a reflection. If you’re really committed to the cause, you could do one at the start, one in the middle of the day and one at the end.

Top 3
Record your top three priorities for the day [and check them off as they’re done for that dopamine hit!].

Appointments
Leave this space for appointments and special events and occasions. That way, you can quickly and easily find any important appointments when you flick through any given week. Having things in the same place really helps.

Reminders
Like appointments, you could use this space for daily reminders of things that need to get done, places you need to be or a word/phrase to remain mindful of what’s important in the chaos

Tracking
While we have a lovely little weekly habit tracker – this is best for checking off habits or recording small numbers, such as the days that you exercised, taking medication, how many coffees or glasses of water you’ve had, etc.
For those who want to add more details you can use the 3 boxes at the end of each day for tracking ‘big’ items – things such as counting steps, tracking mood or health.

Meal Planning
This space is also very well-suited to planning out your yummy breakfasts, lunches and dinners for the week.

Family activities
Parents, this one’s for you! Use these to keep track of swimming lessons, ballet classes, basketball games, soccer practice, music lessons, tutoring… All the who has to be where’s and when’s of after school activites [and weekend games and birthday parties and sleepovers…]

Horizontal Weekly Spreads:

Our sparkling new Horizontal Weekly layout was created for those who need that perfect blend of structure and space.

Each double spread has equally-spaced date blocks on the left for every day of the week, and a wide open dot-grid note page on the right. This allows you to have both your time-sensitive events, and to-dos with more flexibility on when they are due, all in one glance.

Working between the two spaces, you can also easily divide up the dot-grid space, as well as incorporate sticky notes and other accessories, to add more structure into your planning. The ultimate semi-structured companion for busy minds!

This spread is also perfect for journaling, or for those who use their planner as more of a keepsake. Use the dated spread on the left for recording your daily musings, gratitudes, or activities, and the right side for drawing, sticking in tickets, polaroids and other keepsakes, or for a longer written weekly reflection. 

You can also create more or less distinctions in the space as and when you need. Don’t get too hung up on inflexibly (and counter-productively) holding onto one layout for the entirety of your planner – if it’s not serving you, let it go!  There will be odd days, or even extended seasons, where you need more or less space, and that’s exactly why that flexibility of layout is there for you to use to your advantage.

Maybe you started the year with an AM/PM split, but as life has changed, the daily to-do list is more for you. Or, maybe your planner started out as a date keeper, but would now best serve you as a journal. 

Daily Spreads

The perfect place for planning BIG. 

This style is loved by entrepreneurs and small business owners, as well as parents, teachers and journallers. 

It’s the perfect place for huge brain dumps and big dreams. Or, you can strategically divide the space however works best for you; the most common way is essentially down the middle (or across the page) to create two columns/segments, where you can create a:

– Categorical divide – using one side for work and the other for personal, or one side for appointments and the other side for to-dos, or aetc.

– ‘Structured’ space on one side, and a creative, ‘brain dump’ or reflection space on the other.

• Remember, planners aren’t always just for planning. One of the best ways we’ve seen the daily used was as a journal to document a 12-month overseas experience. This member of our community used each day to journal and scrapbook her time spent living + working overseas for 12 months. The planner became a keepsake, and we’re sure she will look back on those precious memories fondly for years to come.

There’s no hard and fast ‘rules’ for using your planner!
We hope that these suggestions serve as prompts to help in facilitating your own design of how you would like to use this space. There is also so much room to incorporate more dynamic planning tools such as sticky-note to-do lists, habit tracker notes, clipping on important documents or notes for a particular day [hello fat paper clips!], or stickers and pictures to commemorate milestones and important dates.

Blank Note Pages

Anything! Everything! [maybe not everything, there’s not that many!] but these are the perfect place to keep all the most important things:

– Intentions for the year + goals
– Top-line budgeting
– Inspirational + motivational words
– Sticking tickets + polaroids
– Jotting down important reminders
– Drawing [or doodling while on hours-long calls with your mum]
– Writing down recipes from friends
– Planning menus for dinner parties
– Keeping track of films to watch
– Checking off books you want to read
– Writing down addresses
– And quite obviously, as a space to just make notes!

The 6-Month Ahead Calendar

It’s incorporated into our planner layout for our busy bodies, creatives and service industry community; many people need to see well into the future, with booking clients (especially for weddings), for business strategy, or even academic and work planning. It’s also handy as you’re approaching the tail-end of the year, and need a space to jot down upcoming dates for the next year before you start using your new planner!

We hope these tips inspire and provide some guidance as you begin to fill your planner pages. Stay tuned for more helpful organisation how-to’s as we continue our 2022 planner series, we are so excited to begin this new year together – bring it on! x

As we eagerly await the arrival of 2022, we’re so excited to announce our new blog series on… you guessed it, all-things planners! 

Think helpful tips to help you make the most of your new planner, layout inspiration, organisation how-to’s, and a few surprises along the way. And what better way to kick off the series than with a meet-and-greet, making sure that you’re all well-acquainted with your closest organisational companion for the next year.

For each colourway in our 2022 palette, you’ll find a character profile where you can read a bit more about your colour’s personality and the muse that inspired them. You can also jam out to a curated playlist of her favourite tunes – perfect for every mood.

…But that’s not all, if you’re like us and love having everything in your life colour-coordinated, we’ve got you covered:

With each colourway, we have included a free downloadable PDF with complementary HEX [colour] codes that you can use to customise your digital calendars [ie. Google Calendar] to match your planner’s colour theme for 2022.

Or, if you’ve been wishing that you could have every colour from our 2022 collection in your life, we’re pleased to say that you can now live out your dreams of having the full palette on your calendar!

After a launch beyond our wildest dreams, we’re completely in-over-our-head with gratitude for your BIG love on our planners, so take this as a little [big] thank you – from us, to you.

[CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD OUR 2022 PALETTE CALENDAR CODES]

MEET CAFÉ AU LAIT

The perfect shade of latte, she’s the colour of Paris.

She adores all things neutral + classic, and oozes sophistication. A timeless hue that you’ll never regret. A little reserved and understated, you might miss her at first glance, but once you get to know her she’ll slowly become your favourite.

Find her sipping coffee on bustling Parisian streets, endless hours wandering the Louvre + spending afternoons strolling down ​​Champs-Élysées.

[and, if you’re prone to spilling your coffee, she’ll wear it with grace; afterall, it will look au naturel]. Très chic!

Elevate your everyday with Café au Lait in 2022.

[CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD CAFÉ AU LAIT’S CALENDAR CODES]

MEET COCOA

The cosiest colour of 2022.

Her sweet warmth isn’t in-your-face, but softly draws you in, into a much-needed embrace. Like the kind, gentle friend that’s always there, Cocoa’s comfort will be steady by your side through the highs and the lows.

A homebody at heart, she craves snowy Christmases cosied up by the fireplace and endlessly long afternoons immersed in a good book. Slow Sundays are, most certainly, her thing. A little unconventional, and a hopeless sweet tooth, you’ll likely find her with a mocha in hand, or busy baking up a storm to treat her loved ones. 

She loves fiercely + deeply, and is steady and dependable. 

Get cosy with Cocoa in 2022.

[CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD COCOA’S CALENDAR CODES]

MEET SOIRÉE

She’s white classic roses, a crisp white shirt, silk pyjamas, a strong latte to go. 

She just knows how to live well.

By day, she’s confident and self assured. Soirée will take herself out to lunch, or art class – solo. Once the sun sets, she‘ll let her hair down, stealing away to secret soirées after dusk.

Where there’s festoon lights strung against a burnt summer sky, she’s always down for a good time — but only with a top-shelf Martini.

She will effortlessly stand her own among a room full of strangers, and you can’t help but gravitate towards her witty repartee and the knowing sparkle in her eye Charismatic and elegant, but without the frills — she knows what she wants, and she gets the job done. Always.

Oh, Soirée… she’s ready for 2022.

[CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD SOIRÉE’S CALENDAR CODES]

MEET OAT

The simple but sophisticated one, she values quality above all else.

Intentional and considered, always a little busy, but never chaotic. She stays calm and steady, never wavering. She will carve out time for the things that soothe her soul + fill her cup, always.

Oat loves to splurge on life’s simple pleasures; the perfect linen loungewear, a bougie candle, dining out…

Oat has fast become a favourite colourway, and it’s easy to understand why. Just like her bestie Café au Lait, she’s classic and neutral, but with a deliciously textural cover and luxe champagne-gold edging; a dreamier take on your favourite basics to elevate your everyday.

Get pretty, and a little gritty, with Oat in 2022.

[CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD OAT’S CALENDAR CODES]

MEET HONEY

Like pure sunshine, she’s everything fun, pure and free. A romantic at heart, she’s the kind of friend who will always say yes to picnics, bike rides or spontaneous road trips with no planned destination. 

She will easily lose track of time, not because she’s a daydreamer – she’s just fully present in each moment as she lives it. She will ask how you are, and really listen to what you answer. 

For Honey, there is always time.

Honey is eternally curious. She revels in the mess and wonder and imperfect joy of living artfully. Giver of the best hugs, she will always turn lemon into lemonade and brighten your day.

Sweeten your 2022 with Honey.

[CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD HONEY’S CALENDAR CODES]

MEET BALLET SLIPPER

The sweetest presence – with her head in the clouds and her nose in a book.

With an ethereal other-worldliness in her gaze, even her voice floats in conversation like a melodic phrase from a familiar song, bringing something magic into everything she does.

You’ll always find her in a flowy dress, redecorating some corner of her house, or at your doorstep dropping off the most delicious strawberry and cream tart – just cause. Ballet knows how to take care of herself as much as she does others, in a rose petal bubble bath, poetry book in one hand, peppermint tea in the other – falling asleep to beautiful thoughts.

She’s a little sensitive, wearing her heart on her sleeve, but kindness is her armour. Ballet quite literally sees everything through her rose-tinted glasses, colouring everything with sweetness – always believing the best, always in love.

Fall in love with Ballet Slipper in 2022.

[CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD BALLET SLIPPER’S CALENDAR CODES]

MEET PUMPKIN SPICE

The perfect spiced orangey-brown, she’s the colour of pumpkin pie and crisp autumn leaves — every Fall-lover’s dream.

Think rainy days, burnt orange hues, autumn leaves, and driving down a winding forest path.

You’ll always find her bundled up in a big cosy scarf, spiced chai latte in hand [her drink of choice, obviously], cozied up by the fireplace. She’s warm and generous, her calendar is filled with the time she gives to her loved ones; a true friend to all …and her house always smells like cookies. 

Spend your 2022 in style with Pumpkin Spice.

[CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD PUMPKIN SPICE’S CALENDAR CODES]