What do you do with your planner when you don’t use it to organize yourself or when you have nothing to write in it? What are your alternative ways to use a planner when you have nothing to plan in it?

There are times in life when uncertainty is so great, or motivation so low, that you don’t feel like planning anything at all. You need a little break, to put obligations, goals and projects on hold to catch your breath. It can last a day, a week, a month… Everyone has their own rhythm of recovery!

The first good news is that if you use a PROJO planner, you don’t really need alternative ways to use your planner: you can simply decide to put it aside for a while. The planning layouts are undated, which allows you to take breaks when you need them without losing space in your planner.

But you can also decide to use this break in your organization to use your planner in a different way.

So here are 10 alternative ways to use a planner when you have nothing to plan!

1. Turn your planner into a logbook

Instead of planning things, projecting yourself into the future and making to-do lists and projects, turn your planner into a journal: write down every day what happened, the highlights, and in general, everything that may have marked your day, whether positive or negative. A bit like a logbook or a travel diary.

2. Keep track of your workout sessions

If you’re not in the mood to plan anything, but still need exercise, use your planner as a tool to keep track of your workouts.

Write down the different areas you worked on that day, and the exercises you did. This will allow you to review your progress with more insights and to adjust your practice accordingly, but also to vary the exercises more easily.

Keep track of your workout sessions the weekly layout of the PROJO planner.

3. Schedule the movies/series you want to see

Who said that the program of your evenings (or afternoons) depended only on what’s on TV?

If you are taking a break from planning things, why not use the available space to create your own TV schedule and plan the films or series you want to see?

It also works with video games, by the way.

Schedule the films and shows you want to watch in the weekly layout of the PROJO planner.

4. Time-block selfcare sessions

If you’re not in the mood to immerse yourself in organizing new things, you may want to take even more care of yourself than usual: give yourself some time to relax and take care of yourself.

Plan yoga sessions, meditation sessions in your planner, plan to recline for half a day in your bathroom, which you will transform into a spa for the occasion… In short, use your planner to reserve moments of well-being for yourself.

5. Create a “did” list

Why not use your planner to write down the things you’ve done during the day?

Unlike the “to do” list that allows you to set goals of things to do for the day, the “did” list is a list of things you actually did. Using your planner to make a did list will allow you to acknowledge how much you do, even though you don’t realize it at first. Hopefully, it might even encourage you to get back to your goals and plans.

Create a daily “did” list in the weekly layout of the PROJO planner.

6. Letter in your monthly layout

If you don’t know what to do with your monthly calendar, you can turn it into a worksheet to practice lettering: use the boxes in your monthly calendar to write a word each day in your best handwriting.

You can choose a word at random, or practice lettering with a word that reflects your day.

7. Document your cooking experiences

You don’t want to plan anything. Okay. But maybe you still have some inspiration when it comes to your plate?

You can use your planner to document your cooking experiences: write down the recipes you want to test, the day assigned to each experiment, the changes you make to the original recipe, and even a few notes on what you think of the result.

Personally, I decided I would to make ricotta and sundried tomato ravioli on Thursday, and I can’t wait to eat those!

Keep track of the recipes you try in the monthly layout of the PROJO planner.

8. Make a collection of inspiring quotes

Number 7 of our alternative ways to use a planner: one quote a day.

Use your planner to make a collection of quotes that inspire you: they can be quotes that resonate with your mood of the day, motivational quotes that make you want to give the best of yourself, or little pieces of sentences or poems, just for the beauty of the words.

9. Journal your feelings

If you don’t have the desire or the motivation to start projects, you can use your planner to keep a diary of your emotions: write down every day the emotions you feel, the feelings you are going through… By being as specific as possible.

Writing down your emotions means starting to recognize them, to externalize them and to take a step back from them. Writing can be very cathartic.

By the way, how are you feeling today?

Journal your feelings in the weekly layout of the PROJO planner.

10. Turn your planner into a dream diary

Do you remember your dreams when you wake up? Do you have crazy adventures while you’re asleep?

Remembering dreams takes practice. And why not turning your planner into a dream journal if you don’t use it to organize yourself for a while?

If you can’t make remember accurately what might have happened in your dream, you can simply write down the places you visited, the characters in your dream, etc. You will see your notes become more accurate and your stories more and more consistent over time.

I’m sure there are a thousand other alternative ways to use a planner when you’re not in the mood to get organized and make to-do lists!

By the way, if you think of any other alternative ways to use a planner when you have nothing to write in it, I’d be happy to read them in comments!