Why ADHDers fail at planning
+ my planner lineup (ft. my ADHD)
Guys, my new planner didn’t last long. I used it for about four days and then promptly went back to using a plain notebook. What is wrong with me?! This beautiful little planner deserved so much more… but alas, I was not the one to give it to her.
Finding and failing at new planners and planning systems seems to be one of my many talents. I’ve tried Asana, Notion, Monday.com, to-do lists, highly aesthetic paper planners… none of them seem to work. Every few months I find a new planner or planning routine that I think is ‘it’, but ‘it’ never lasts long and I always end up going back to the same simple tools and structure. In this post I wanted to share my simple planning routine and expand on the reasons why ADHDers ‘fail’ at planning.
Struggling to stick to planning routines is a common theme amoung ADHDers. This article, aptly named 5 reasons why ADHDers never use their planners, explains why ADHDers struggle with planning routines and how to create one that lasts—because that’s the goal, right? The goal isn’t to have the most perfectly curated planner; it’s to use your planner consistently and find what works for you.
Here are the top reasons why ADHDers ‘fail’ at planning, and how to create a planning routine you love (and stick to!):
1. You’re being a perfectionist.
If there’s one thing I want you to take away from this post, it’s to remember that when it comes to planning, simple = sustainable. Your planning routine should be quick and easy and your planner needs to be simple to use. If you’re spending hours each day on your planning system, you’re being a perfectionist. Quite simply, getting too hung up on your handwriting or that one word you scribbled out isn’t helping you.
The solution: Keep things easy and let things get messy. If you want to glam it up a little, try going for stickers or washi tape—which still look great, but don’t take nearly as much effort to decorate with.
2. Your planner is needlessly complex.
Say it with me: “The most complicated planner isn’t necessarily the best planner for me.” As the article’s author points out: ‘Sure, a habit tracker, vision board, yearly goals, and a mood tracker could all be very useful to have! But if your planner is a lot of work to keep up with, you’re probably not going to stick with it. Just because you can benefit from something, doesn’t mean you’ll follow through.’ Your planner doesn’t need to look like the ones you see on Pinterest. It doesn’t need to be unnecessarily complex or contain a bunch of to-do lists or habit trackers.
The solution: Get a standard daily planner that has blank pages in the back. That way, if you decide you need a habit or mood tracker, you can add one in yourself later on.
3. You’re trying to solve the wrong problem.
Think about why you got this planner (or why you want one) in the first place. Are you trying to track appointments or make to-do lists—or both? Are you trying to manage your household or keep on task at work? Are you trying to remember future tasks or focus on one day at a time? If your answer is simply “to get more organized,” be more specific. What exactly are you hoping to achieve?—More structure? Knowing where your time is going? Keeping track of upcoming events and appointments?
The solution: Get clear on your goals for this planner. What organizational problems in your everyday life are causing you the most stress? And how will a planner—as opposed to an app or tool you already have—solve them? Bonus points if you reflect on what has and hasn’t worked for you in the past.
4. You keep losing it. Literally.
I’m that ADHDer who is actually pretty good at not losing things, but that’s because I’m a minimalist and my planners stay in the specific spots where I use them. My morning pages journal lives on the armrest of the sofa I use to do my journaling, and my weekly and daily planners live on the dresser in my bedroom (I don’t have a desk). If you lose things regularly, give your planner a home!
The solution: Baskets are your friend. Try having designated baskets in each room where you’ll keep your planner when you aren’t using it. This reduces the number of places you’ll have to look when it goes missing!
5. It isn’t synced with other areas of your life.
If you have multiple calendars, planners, note-taking apps and/or habit trackers, you’re setting yourself up to fail, because here’s what happens: We forget what information lives where, and we update them sporadically because there’s so much to keep up with. Personally, I have one digital calendar, one note-taking app and a couple of planners alongside a couple of journals. I could streamline it even more, but this is what works for me right now.
The solution: Be intentional about where all of your information lives. The fewer containers, the less there is to juggle! One digital calendar and one planner is more than enough to capture everything you need to. Eliminate any unnecessary apps, calendars, or notebooks if you can.
TLDR;
Your planner is not going to look like the ones you see on Pinterest, and it’s not supposed to!
How you use your planner should be sustainable, meaning it’s easy enough to do on a bad day.
Don’t let the bells and whistles of aesthetic planners distract you from what you need!
Consider how a planner—as opposed to an app or tool you already have—will solve your planning problems.
One digital calendar and one planner is more than enough to capture everything you need to. Eliminate any unnecessary apps, calendars, or notebooks if you can.
As Sam Dylan Finch wrote here, “I desperately wanted to be the kind of person that could be organized enough to keep a planner”. That’s true of me too, and unfortunately it feels like you can’t be one of the ‘cool girls’ unless you have a Pinterest-worthy planner and a complex planning routine that takes hours each evening. But honestly, who cares? I wish I cared enough to keep an aesthetic planner, but the truth is—I don’t. There are other things I want to spend my time, energy and money on, and maintaining an aesthetic planner or a complex planning routine isn’t one of them.
I use Google Calendar to keep track of upcoming events and appointments and a week-to-view desk pad for an overview of my week. I also use an old notebook for jotting down notes and scrap paper for my basic daily routine using time-blocking. I also have a ‘morning pages’ journal and prayer journal which is new for 2025.
I highly recommend keeping your planning routine simple—the worst thing in the world is having loads of highly aesthetic planners but never using them because they’re too complicated for your brain or just not your planning style. Plain notebooks and desk pads are your best friends. Stick to what you know works, and don’t apologize for not having the most trendy planner or for not using designer stationary.
Do you have a planning routine? Is it elaborate, simple, loose or highly structured? I’d love to know! Leave your best tips, advice and suggestions in the comments below. Til next time, J x
These ring so true, and make me wonder if I have ADHD or ADHD overlapping symptoms (like anxiety and the need to be a perfectionist!)
I’ve found lately that the only thing that works is a whiteboard that’s right in front of my face every day, with an intention for the day and a loose to do list. Then my Google calendar for all appts etc.
Great post & I totally relate. I have so many beautiful planners I had such high hopes for - all half empty and abandoned. the only one I stick with is my trusty Moleskine week-to-view pocket diary and a blank notebook for journalling and other notes. Both would be illegible & nonsensical to anyone else but I manage life, work & family fine this way. scap perfectionism ;)