Some Things Don't Need a Planner (And Some Really, Really Do) Let me ask you something. Have you ever written "eat lunch" on your calendar? Because I have. And every single time I did, I laughed at myself a little. Who needs a reminder to eat?

Well. Me, apparently.

One day I was filling out my food journal and I could not for the life of me remember what I had eaten. I sat there and thought about it for a while. Thought harder. And then it hit me — I hadn't eaten anything. I had actually forgotten to eat lunch. Not skipped it on purpose. Forgotten it completely.

So now I don't laugh quite as hard at myself for writing it down.

But it did get me thinking about the whole thing — what actually belongs in a planner, and what's just taking up space?

"If I forget lunch, I'll eat when I'm hungry. If I forget to take the trash out on Thursday night, my son ends up driving a barrel to the landfill on a Saturday morning."

The Stuff That Doesn't Need to Be in There

There are people out there — and I say this with love because I completely understand the urge — who plan their entire morning in fifteen-minute increments. 6:00, wake up. 6:15, shower. 6:30, get dressed. 6:45, make coffee.

I have to ask: is anyone actually opening their planner between waking up and getting in the shower to see what comes next? "OK, I finished brushing my teeth. What's next?"

Probably not. And if you are, I respect the commitment, but I also want you to know that you can let that go.

Now, if you're keeping a record of your day — like logging what you did for personal reasons or for work — that's completely different. That makes total sense. And honestly, we all know the planner move where you do something that wasn't on the list, grab your pen, write it in, and immediately cross it off. That is one of life's small joys. A well-used planner page is a thing of beauty.

But planning brushing your teeth because you need to be reminded? That's probably overkill.

The Stuff That Absolutely Does

On the other hand, some things will absolutely fall through the cracks if they don't make it into the planner. For me, that thing is taking the trash out on Thursday nights.

It's once a week. The days blur together. And our trash pickup is early Friday morning, so if we miss Thursday night, we're out of luck until the following week.

True story One time we missed it. My son has the only vehicle that could fit the big trash barrel, so he had to load it up and drive it to the landfill himself. He said the smell was something he would never forget. He has not forgotten trash night since. Some lessons you only need once.

So yes. Trash goes in the planner. Set to recur every Thursday. Forever.

My Actual Rule

Here's how I decide if something earns a spot in my calendar. I ask myself: does it matter if I skip this?

  • If missing it has real consequences — it goes in.
  • If it depends on something else getting done first — it goes in.
  • If it's an appointment, a deadline, or something someone else is counting on — it goes in.
  • If I'll just figure it out eventually with no harm done — it probably doesn't need to be in there.

I do have recurring tasks set up for things I do every week. That part is great. But I'm not going to add something to my calendar just to have it there. If it doesn't matter whether it gets done, I don't write it down.

One More Thing — Watch Your Abbreviations

This one is a personal lesson. I used to use abbreviations in my planner that made total sense to me in the moment. The problem was, by the time I read them back, I had absolutely no idea what they meant.

I'd look at something I'd written and think — AFT? What does that stand for?

I used to homeschool, and my mom friends thought this was hilarious. They would come up with the most outrageous interpretations. Angry Festive Teachers. Armadillos Feeling Tired. The wilder the better. It became a whole thing. I still laugh about it.

The lesson: write it out. Future you will thank you.

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So that's it. Some things need to be in your planner and some things don't. The goal is to use your planner for the stuff that actually needs a home — the appointments, the tasks, the "if I don't write this down it will not happen" moments. Not to document your entire existence in fifteen-minute blocks.

Unless you're into that. In which case, you do you. Just maybe skip writing down the shower.

Have a thing that definitely goes in your planner no matter what? I'd love to hear it in the comments!