Sorry. Sort Of.

I promised, PROMISED myself that I would not talk about planners again. I'm boring you all, I'm sure. Some of you are probably even thinking, it's August. Planners are for December.

Yeah, no, they're not. All the planners I like are boutique planners. Pre-orders for some of them started at the end of June or the beginning of July.

Not academic planners. January 2027 start planners.

And because I'm so plugged into the planner community, all I've been seeing for around two months now is planner discussions, planner pre-orders, planner teasers. And that means I'm spending a lot of time thinking about my own planners for 2027.

And if my brain is looping, it's going to end up in a blog post. Sorry?

I have my writing planner figured out. I've blogged about that and shown pictures of my attempt at decoration. I am horrible at artistic things, but I'm actually improving the more layouts I make. To refresh your memory, I'm repurposing a 2026 planner that I ordered and forgot what I was going to use it for before it arrived. Instead of just having it sit empty, I re-dated it and decorated the blank pages to be my 2027 writing planner.

There was a huge sale on an A6 planner in July, also from 2026 and it's Tomoe River Paper, which I adore even though I do not use fountain pens. I'm going to use this for my journal. The B6 actually ended up being more room than I needed in 2026, so I'm going smaller for 2027 and the price was right. A little correction tape will fix the daily pages, and since I don't use the monthly layouts, I probably won't bother correcting the dates there.

That leaves me with my regular daily planner. I like the one I'm using this year a lot, but even though this is another boutique planner company, they have not spelled out yet what their 2027 planners will look like. This company doesn't do pre-orders any longer. You order it in September and it gets shipped. This is a good thing because I need to do a lot of setup, but I have no idea what's changing in the planner I'm using now.

And I'm sure something will change.

2026 is the first year that this layout was released and yes, there are things I want changed. I hate the duplicate weeks that get stuck in there when a week spans two months. Just stick the weekly pages with the month that has the most days and skip the repetition. That's how I'm using it now. I put down stickers or vellum over the weekly pages I don't need.

I'm also not a fan of the fact that this book is hardcover. I use a lot of stickers, washi tape, vellum and acetate tip-ins. The hardcover isn't as forgiving of the bulk as the soft cover would be.

The wait, though, to find out what's changed in the planner that is almost perfect (There are other things I'd change that I didn't mention) for me is driving me crazy. It makes me wonder if I need to pre-order one of those other planners. Just in case. The FOMO is real!

My daily planner is absolutely vital to me. I have ADHD and the planner is how I keep myself on track. I have systems in place. This isn't just Oh, I love planners. This is OMG, I need a planner so nothing falls through the cracks.

So apologies for another planner post. I literally am obsessing about my 2027 planner right now. This will stop once I find out what's going on with the planner I like. 

Not Intuitive: Follow Up

I thought I had the controller for the sprinkler figured out. After all, I watched the video, discovered what everyone thought were zones were actually program numbers, and turned off programs two and three. No more three hours of watering. Problem solved.

And then my next water bill arrived.

I knew it would be close to the first one because I figured out the controller issue late in the billing cycle. I did not expect it to be more than the first bill.

Clearly, there were more problems to be solved with the controller, so it was back to the video.

Hmm, I thought. Program 1A was running, but I assumed that programs 1B and 1C were not, but I didn't actually check that.

Yeah.

I discovered the program 1B was running. I turned that off and then I just turned off the entire sprinkler system because whatever at this point.

I had an in-ground sprinkler system at my house in Minnesota. I had a different company's controller and it was easy to know exactly what was running and when. It did not require watching a video to figure out how to set the damn thing.

Keep in mind, it's not just me that didn't know how to set the controller. My landscaper who does this kind of thing for a living and the men working for him did not know how to program the controller. My brother didn't know how to program the controller. Everyone thought they knew what they were doing but none of them did. None of them! Who makes a controller this complicated?

This is a normal, suburban yard. I don't need for programs with A, B, and C options. I have three zones. There's no reason to install anything this complicated. I had more zones at my house in Minnesota and an easier controller (and a lower water bill. MUCH lower.). What the hell are we even doing here?

I'm going to leave the sprinkler off and watch the new grass. It's been raining this week, so I should be okay for at least a little while, but yikes! 

Planner Lessons Learned: Part Two

On Tuesday, I talked about how I set goals and how my ADHD‑friendly planner system works. Today is all about the practical lessons I learned this year--and the changes I’m making for 2027.

1. I Do Not Need a Pocket Planner

I thought I’d use a pocket planner for appointments, but I always ended up checking my phone instead. The real lesson was that I need to update my phone’s calendar immediately and consistently.

For 2027: No pocket planner. Just my main planner and my phone.

2. My Writing Planner Needed Simplification

The writing planner I created for 2026 wasn’t used the way I imagined. I didn’t do monthly previews, reviews, or any of the extra sections. What did matter was:

• coloring circles (dopamine)

• tracking daily word counts

• tracking weekly word counts

For 2027: I’m re‑dating a monthly Erin Condren planner I already own. I’m decorating it with sticker art--clumsy, imperfect, joyful sticker art--because even though I’m bad at art, I enjoy it. In future years, I might switch to a bullet journal or stick with another monthly EC.

(Not affiliated with Erin Condren; just using what I have.)

3. I Found a Nearly Perfect Planner

I finally found a planner that works for me better than anything else ever has. The weekly dashboard is perfect, and when I need more space, I tip in extra pages (Tomoe River Paper from a 2025 planner I abandoned).

The A5 size gives me room to decorate and still have space for lists.

For 2027: I’m buying this planner again. I may experiment with others, but this one is my foundation.

4. Daily To‑Do Categories Need Space

Midway through the year, I started dividing my daily to‑do list into categories. I loved it, but adding tasks later became a problem because the categories were stacked vertically.

For 2027: I’m splitting the page into quadrants. Top quadrants = categories that don’t change (Exercise, Writing). Bottom quadrants = categories that do change (Life). This gives me room for additions without crowding.

5. Journaling Needs a Smaller Space

I didn’t need the B6 size this year. I’m a little burnt out on journaling, and between my five‑year diary and my journal, things feel redundant.

For 2027: I’m re‑dating a discounted A6 planner to use as my journal. Smaller space, less pressure.

6. My Gratitude + Currently Journal Is Perfect

I experimented with sizes--Standard TN, B6, A5--and A5 won. It has the height of a Standard with the width I need. The only drawback is stamping out each month because I’m terrible with ink, but I love having these monthly records of:

• what I read

• what I listened to

• what I wrote

• what I was grateful for

No changes needed.

I'll always experiment with planning systems the same way I experiment with new pens, but this is the first year where I really felt as if I had a good handle on my life. The systems as they stand are working and it's a relief. 

Planner Lessons Learned: Part One

Every year I refine my planner system. As someone with ADHD, what works for neurotypical people rarely works for me. I’ve learned that if a planner requires too much structure, too much reflection, or too much “future thinking,” my brain simply checks out. For years I thought this meant I wasn’t a “goals person,” but that wasn’t true--I just needed a different way to set them.

How I Actually Set Goals

The goal‑setting sections in planners? Completely wasted on me. My brain shuts down the moment I try to fill them in. But I do set goals--just not in the traditional way.

Long‑Term Goals: My Kanban Board

My kanban board is where my long‑term writing goals live. Each book gets a column, and each chapter gets a Post‑it Note. If I write more chapters than expected, I add sticky notes. If I write fewer, I toss sticky notes. It’s flexible, visual, and ADHD‑friendly.

Short‑Term Goals: My Planners

My everyday planner has one simple daily instruction: Write. I must write 600 words to cross it off.

My writing planner is more detailed. I have eight circles I can color in--one for every 250 words. If I write 2000 words, I color all eight. While my everyday planner only requires 600 words, the writing planner’s goal is 1000. This is the only habit tracker I use in any planner I own, and it works because it gives me a dopamine hit every time I color in a circle.

Refining My System

Last year I worked hard to create a system that supported my ADHD brain. This year was about fine‑tuning--adjusting what didn’t work, keeping what did, and letting go of anything that added friction.

In Part Two, coming on Thursday, I'll share the lessons I learned and the changes I'm making for 2027. 

The Accidental Hero: How Rusty Became Ian

I’ve been thinking about Rusty this week—specifically about his name and his role in the Paladin League series.

When I wrote book two, I needed a throwaway character. Someone who didn’t quite fit on the covert ops team. I didn’t bother naming him. He wasn’t meant to matter. He was simply The New Guy.

Book three changed that. I needed someone to play bodyguard to Cat and Griff alongside Deck, and The New Guy needed a name. He became Rusty—still a background presence, still not intended to be important.

He showed up again in book four. Through the Musketeers section of the Paladin League, he bounced between screw‑up and unexpected savior. He was never meant to be a hero. He was there for plot reasons. Nothing more.

And then Deck insisted he had a story.

That’s when the Lost Treasure section of the Paladin League came into existence. My original plan was a four‑book subset: Deck, Lurch, Rusty, and Archer. But Rusty needed more redemption than two books could handle, and the plot to reach the arms dealer was too big to wrap up this quickly.

This was the era when Rusty’s real name was Zack. I labeled spreadsheets with it. OneNote pages. File folders. Everything said Zack.

Right up until I wrote the line where Ellis called him Ian.

I’ve learned never to argue with my characters about their names. I’ve tried. I’ve lost every time. I have a fair number of vowel names because when I expanded the Lost Treasure arc to six books, I ended up with Oz, Ayla, and Iona joining Archer, Ian, and Ellis. I sighed and went with it.

Now it’s nearly time to actually write Ian (AKA Rusty, AKA The New Guy), and I’m nervous.

Have I redeemed him enough to be a hero?

Ian is earnest. Determined. He wants so badly to do the right thing. And I’ve paired him with a heroine I don’t normally write—someone naive, green, not savvy. The exact opposite of Iona, who can take care of herself.

Ellis scares me to write because she’s a delicate balancing act. I don’t want her to come across as Too Stupid To Live, but her naivety and her determination to break free from her ivory‑tower life are real driving forces for her.

Ian is ready. Ellis is ready. I just hope I’m ready for them.