From Overwhelm to Organized: How to Build an Imperfect Planning Routine
You know that feeling, right?
It's Sunday night, and you're sitting there with a fresh planner page in front of you (digital or paper—doesn't matter). You've got your favorite pen or Apple Pencil in hand, and you're ready to plan the week ahead. This time it's going to be different. This time you'll stick with it.
By Tuesday afternoon, though? The plan's already out the window. Life threw you a curveball. Your energy tanked. Priorities shifted unexpectedly. And now that beautiful planner page just sits there, mocking you with unfinished to-dos and crossed out priorities.
If this sounds familiar, you're not alone. Planning overwhelm is real, and it's one of the biggest reasons people give up on planning altogether. But here's the thing: the problem isn't you. It's that most planning systems weren't built for real life—especially not for the beautifully chaotic, constantly shifting reality we all actually live in.
So let's flip the script. Instead of chasing the perfect planning routine that leaves you feeling like you're failing, what if you built an imperfect one that actually worked?
Why Traditional Planning Doesn't Work for Real Life
Let's be honest: most planning advice out there assumes you have predictable days, uninterrupted focus time, and the energy to maintain elaborate systems. But real life? It's the opposite of predictable.
Your days are full of:
Last-minute schedule changes and unexpected curveballs
Mental load that never stops (did I send that email? when's that deadline? what did I forget?)
Competing priorities pulling you in 10 different directions at once
Exhaustion that makes even the simplest task feel impossible
Life events that completely derail your carefully crafted plans
Traditional planning systems expect perfection. But you don't need perfect. You need sustainable.
That's where imperfect planning comes in. It's not about doing it all. It's about doing what matters most, in a way that fits your actual life (not some idealized version of it).
What Is an Imperfect Planning Routine?
An imperfect planning routine is:
Flexible, not rigid: It bends when life happens (because it will)
Simple, not complicated: No 17-step morning routine required
Forgiving, not guilt-inducing: Missed a day? No problem. Just pick it back up.
Realistic, not aspirational: Built around your life, not someone else's highlight reel
Think of it as planning with training wheels. You're not trying to be a pro planner overnight. You're just trying to feel a little less scattered and a little more in control.
Step 1: Clear the Mental Clutter with a Brain Dump
Before you can plan anything, you need to see what's actually on your plate. And spoiler alert: it's probably a lot.
That's where a brain dump comes in. Grab a notebook, open a blank document, or use the free Imperfect Catch-All and just let it all pour out.
Write down:
Every task floating around in your head
Things you've been meaning to do (but keep forgetting or avoiding)
Work projects, personal goals, household stuff, etc.
Worries, ideas, random thoughts…literally everything
No filtering. No organizing. Just dump it all out.
Here's what happens when you do this: your brain finally gets a break from trying to remember everything. That anxious, overwhelmed feeling? It starts to ease. You can actually see what you're dealing with instead of it spinning around in your mind on repeat.
Pro tip:
Make brain dumping a weekly habit (or even daily if you need it). Keep a catch-all corner in your planner or a dedicated notebook just for this. The Imperfect Catch-All is perfect for this—it's designed to be messy, unfiltered, and judgment-free, plus it’s free!
Step 2: Identify Your Priorities
Now that everything's out of your head, it's time to figure out what actually matters today (or this week).
Instead of staring at a mile-long to-do list and feeling defeated before you even start, you pick just the top 1 or 2 or even 3 things that matter most. That's it.
How to choose your Top Priorities:
Ask yourself: What will move the needle today? What's urgent and important?
Be realistic: If you're recovering from being sick, maybe your priorities are "rest," "respond to urgent emails," and "order groceries online." That counts!
Consider your energy: Pick tasks that match your actual capacity today, not what you wish you could accomplish.
Write them down: Put them somewhere visible—at the top of your planner page, on a sticky note, wherever you'll actually see them.
The beauty of this approach? Even if the day goes sideways (and let's be real, it often can), you've still got a clear target. And when you do check off those things? You actually feel accomplished instead of like you're drowning in unfinished tasks.
Tools that help:
The Imperfect Weekly Planner and Imperfect Daily Pad both have dedicated space for your Top Priorities—because that's all you really need to win the day.
Step 3: Build a Simple Planning Rhythm
Once you've got the brain dump and Top priorities down, it's time to build a rhythm that works for you. Not what works for the productivity influencer with the color-coded planner. Not what your coworker swears by. Your life, your rhythm.
Start with a weekly reset:
Pick one time each week to:
Brain dump everything that's on your mind
Look at your calendar and note any appointments, deadlines, or commitments
Identify your priorities for the week
Break them down into daily steps if needed
That's it. You don't need an hour-long planning session. Even 10-15 minutes can make a massive difference.
Step 4: Use Tools That Work With Your Life (Not Against It)
Here's where so many of us go wrong: we buy the pretty planner, get excited about it for exactly 3 days, and then it sits there collecting dust while we feel guilty.
The problem? We picked a tool that doesn't actually fit our life.
What to look for in a planning tool:
Flexibility: Can you use it daily, weekly, or just when you need it?
Simplicity: Does it have the basics you need without overwhelming you with sections you'll never use?
No guilt: Does it make you feel like you're failing if you skip a day?
Adaptability: Can it grow and change with your needs?
Tools built for imperfect planning:
The Imperfect Weekly Planner: Perfect if you want a weekly view with space for your Top 3, schedule, and to-dos. Flexible enough to use every day or just when you need it.
The Imperfect Daily Pad: Great for days when you need to focus on the details. Hyperlinked digital planner so you can jump to any day—no pressure to use it every single day.
The Imperfect Life Hub: A Notion template that pulls everything together—goals, tasks, projects, and more—in one flexible space.
The Imperfect Rhythm: Monthly and weekly dashboards that help you see the big picture while staying flexible with the details.
The Imperfect Sync Sheets: Love both paper and digital planning? This helps you blend them without duplicating effort.
All of these tools are designed with one principle in mind: done beats perfect, every single time.
Step 5: Give Yourself Permission to Adjust
Here's the most important part: your planning routine will change, and that's okay!!!
Some weeks you'll totally be on top of it. Other weeks you'll barely glance at your planner. Some seasons of life require more structure. Others need more flexibility.
The goal isn't to find the one perfect system and stick to it forever. The goal is to have a toolbox of strategies you can pull from depending on what life is throwing at you right now.
When life gets chaotic:
Scale back to just your top priorities
Use a quick reset to recalibrate mid-week
Let go of the rest without guilt
When you've got bandwidth:
Try a monthly planning session with the Imperfect Rhythm
Experiment with daily themes to add structure
Explore new tools or systems that sound interesting
Try the Planner Audit to figure out which planners you actually use (and let go of the ones you don't)
The beauty of imperfect planning? There's no wrong way to do it. There's just your way.
Step 6: Audit Your Planning Collection
Here's something nobody talks about: planner guilt.
You know what I mean—those half-used planners sitting on your shelf, the digital templates you bought and never opened, the apps you swore you'd use "this time."
Instead of letting them haunt you, try this: do a Planner Audit.
The free Imperfect Planner Audit walks you through:
Which planners you actually use (and why)
Which ones just aren't working (and that's okay!)
How to bring your favorite tools back to life
When to let go without guilt
Sometimes the problem isn't that you're bad at planning. It's that you're using the wrong tool for this season of your life.
Your Next Step: Start Small
If all of this feels like too much, just pick one thing to try this week:
✅ Do a brain dump using the Imperfect Catch-All
✅ Write down your Top 3 priorities for tomorrow
✅ Try a 10-minute weekly reset with the Imperfect Reset Kit
✅ Audit your current planners with the Imperfect Planner Audit
That's it. Just one small step. Because small steps are how you build a routine that actually sticks.
Ready to Go From Overwhelm to Organized?
You don't need to have it all figured out. You don't need the perfect system or the perfect week. You just need to start where you are, with what you have, and give yourself grace for the days when it doesn't go as planned (because those days will happen).
Grab your free planning tools here:
👉 The Imperfect Catch-All – Brain dump your way to clarity
👉 The Imperfect Reset Kit – Quick resets when life gets chaotic
👉 The Imperfect Planner Audit – Figure out which tools actually work for you
👉 The Imperfect Meal Planner – Take the mental load out of meal planning
Want more structure? Check out the shop for digital planners and Notion templates designed for real life.
And hey—come hang out on Instagram where I share real planning wins, honest struggles, and reminders that done really is better than perfect.
Because you're not behind. You're not failing. You're just figuring it out—and that's exactly where you're supposed to be. 💛
