How Can I Memory Plan If I Can’t Even Remember What I Had for Breakfast?

It's a Sunday evening, you sit down to work on your memory planner for the week, but your mind goes as blank as the double page spread in front of you. If this sounds all too familiar, you're not alone. Decorative memory keeping is a fantastic creative hobby, but when the time comes to stick stickers to paper, remembering what happened each day can be a roadblock.

Having experienced this a little too often, I had a brainwave: write it down as you go. It sounds so obvious, right? You're probably thinking "but Anna, I'm always on my phone... wouldn't digital notes be easier?" You can do that if you like - we're inseparable from our devices in this day and age. However... you wouldn't be here if you weren't a paper planner kinda person. You and I both understand that there's a certain magic involved in writing things down with pen, which is why we're in this predicament with our memory plans in the first place!

Introducing: The Planning Notes weekly notepad

I created the Planning Notes notepad not just to solve this very issue, but to enhance your entire memory planning routine. It's structured with distinct spaces for jotting down what happened each day, alongside areas for the date, the sticker kit you're planning on using and a dedicated sidebar section. Here, you can track 2 habits and use the Monday through Sunday box to jot down meals, work hours, exercise routines or any other repeating task.

Writing this down as you go through the week helps cement memories of the day, so when you get to your weekend planning session it isn't just easier but also richer, filled with details you may have otherwise forgotten. This means that when you look back on your memory planner in the future, it will be a much more meaningful log of events.

But what if I didn't take notes?

Sometimes life gets ahead of us and our plans to keep on top of our memory planner notes slip through the cracks. I've devised a list of prompts to call on for times like these, and they've never failed me.

1. Your photo album

2. Bank statements

3. Chat logs

If you're able to sift through the 5,000 photos of your pet, there'll be a bunch of clues about your week in here. They say a picture tells a thousand words - well, we're in luck because we only need it to tell a couple.

A photo of my Monstera in my camera roll reminds me that I repotted my plant. To do this, I had to put the laundry away as the clothes airer blocks my path out of the room. Ta-dah: two tasks are revealed. "Repotted plant" and "put laundry away". Often, recounting just one memory of the day triggers a cascading waterfall of others.

Bank statements are handy for highlighting outings, trips or that midnight Maccies run (guilty)! And if you're a chatterbox like yours truly, it's almost a guarantee that a quick scroll through my chats with friends and family will reveal more details about the day. I love this method, as you're also reminded of emotions and inside jokes - the details that make memory planning really special.

Maybe we're actually just detectives

Memory planning is much more than just keeping track of what we've done - it's a method of celebrating our lives, the big and the small stuff. With a little bit of help from the Planning Notes notepad and some digital detective work, you'll never find yourself staring at a blank page on a Sunday again, no matter how forgetful you are.