Every year, around September or October, I get a flicker of that familiar excitement. The new collection is ready, the inserts are fresh off the printer, and there is something genuinely thrilling about the idea of starting over with a clean, well-planned year.
And every year, I also hear from people who have tried to use a ring-bound planner before and given up. Not because they are disorganised, but because nobody ever told them the practical stuff: how to actually set one up, what to put where, and how to make it a habit that sticks past January.
So this is that guide. Whether you are brand new to planner inserts or you are upgrading to the 2027 Squizzleberry collection after years of digital calendars, here is exactly how to set up your planner from scratch.
Before you touch a single insert, you need to know which size planner you have. This sounds obvious, but it trips people up more than anything else.
The most common sizes are:
A5 — This is probably the most common. Roughly the size of a small notebook, great if you plan in detail, like to write a lot, or keep your planner on a desk. Compatible with Filofax A5, the Louis Vuitton GM Agenda, and similar A5 ring-bound binders.
Personal — compact and handbag friendly. About the size of a small paperback. Compatible with Filofax Personal, the Louis Vuitton MM Agenda, Kikki-K, and similar Personal-size binders.
Personal Wide — slightly wider than Personal, offering more writing space while staying portable.
Pocket — the smallest, most portable size. Good if you want a carry-everywhere notebook rather than a full planning system. Compatible with Louis Vuitton PM Agenda.
If you are not sure which size your planner is, visit our Size and Paper Guide. Take the guesswork out before you order.
This is the step most people skip, and it is the reason most planners get abandoned by February.
Before you choose your layouts, answer these three questions honestly:
1. What is the main thing I need my planner to manage? Work schedule? Family appointments? Personal goals? A mix?
2. How much do I need to write per day? If you have back-to-back meetings and multiple projects, you need more writing space. If you just need to see your week at a glance, a compact layout is fine.
3. Will I carry my planner everywhere, or does it live on my desk?
Your answers tell you which inserts you actually need, rather than which ones look nicest in a flatlay.
Once you know your size and your purpose, here is the order I recommend for a 2027 planner setup:
Section 1: Year at a Glance This is the very first thing that goes in. Open your planner and you should immediately see the whole of 2027 on one or two pages. Mark Bank Holidays, key dates, planned trips, and any annual deadlines now, before the year begins. It only takes about ten minutes and it prevents the annual horror of realising you have double-booked Christmas.
Our 2027 Year at a Glance insert gives you all twelve months in a clean, minimal grid. Add our vellum calendar in front of it for a beautiful opening page.
Section 2: Quarterly Overview After the Year at a Glance, I recommend adding the Quarterly insert. It breaks 2027 into four manageable blocks of thirteen weeks each. Use it to set one or two goals per quarter — not a full life plan, just an anchor for what each season of the year is about.
Section 3: Monthly Overview The heart of most planning systems. The monthly insert sits here, ordered January through December. Some people prefer Month on 1 Page (compact, just the grid) and some prefer Month on 2 Pages (grid plus a dedicated goals column). Either works — choose based on how much monthly context you need.
Section 4: Weekly Insert This is where the day-to-day planning actually happens. For 2027 we have introduced a horizontal Week at a Glance layout with a motivational quote built into every single weekly spread — a detail I added because I genuinely wanted something that felt encouraging to open, not just functional.
The week at a glance format includes daily task columns, a habits tracker, an errands section, a purchase reminder, and a highlight of the week. It is the most fully featured weekly insert I have ever made.
If you prefer a more compact single-page format, the Week on 1 Page (Wo1P) is the one for you.
Section 5: Daily Pages (optional) If you need a full page per day — time-blocking, detailed scheduling, extensive notes — the 2027 Daily Planner goes here after your weekly inserts. Not everyone needs this section. Only add it if you know you will use it.
Section 6: Notes Always leave a small section of blank notes pages at the back. Brain dumps, ideas, lists, anything that does not have a specific home. A few pages is enough.
Setting up the planner is the easy part. The hard part is making it a habit.
Here is the only rule you need: open it every morning, even if you just glance at it for two minutes.
The planners that get abandoned are the ones people only go to when they remember. The planners that become essential are the ones people check every morning as a reflex, like looking at a phone.
Put your planner somewhere visible. On your desk, on the kitchen table, in your bag. Not in a drawer. Not on a shelf. Somewhere you will see it without having to look for it.
Then, every Sunday, spend ten minutes doing a weekly reset. Check what carried over from last week, add in everything you know is coming, and write your three priorities for the week. That ten minutes is what makes the rest of the week run.
No planning system feels natural in January. January is the hardest month — it is new, it is slightly uncomfortable, and it takes longer than you think to find your rhythm.
Give your 2027 system until the end of March before you decide whether it is working. Three months of consistent use will tell you far more than three weeks.
The people who tell me their planner changed their life are almost never the people who got it right immediately. They are the people who kept going past February.
Shop the full 2027 Squizzleberry collection HERE. Available in A5, Personal and Personal Wide sizes.
Setting up a ring-bound planner for the first time, or starting fresh with a new year, is exciting. But nobody tells you the practical stuff: what order to put things in, which inserts you actually need, and how to make it a habit that lasts past January. This is that guide.
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