Way back in the year 2010 (seems so long ago now!) I was at rock bottom with my mental and physical health. I had very low energy and suffered from fatigue and headaches regularly.

I met with a nutritionist, but that just gave me *more work to do* and made me feel even more overwhelmed. Although I was ready to quit before I even started, I decided to try creating a planner to help me prioritize everything in a simple, approachable way that I could maintain long-term.

The result was The Daily Page and now, 13 years later — I’ve sold over 25,000 copies and am passionate about helping other people find peace between their work and wellness.

The Daily Page is a holistic planning page that was created using years of user feedback and science-backed design. It is different from other paper planning tools because it:

• Is designed to align your work and wellness in one place to naturally increase your energy, focus, and motivation so you can achieve a steady, sustainable level of productivity.
• Compliments the digital tools and systems that make you more efficient without competing with them.

Below are tips for utilizing the various sections of The Daily Page and integrating it into your existing routine.

Top Three

This section helps set your focus for the day. It can be used in several ways. Two of my favorites are:

3 Top Priorities
List the three tasks that are most important. This doesn’t mean you have to do them first but will help you prioritize them throughout the day.

3 Easy Wins 
Identify three tasks that you can complete first and that are relatively simple and take less than 10 minutes each. Checking them off gives your brain momentum as you move into more complex tasks.

To-Do List

You’ll notice that the To-Do List section of The Daily Page is limited to ten spots — combined with the Top 3 Section, this gives you space for 13 tasks for the day. This is intentional! We can focus for approximately 25-50 minutes at a time, and then need a break. That means the average worker will get 5 hours of focused work in their 8-hour day. The tasks that most professionals perform take 20-40 minutes of focused effort. Based on those numbers, focusing on no more than 10-15 tasks per day is what most of us can manage without overexerting ourselves (or performing poorly). Creating a focused, intentional list will help you manage your energy appropriately.

If you find that your day is often segmented by various small or miscellaneous tasks, try scheduling 30 minutes of “Admin Time”, during which you can tackle a bunch of those small tasks at once, rather than letting them disrupt your focused work time.

Heart Icon

Perhaps you already spotted the little heart icon at the bottom of the To-Do list. This helps you remember to prioritize one task each day that supports your relationships, community, or networks. Try using it to:

1. Prioritize your relationships:  Call a friend, plan a date night for your partner, or check in with your family.
2. Support your community: Help a stranger, make a donation to a good cause, or volunteer your time.
3. Build your network: set up a coffee date, nominate a peer for a reward, tell someone you appreciate their work.
4. Care for yourself: Identify a “get-to-do” item (something you enjoy and can look forward to doing).

Using Check-Bubbles

You might also notice that The Daily Page features circular “check-bubbles”. While marking them off with a simple checkmark is nice, you can use them in other ways, too. Try:

• Adding an arrow for tasks that need to be moved to the next day’s list.
• Filling it in to denote the progress you made on the task that day.
• Initials for tasks you delegate out to someone else.
• An X for items that are no longer a priority and can be removed.

Schedule

Avoid listing out every single obligation you have for the day — that’s what your digital calendar and scheduling system are for. Instead, use this space to identify your Available Blocks of Time (ABTs) and identify what you plan to focus on during each of them.

Wellness

Routines and rituals that help us feel our best are important for our mental and physical health. Use this space to plan your self-care, log workouts, track minutes read, steps walked, meditation, or getting up from your desk to move or get some sunshine. This section is for whatever wellness looks like for you!

Remember, some movement is better than none — and it’s best to start really small when you’re starting new habits. So writing down “3 minutes of stretching” or “1-minute deep breathing” can be a great place to start building a wellness routine.

Hydration Tracking

The best way to hydrate is to sip water consistently, and the reason most of us struggle with hydration is not having water accessible throughout the day.

Having a designated water cup and keeping it with you ensures water is accessible throughout the day, and having a “hydration” section on your planning page can help you prioritize it!

The hydration section has icons to represent lemon water with sea salt (wonderful in the morning!), along with an icon for a smoothie, juice, or protein shake. You can always check those off as normal glasses of water if those are not part of your routine. Their main purpose is to remind you that being hydrated doesn’t mean chugging plan water all day — we want to combine water with fiber, electrolytes and other trace minerals. So enjoy juice, smoothies, iced tea, and other beverages alongside water!

You can use the H20 box to identify your hydration goal for the day (half your body weight in ounces is a good guideline for most) or to record the final amount you consumed that day. The most important thing is listening to your body and paying attention to its unique needs.

Mood, Energy, Sleep, and Stress

The upper right quadrant of The Daily Page is designed to help you prioritize vital aspects of health ― all of which have an impact on your overall productivity and focus. Tracking simple metrics like hours slept or the amount of stress you’re feeling can identify patterns and changes to help you connect which aspects of your day contribute to or detract from your well-being.

Reminder Boxes

The Reminder Boxes, located in the Hydration section, are a great place to track medications or supplements. You can also use them to track new habits you are trying to form or as a place to remember daily tasks like walking the dog or switching the laundry.

Nutrition

Eating foods that make you feel good and fuel you for the day can drastically impact your productivity and happiness. The meal planning section can help you plan ahead for meals you love. Over time, this section can also help you identify foods that might be disrupting your sleep or causing discomfort, brain fog, or fatigue.

Gratitude

Ever noticed if you’re interested in buying a Mazda 3, suddenly you see Mazda 3s everywhere? It feels like everyone is driving one? That’s because your brain has identified the Mazda 3 as an area of interest and is zero’ing on it. We can do the same thing with the positive aspects of our life, rather than dwelling on the hard parts. Research has shown a regular gratitude practice can actually change the brain on a physiological level, resulting in more activation in the prefrontal cortex — potentially training the brain to become more sensitive to gratitude.

I recommend not overthinking this section! If you struggle with what to write, reflect on your day and try to:

• Identify the part that brought you the most joy.
• Turn a negative into a positive (ex. “When I navigated a stressful meeting with patience”)
• Be present. Give yourself 30 seconds and find something that is making a positive impact on your life at this moment (a good playlist, the sunshine, your favorite notebook).

Getting Started

When you first begin using The Daily Page, I recommend connecting it to a task you already do at the beginning of the day — such as making coffee or turning on your computer. Open any digital tools use rely on — such as Google Calendar, Asana, or Trello. Parse the information you’ll need for the day out of yoru digital system and onto paper, so that you aren’t going in and out of those systems during the day. I call this my “Power Up” routine.

Now you’ll be able to focus your attention on The Daily Page and limit distraction. At the end of the day, open those digital tools back up and reconcile the information as needed.

I also recommend taking just 3-5 minutes at the end of your day to start filling out The Daily Page for tomorrow. This can help you enjoy your evening, sleep better, and wake up feeling more motivated. I call this my “Power Down” routine.

The most important thing to remember is that planners only work if you use them! Getting into a good routine with The Daily Page and making it a habit is key. To see exactly how I set-up and organize all of my digital and analog systems, check out my online course, Thyme Transformation — take it for $50 off in May and June!

The Daily Page is available as a spiral-bound planner (in full or mini size!), notepads, printables, or an interactive digital planner. You can shop all the designs here and take 10% off your order with the code HONEY at checkout.