Hey Reader

New journal season is slowly approaching 😈

While this is always an exciting time (I love seeing what people put into their setups) it can also be a somewhat panic inducing one...

After setting up over 40 new journals since 2016, you'd think these concerns would be a thing of the past for me.

You’d think, having set up that many journals, I’d be at a point of “planner peace.” Each time new journal season rolled around, I’d just know what I needed and how the layouts would be structured. I’d have found exactly what works for me.

But no 😅

Each setup from 2016 to now has different layouts and layout combinations. Even the layouts that are the same are structured completely differently.

While none of my previous journals make for a great template that I can just recreate and call it a day, they do highlight an important aspect of making journaling something you stick with.

Your journal should reflect your current needs

When life changes, our journals should too.

At least, if you want it to work as well for you as it can 😛

Comparing my 2016 journal to the mid-year setup I'm planning, things look a lot different.

Rightly so! 2025-Jess is a lot different to 2016-Jess 😝

Mid-year is a great time to check in and ensure our journals and planners are aligned with our lives. Even if you're not moving into a new notebook or planner, mid-year can act as milestone moment to take stock of how your journal is (or isn't) working for you.

With my mid-year journal setup, I'm really looking to recommit to my goals, plan for intentional action, and set up a journal that's going to help me make the positive changes I'm aiming for.

No pressure 😂

This means that some layouts, structures and systems will need to be refreshed and updated again, but others can stay the same; I'm not looking to completely reinvent the wheel here!

But how do we know what to change and what to keep the same?

While each new setup of mine will be different, what doesn't change is how I figure out what to include.

Let's have a look 👀

The idea - Use the WANT analysis to plan your journal setups

I start any new journal setup by considering what I WANT.

WANT here stands for Wins, Aversions, Needs, and Try.

Regardless of whether I'm doing a new journal setup, new weekly, or completely revaluating my full productivity system, this structure helps me organise my thoughts and plan my new system with intention.

I normally do this analysis on paper by dividing the page vertically and horizontally so I have four sections; one in each corner. Each section gets a header from WANT and then it's time to brainstorm 👏

While I usually don't fill them out one after the other, let's have a look at them in order 👀

W - Wins

These are the things that are currently working for you. The parts of your setup or system that you want to keep using because they're filling the purpose you've given them.

If the setup you're planning is a start of journal/planner setup, then this could be the layouts that you've had the biggest payoff with, or the ones that haven't felt burdensome to fill in. If it's a monthly setup, it could be the layouts which have been fun to use and you want to continue using.

You don't just have to consider complete layouts in this section (or any section). You can also pull out parts of layouts that you've enjoyed or found useful.

Similarly, we can also consider things outside of the layout structure. Maybe you've really been enjoying the materials you've been using in your planner, or the check-marks you've filled in trackers with.

Essentially though, in this section we want to jot down anything that's going well.

A - Aversions

Here we're considering the opposite. This section is for the pain points in our system, the aspects that aren't working, or the stuff that really needs a change up.

Just like the "Wins", we don't have to keep our considerations to complete layouts. Sometimes there's a few aspects of a layout that aren't really working for us while the rest of it is fine. For instance, maybe the structure of the layout is okay, but the pen we're using to fill it in hasn't been sparking joy.

Filling in this section is a great opportunity to lean into any negativity biases we have with our system.

By identifying problem areas, we can then start considering possible planner-related solutions.

(Typically, as I think of those solutions, I'll add them to the "Try" section 💪)

N - Needs

As said, what we need our planning system to do for us is constantly changing. That's the main reason behind doing this analysis with every journal setup!

This is the section that really highlights the differences between past-us and current-us, and thus the differences we'll want in our setups.

Here, we want to take a closer look at our needs or the purpose we have of our new setup. By taking the time to consider these, we can make sure the setup is going to be as helpful as possible for future-us.

Using a monthly setup as an example, in months that I'm travelling, I'll have need of packing list. In other monthly setups, I'll want to focus on a particular home project and have a planning space for that.

Make sure to restrict your need considerations to those your planner can actually help you with to save time here!

T - Try

I love trying new things in my journal, and a new setup is a great opportunity to lean into that.

In this section of the analysis, we just want to jot down anything we want to trial, tweak, or change in our setup.

Some of these might be related to other sections of the analysis. For instance you might have:

• Changes to try to account for the aversions you identified, or
• Layouts and elements to try to fulfil the needs you have for your planning system.

They can also be ideas that are completely different to what you've used before too.

The "try" section is the one that helps your planning system feel fresh, and not repetitive or stale.

Once you know what you WANT...

Then it's time to actually plan the layouts 👌 Here, we use the information to plan our setup by ensuring:

• Previous wins are included
• Any aversions are avoided or changed
• Our needs for the setup have been considered
• Things to try are incorporated

By the time I get to this point, I normally have a good idea of what I want any setup to include and how the elements will help my journal fulfil its purpose.

While the whole WANT process can take a little time, especially when you're first getting used to it, the payoff is a setup that fits my needs way better than if I'd just gone in without the forethought.

Let's take action

For your next journal setup, use the WANT analysis to pre-plan.

Either on paper or just in your head, ask yourself:

This analysis process is the one I use time and time again, regardless of what type of setup I'm doing.

Need to set up a new journal? WANT analysis.

Time for next month's setup? WANT analysis.

The new week approaches and it's time for another weekly log? Yup, it's the WANT analysis.

While the depth I go into differs, with more effort spent on analysing for "bigger" setups, the stages stay the same.

Let me know how you get on with it if you try it out!

If you want the WANT analysis in action though, our recent members-only video and livestream has two examples for you 🤙

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Until next time!

- Jess

Sick of setting goals that don't get achieved? Learn the system everyday goal-getters are using to make EPIC things happen.