That made me curious.
I started looking through more notebooks and found the same thing again and again. Since then, I've found five notebooks that were barely used, and I'm pretty sure there are more hiding somewhere in my house.
Every notebook had been purchased for a reason. That reason just didn't last very long.
Why traditional planners never worked for me
I've probably bought between five and ten planners over the years, along with more notebooks and journals than I could count. Eventually, I stopped buying planners altogether.
It wasn't because I didn't want to be organized. It was because I never found one that actually worked for me.
Every planner seemed to include pages I didn't need and never enough of the pages I did. If I needed three weeks of detailed planning, great. If the following month I needed nothing but brainstorming pages, project notes, or random lists, I was out of luck.
The planner expected me to organize my life the same way every week for an entire year.
Life doesn't work like that.
Even though I wasn't using my planners, I was still organizing everything — just on sticky notes, printer paper, legal pads, random scraps of paper, the Notes app on my phone… whatever happened to be nearby.
Every time I'd come across another half-used planner sitting on a shelf, I'd feel a little guilty. Not because I wasn't organized. Because I couldn't find a planning system that actually fit the way my brain works.
Looking for a better solution
While I was packing, I kept thinking about those notebooks. I wondered if someone already made planner pages that I could simply stick into a notebook I already owned.
I searched for them. I couldn't find what I was looking for.
There were printable planner pages, but they required downloading files, figuring out where they were saved, hoping the printer decided to cooperate, buying paper and ink, and then putting everything into a large binder. For me, that felt like too many steps before I could even start.
I wanted something simple. I wanted something that worked with the notebooks many of us already have sitting on a shelf. When I couldn't find it, I decided to create it.
What are Peel & Plan pages?
Peel & Plan Pages are adhesive planner pages designed to transform a blank notebook into a planner that's built around your life.
Instead of buying another planner filled with layouts you may never use, you choose only the pages that make sense for you. Need a Get It Done page this week? Add one. Need three Moment Fit Check pages next month? Add those. Going on vacation? Add a packing list. Add the pages that fit that season of life.
How I design each page
The first page I created was the Get It Done page because it solved the problem I run into most often. Once that layout was finished, designing the rest became much easier because the overall style had already been established.
The biggest decision wasn't the layout — it was the colors. I tried not to choose only the colors I personally love. I wanted the collection to appeal to people with different styles and preferences.
I already have a long list of additional pages I'd like to create, because there are plenty of situations where I still find myself reaching for a random piece of paper. I also want the collection to grow based on what real customers want. Some of the best ideas won't come from me — they'll come from the people using Peel & Plan Pages every day.