I have a love-hate relationship with planners. That is, I love to buy them, look at them, fill out all the pre-made pages, maybe even add in a few dates … and then by the time I’ve made a mess of a page or two, or perhaps left a week (or three) blank, it’s screaming at me:
- You haven’t finished anything.
- You wasted money on another planner.
- It’s ruined—so much for your new perfect system.
- Why did you think you’d get your life together?
- When’s the last time you filled out that year-in-pixels chart? Don’t bother starting now.
If you’ve ever been there—buying another planner in January, full of hope and pastel tabs, only to abandon it mid-March because you missed a week and couldn’t bear to see the failure—you are very much my people. And what you need is an IMPERFECT system that’s impossible to mess up.
Why Traditional Planners Don’t Work for Brains Like Ours
Look, most planners are built for consistency. For people who have regular sleep schedules and remember to eat lunch and don’t get derailed for three days after a surprise phone call. (Yes, you should definitely text to warn me before you call.)
They assume if you didn’t check off your water intake or write down what you’re grateful for today, it’s because you forgot. Not because your brain glitched so hard you couldn’t decide whether to wash dishes or cry in the laundry basket.
And when the blank days start piling up, they don’t feel neutral. They feel like tiny little failures—evidence that you “can’t stick with anything.”
So you stop. Again. And maybe you whisper to yourself, “I’ll try again next year.”
Another planner gets dumped in the trash or tucked away on a shelf.
The Dopamine Drought and That One Person Who Just “Does It”
Ever heard someone say:
“Oh, I just know what I need to do and then I do it, even if I don’t want to.”
Cool, cool, cool. So do I. I know what to do. I’m not lazy. And yet sometimes, DOING THE THING feels like putting my hand on a hot burner. It’s just not going to happen.
Brains wired with ADHD or Autism often have a weird relationship with dopamine, serotonin, and other neurotransmitters. The systems meant to provide motivation, focus, and a sense of accomplishment don’t always work the way they’re supposed to.
That’s why even basic tasks—like remembering to brush your teeth or drink water (or pick the teens up from their after-school program!)—can feel frustratingly inconsistent.
Let’s tear this apart. Yes, it’s messy. Filled-in means I did it. An arrow means I’ve rescheduled it. A line through means that I decided against doing it at all. Both still tell my brain that I did a thing! There’s a box around stores so that I can see at a glance where I need to go. And a lot of those things were written after I did them.
The Dopamine Hack? Write it Down. Check it Off. Get the Boost.
Your brain craves reward signals, but it often fails to give them for routine tasks. Writing something down and checking it off (or colouring in a box) forces a small but tangible dopamine hit—tricking your brain into feeling accomplished, even for simple things like “Get dressed” or “Make coffee”.
That tiny reward loop makes it easier to engage, focus, and build momentum.
Can you see how messy this gets? How I decided to go through my spices instead of work on the blog? And how “tidy bathroom” turned into actually cleaning the room?
Why This Works (Even If It Feels Silly)
✔ Your brain loves patterns and systems—tracking tasks helps create a structure, making it easier to remember things naturally.
✔ When you physically check something off, it reinforces the habit, improving task memory and motivation.
✔ Even micro-wins (like ticking off “Sit up in bed”) provide dopamine fuel, helping you move toward bigger goals.
It’s not cheating, even if you’ll feel like it is at first—it’s brain hacking.
When motivation is unreliable, small intentional dopamine boosts help bridge the gap between “I need to do this” and “I actually did it.”
💡 Pro tip: If you didn’t write it down before hand, you can to write it after you do the thing, even the next day. Instant dopamine boost, no shame required.
My New Imperfect System: The Daily Spark
I didn’t come up with this. My friend Elizabeth told me to grab a notebook and write down “Make coffee” and “Drink coffee” while I was drinking my morning coffee.
I laughed—how could that possibly work?
And yet, all day, she kept nudging me: “Did you write that down?” And we DID things!
Now it’s what we say at my house all the time. Did you write that down?
I’ve modified it since, taking some stuff from bullet journalling. And by the way, I love the idea of bullet journalling – I just know I won’t do it. Here’s what makes the Daily Spark different:
- The day is broken down by hour—but only when I need it. Why bother scheduling when I don’t need it?
- I write things down after I do them. Feels weird, sure, but it’s key to making this work.
- If I don’t use it for a few days? No shame. Turn the page and start where I am.
- Blank space is not failure. It’s breathing room.
Here’s a day with a lot of time-specific events. I tried putting the tasks on a second page except … I apparently don’t see them when I do that. So, I squish them in, and it still works. And that big space where I have nothing? It’s because I knew I’d be on the move from 3:30 until 9:30 and if I didn’t have serious downtime during the day, I’d have had a meltdown.
Want to Try It?
I made a printable that matches what I use, but it’s not necessary. I’m not selling you anything here. A $1 scribbler from the dollar store is perfect for this – it’s flexible, disposable, and doesn’t come with any guilt.
The magic isn’t in fancy layouts or pre-printed boxes. It’s in the act of writing, colouring, and reinforcing tiny wins.
- Woke up.
- Didn’t die.
- Snuggled the cat.
- Got out of bed.
- Made coffee.
You’re not broken. You just need a system that sparks with your brain.
Download the Daily Spark Printable Here
You’ve got this.
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