Ooft. As a recovering perfectionist, this blog hits home for me. I was the child who saved their stickers for a special occasion, the student who obsessed over title pages and borders, and the teacher who wanted everything in her classroom (including her planner) to be perfect. Spoiler alert, it wasn't possible or sustainable.
For many of us, a planner is a lifeline—a tool to keep everything organised and on track. But what happens when our desire for perfection creeps into our planning routine? Suddenly, that trusty planner becomes a source of stress, rather than a tool for productivity.
Let's unpack the connection between perfectionism and productivity, and why striving for perfection in your teacher planner might actually be holding you back.
The Allure of the Perfect Planner
We’ve all been there: you open your planner to a fresh, blank page, and the urge to make it just right takes over. Maybe you want every entry to be colour-coded, every page adorned with stickers or doodles, or every line perfectly straight. While there’s nothing wrong with making your planner aesthetically pleasing, there’s a fine line between a functional, beautiful planner and one that becomes a burden.
Perfectionism Leads to Procrastination
Research has shown that perfectionism often leads to procrastination. My countless sleepless nights doing assignments (and reports) at the last minute can attest to this. This also applies to planner use. When we fixate on making every page in our planner look perfect, we can become so overwhelmed by the pressure to get it just right that we delay starting tasks altogether. According to a study by Sirois and Molnar (2017), the desire for perfection can lead to significant delays in task initiation, as we spend too much time obsessing over details that, in the grand scheme of things, don’t actually matter.
In a teaching context, this might mean spending hours organising and decorating your planner rather than using it to tackle the tasks at hand. The time and energy spent perfecting each page could be better used for planning engaging lessons, giving meaningful feedback, or simply taking a well-deserved break.
The Importance of Progress Over Perfection
One of the most important lessons we can learn as educators is that progress is more valuable than perfection. In the classroom, we encourage our students to try their best, even if the outcome isn’t flawless. The same principle applies to our own productivity. Your planner is a tool to help you stay organised and productive—it doesn’t need to be a masterpiece.
Instead of striving for perfection, focus on making your planner functional and efficient. A few simple checkboxes, quick notes, and a clear schedule are often all you need to stay on track. Remember, the goal is to use your planner to manage your time and tasks effectively, not to create a work of art (unless that's your happy place).
Letting Go of the Need for Perfection
It’s easy to fall into the trap of perfectionism, especially when so much of our work as teachers involves setting high standards for ourselves and our students. But when it comes to planning, it’s important to let go of the need for perfect pages and embrace a system that works for you.
Here are a few tips to help you combat perfectionism in your planning routine:
- Set Time Limits: Give yourself a set amount of time to plan each day or week. Personally, I love a quick 5 mins at the start and end of each day, and a longer brainstorming/planning session at the start of each term.
- Focus on Functionality: Prioritise tasks and entries that help you stay organised and productive, rather than focusing on aesthetics.
- Embrace Imperfection: Allow yourself to make mistakes or have “messy” pages. The goal is progress, not perfection.
- Use Tools Wisely: While it’s okay to add a touch of colour or decoration, cut yourself some slack and keep it simple.
Why we don't have stickers in the Base Teacher Planner
At Base Planners, we intentionally chose not to include stickers in our planners because we believe that simplicity fosters productivity. While stickers can be fun and decorative, they often lead to unnecessary distractions and the trap of perfectionism. Our goal is to provide a tool that helps you stay organised and focused without the added pressure to make every page look perfect. By focusing on functionality and ease of use, our planners ensure that you spend less time decorating and more time doing what you do best—teaching. It also meant that we could include other more practical and premium features like moveable term tabs, protective metal corners and an elastic closure.
We designed our planners to streamline your planning process and support your productivity, so you can maintain a clear, efficient system that enhances your work-life balance.
Progress Over Perfection in Your Planner
Your planner is there to serve you, not the other way around. By letting go of perfectionism, you can free up time and mental energy to focus on what really matters—being the best teacher you can be. Embrace the imperfections, prioritise productivity, and watch as your planning routine becomes not only more efficient but also more enjoyable.
If you’re looking for a planner that’s designed with functionality in mind, check out our collection at Base. Our planners are made for teachers who value simplicity, organisation, and most importantly, progress over perfection.