Choosing the pages
The planner is one PDF in print order. The cover carries the year and, if you like, your name. The year at a glance shows all twelve months on one page with the holidays filled in and listed underneath. The goals page has a box for each area of your life, and the month pages give every day a box, with a column for priorities, birthdays and notes on the right. Weekly pages follow each month page, and a review page closes each month if you tick it.
If you mostly plan by month, leave the weekly pages out; the file stays at 15 pages and fits in a thin folder. If you plan appointments and tasks day by day, keep them in. For a planner you start in the middle of the year, download the whole year anyway and file the months you have passed at the back.
Setting goals by area
The six default areas, from work to fun and travel, cover most of a year, but the list is yours. Rename them, take some out, or clear the box and write the names by hand. Fewer areas give bigger boxes. Write goals you can check at the end of the year: "read 12 books", "learn to bake bread", "save for a trip in the fall", "call grandma every Sunday". The First step line under each box matters most. Write something you can do this week, such as "pick the first book" or "open a savings account for the trip", and copy it into the priorities of the first month page.
Using the month and week pages
Fill in the fixed dates first: birthdays, school breaks, trips and deadlines. Holidays are already printed in the day box, so you see long weekends before you plan around them. The business days calculator counts the working days between two dates with the same holidays, which helps when you plan a project or a vacation request. On the weekly pages, every day has its own lined block and the This week box holds the few things that must get done. Copy only what belongs to that week from the month page, so the month stays an overview.
The week numbers next to the month rows and on the weekly pages follow the system you pick. The week number tool explains ISO 8601 and US week numbers and shows which week any date falls in, so you can check a date someone gives you as "week 23".
The week that spans New Year
The first weekly page is the week that holds January 1, so it begins on the Sunday or Monday before it, and the last weekly page runs into the next January. Those days print in grey with their year, and holidays on them still show. With ISO numbering, the first week can carry the last week number of the year before, which the page notes under its title. Nothing is missing and nothing is doubled: every day of the year appears on exactly one weekly page.
Monthly reviews
A review page after each month asks what went well, what got in the way and how each goal area is going, rated on five circles from not yet to done. Fill it in on the last day of the month with the month page open next to it, then write two or three focus points for the next month. To see how far away a date is, such as a trip you are saving for, the days between dates calculator gives the exact count, and the countdown to New Year shows how much of the year is left.
Related printables
For a single wall calendar of the same year, the printable 2027 calendar uses the same holidays. To work out your goals in more detail before you copy them into the planner, use the goal setting worksheet.
Frequently asked questions
Is the planner free?
Yes. Download it as often as you like, for yourself, your family or a class. There is no signup and no watermark; one small line at the bottom of each page names our website and gives the page number.
How many pages does it have?
It depends on what you tick. The cover, the year at a glance, the goals page and the 12 month pages make 15 pages. Weekly pages add 53 or 54 more, one for every week that holds a day of the year, and the monthly reviews add 12. The number of pages shows under the download button before you download.
Why does the first weekly page start in December?
A week has seven days, and January 1 is rarely the first day of a week. The first weekly page is the week that holds January 1, so it starts on the Sunday or Monday before it. Days that belong to the year before are printed in grey with their year, and the same goes for the days of the next year on the last weekly page.
Which week numbers should I pick?
ISO 8601 week numbers start on Monday, and week 1 is the week with the first Thursday of the year. US week numbers make the week with January 1 week 1. If you never use week numbers, pick None and the weekly pages are titled with their first date instead.
Why are some characters missing from my text?
The PDF uses a standard font that covers English and most Western European letters, but no emoji and no other scripts such as Greek, Cyrillic or Chinese. Those characters are left out, a few rare accented letters lose the accent, and a note under the fields tells you when that happens. The preview shows the text exactly as it will print.
How do I print it two-sided for a binder?
Choose two-sided printing, flipped on the long edge, and print all pages at 100 % scale. Every page has the same margins on both sides, so it can be punched for a ring binder or taken to a copy shop for spiral binding. If you print the weekly pages, print the whole file in one go so the months stay in order.