Planner Review: 2022 PowerSheets Planner and Accessories

It’s my favorite time of the year! No, not just Fall, but planner launch season! I’ve been purchasing the rest of my planners for 2022 and am thrilled to kick off the planner reviews with one of my absolute favorites.

This is my fifth year of getting a PowerSheets Intentional Goal-Setting Planner by Cultivate What Matters. When I stumbled upon this product at the end of 2017, I was having a very rough year. My body went from frequent migraines and chronic plantar fasciitis to full-body nerve pain.

I started seeing specialists, and they gave me a serious list of tasks- daily exercises, weekly stress-relievers, and even more long-term monthly goals. My poor weekly planner was not up to the task of helping me manage all the things I had to do.

I stumbled upon a photo of a PowerSheets Tending List on Pinterest, and it looked like something that could help. It also didn’t hurt that the planners were so pretty. I took a leap of faith and asked my husband for one as a Christmas gift.

I’m so glad that I did. Today, I am pain-free and maintain my health and sanity with daily check-ins on my tending list. I’ve also accomplished other goals and determined which goals were not serving me. It’s been a process of learning and self-compassion.

This year, I was honored to join the woman who started Cultivate What Matters, Lara Casey for a launch day live stream. Lara was incredibly warm and welcoming- just like the products she has developed. I received my PowerSheets Custom bundle early this year so I could have it for the launch, and I’m thrilled with every new product I chose!

In this article, you will find some general information on PowerSheets Planners along with a review of this year’s planner, including changes I noticed compared to last year’s. I have also highlighted some of the accessories you can buy, including a couple that are new to this year’s lineup.

What Are PowerSheets?

I have reviewed PowerSheets Planners each of the past two years I’ve been writing this hobby blog. So, in order to not be redundant, I will note that you can get more in depth information about these planners in the 2019 article I wrote and the 2020 article, which also provides tips on getting the prep work done.

That said, for those who aren’t familiar with the planners, they are intentional goal planners. Although they now come with a monthly calendar spread, these planners are not meant to be your sole daily or weekly planner. Instead, you use them alongside your main planner to help incorporate your goals into your regular planning.

Although many planners have some space to list out goals, PowerSheets Planners includes “prep work,” lots of questionnaires and worksheets that help you identify your goals and the steps you’ll need to take to reach them. The key tool is a “Tending List,” where you write out the monthly and weekly action items to reach your goal, and the daily habits you want to establish as part of your goal-setting process.

They are such a helpful and motivating tool, I cannot imagine planning without them. I go into this more in depth with my 2020 PowerSheets Planner review, but I find the best way to use them is to have a reason to work in them every day.

The monthly calendar spread has provided a great excuse for me to check my Tending List daily. In it write daily wins – small positive strides I make toward my goals – in the calendar section. I keep my prayer list in the notes section to the right of the calendar. By writing down my wins and having my prayer list just a couple of pages away from my Tending List, I’m always able to check in with my daily, weekly, and monthly habit trackers.

No matter what your goals, this planner will help you focus on the ones that matter and motivate you to achieve them. And, again, for more tips on how to use this planner, please see this article.

Review- 2022 PowerSheets Intentional Goal-Setting Planner

First, I’ll note that I am not an affiliate of Cultivate What Matters (CWM). I do not receive payment for referrals. I just love this company and its products!

Second, this review is for the 12-month, dated PowerSheets Planners. Each year, this company launches a 6-month, undated planner, which is great for folks who want to try the system without committing to a full year. Those planners are currently sold out, but will launch next year in the spring.

The Planners Generally (H3)

Color Options. This year, the planners came in 6 different color options Blooms, Teal, Coral Pink, Natural Linen, Clear Skies, and Green (which, as of this article’s publication, was sold out). As someone who loves all things floral, the planner I ordered has a Blooms cover.

Cover and Binding. This year marks the third in a row that the planner has a hard, chipboard cover with a gold, twin O-ring coil binding. This year’s planner is nearly the same size as last year’s, so the ring is a nice trim size. The covers have rounded gold-covered corners. On the inside of the front cover, you’ll find a small accordion pocket.

Dimensions and Paper. The planner is 7.75” x 10.5” and has 156 pages, along with 12 cardstock tabs. The pages are 120 gsm paper, that I find not too smooth, but smooth enough to easily erase a Frixion pen. In fact, with the color coding options that come with these planners, I have used and recommend this Frixion pen set and these Frixion Highlighters (#Ad):

Purchase Options. You can buy just the planners themselves or also purchase accessories. In order to qualify for free shipping and to save on the price of individual items, during the launch they offered several bundles, including the PowerSheets Best-Seller Bundle, the PowerSheets Custom Bundle, Custom Accessory Bundle, and others. (The bundles were only available for about a week, which is why it’s always best to purchase during the launch).

Packaging. As this year is CWM’s 10^th Anniversary, the planners are packaged in beautiful commemorative keepsake boxes that coordinate with the planner covers. The boxes are covered with gold foiling accents that have CWM phrases interwoven into the design. (If you get the Blooms cover, your keepsake box will be hot pink with gold foiling). They’re just beautiful!

Extras. Last year, I know a lot of folks (myself included) missed having the small cardstock “Word of the Year” card. Well, they brought it back! I found mine in the planner’s front pocket along with a card that introduces the planner and how to use it.

What’s New Or Different in the 2022 PowerSheets Planner

To learn about all the features of a PowerSheets Planner, do check out those prior blog posts mentioned above. Below, I’ll be reviewing some of the main differences I saw in this year’s planner compared to last year’s.

Stickers. One of the first pages in each PowerSheets planner is a single sheet of colorful stickers to help decorate and color code your planner. This year, there were more stickers with inspirational phrases as well as some new functional icon stickers. One thing I noted is that there were fewer hearts in quote bubble stickers and the color coding options have changed. That is a big one. The colors that remain the same are a light lavender, blue, dark green, reddish pink, and hot pink. There is now a darker teal, a yellowy light green, orange, a lighter yellow, and a peachy pink. Gone are red, light green, and the orangey flesh-colored one.

Beginning Prep Sheets. The prep work at the beginning of the page begins on page 5 and ends on page 51, if you don’t add in any wildcards on pages 52 or 53. So, it’s roughly 46-48 prep pages with several decorative pages that don’t require prep work scattered within. Last year’s was contained within about 49 pages, so they’ve simplified it a bit. The pages themselves are colorful.

In terms of the prep work, I won’t give a lot of spoilers, as there are too many pages to review here. That said, I will note that I recognized many of the same pages as last year’s. That said, I find that many of the worksheets have more guided prompts whereas last year’s had empty space for brainstorming. I see this as a plus, as it can be overwhelming to figure out how to goal plan without guidance. I also noticed that the prep pages refer to having an intentional year rather than your “best” year. Also, in addition to the life areas they’ve always included (health, finances, family, etc.), the system now includes “goal categories”- “Habits,” “Finish Line” goals, and “Big Dreams.” I also saw that the Goals breakdown pages had more blank space on the second page of the two-page worksheet (per goal). And, at the end, there are pages where you can add some Wildcard pages (these are found in the “Goals School” section of their website. Access comes with your purchase of the planner.) Overall, I like the way they simplified the work and provided more guidance.

Quarterly Refresh. After the initial prep work, there are three quarterly refresh worksheets to help gauge where you are in your planning during the year. These are found after the April, July, and October tabs. Again, there weren’t too many major differences from last year’s planner, but I thought it was interesting that some of the “life areas” were renamed. Health is now “Health + Wellness,” Spouse/Focal Relationship is now just “Focal Relationship,” and Work is now “Work + Learning.” I thought these were really helpful way of broadening these categories to include all types of health, relationship goals, and work or educational goals. I also like that in the space where we rate our life areas there is a prompt for how we scored it in prior worksheets. New questions include adding where we did well in our goals (rather than focusing on the negatives of prior goal setting). And, there is space to include a “Word of the Quarter,” to help focus our goals for that season of the year. The “plan for the Season Ahead” was also revamped is now simplified to 2 pages rather than 4.

Monthly Prep Work. Although the “Prepare Well” and monthly calendar layouts are unchanged, the “Brainstorm Your Month” page now includes a section at the bottom to “Note Which Areas This Month’s Goals Cover,” which helpfully (and very kindly) reminds us that we don’t have to focus on all our goals every month and try to do it all at one time.

Tending List. This is where the daily work is done. It’s the habit-tracking part of the planner. This year, the page is nearly identical to last year’s except for one noticeable change- the daily habits section now clearly separates the days by the week. There is a slight space between sections of the month to delineate where they fall on a calendar in terms of a week. This will also help with figuring out how we’ve met our weekly goals.

Month in Review. The set of questions on the back of the Tending List that help you reflect on how your month went have been updated as well. First, there are no longer colored boxes separating each of the questions. Although they’re in the same location on the page, it feels roomier since there are no borders confining your writing. Another change in this section includes some wording changes. Where it once read “People I’m grateful for and why” was changed to “What or who I’m most grateful for right now. And, the section titled, “I’m choosing grace over guilt” is now “What’s not working right now.”

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Year in Review. This section got a pretty major overhaul last year. It went from having each month listed with space provided to write down the highlights from each month to a list of favorites for the year. I really liked the new favorites spot, but I missed having a place to write down all the highlights for the year. Well, I must not have been the only one. This year’s planner now has a two-page spread for the Year in Review with the old highlights page on the left and the new favorites page on the right.

New Accessories

Full disclaimer: I do not purchase all the accessories that CWM sells. If I did, I’m sure my husband would have a canary. But, I do opt for the custom bundle when ordering my planner. This year’s custom bundle allowed you to select a Planner, Carry All Pouch, Accessory Pouch, and 5 additional accessories. Here are some really neat ones I’m enjoying:

Carry All Pouch. This pouch is HUGE! We are talking 13.5” x 10.5” and a 12” opening. I’ve never seen such a large planner pouch. And, unlike others I’ve purchased, this one did not come with a toxic, chemical smell. The outside feels like a soft vinyl or vegan leather that can be wiped down. Inside is lined with cloth. It has a gold zipper with a gold and vinyl pull.

Accessory Pouch. This is smaller zippered pouch and measures 10” x 7”. It has an elastic band, which you can use to attach it to your PowerSheets Planner and to keep your planner closed. It has the same vinyl-feel exterior and cloth interior as the Carry All Pouch, and the zippered opening is large enough to fit the CWM sticker books.

Tending Tape. I’m a sucker for washi tape, and my collection is getting embarrassingly large. I have noticed a trend in washi tape lately. Many producers are selling rolls with far less washi than used to be the standard amount. However, the CWM Tending Tape has rolls with plenty of tape. It’s definitely worth the purchase, and the colorful designs coordinate with their planners and stickers. You get 5 rolls in a set, and I have been using all of the rolls I’ve purchased since I started buying from this company.

Snap-In Bookmark. For the past several years, CWM has only sold magnetic page markers for their planners. I love these little page markers, and I use a ton of them, as I often go back to prior planning pages as I work on my goals throughout the year. That said, I’ve always thought it would be helpful to have a page marker that more easily helps you find those places in your planner that you turn to often. The snap-in bookmarks are just what I needed. They are made of sturdy plastic, are long enough to run the length of the planner, (2” x 10”), and have a little tab at the top that sticks out of the book, so you can easily turn to the page it’s marking. And, the tab has a small Cultivate symbol in gold foil, which is just adorable. The bookmark is just see through enough that you know what’s on the page behind it.

Snap-In Wildcard Holder. This is such a genius accessory. Before they slimmed down their planners, there used to be space after the Tending List to add a wildcard (which is an extra worksheet that you purchase or download from the CWM website with different ways to track goals, spending, routines, etc.). But, once that extra space was gone, I wondered where might be a good place to tape in our wildcards. The plastic Snap-In Wildcard Holder works like a dashboard, creating space to tape in a Wildcard or whatever else you might want to store in your planner. You simply use washi tape to add a wildcard to this holder in your planner. It is similar to the bookmark- it’s made of plastic; has a tab, this time to the right, noting it is a wildcard in gold foil writing; and it can be placed anywhere in your planner! It measures 7.5” x 10”, so it fits within the planner. According to their website, these are thin enough that you can fit up to 5 in your planner!

Goal Setting Sticker Book. I always get a sticker book with my planner. I use it to keep me motivated, and the color-coding that I use in my goal planner is also what I use in my main, weekly, catch-all planner. This year’s sticker book is similar to last year’s in that there are 16 pages of stickers with lots of color-coding stickers, some washi strips, gold foil words, and the classic CWM progress and prioritizing stickers. The book is thinner than last year’s, so I think the stickers are not made of the thick, almost cardstock-like paper as years’ past. However, new this year are the functional icon stickers to categorize and color-code your goals. I’m curious to see how these work. I had assigned certain colors to my goals years ago, and being a creature of habit, I’m not sure I will reassign the colors to match the ones they use in the sticker book, but we’ll see.

I hope this review provides some insight into this wonderful goal setting planner system. I highly recommend it to anyone who is looking to make progress in any aspect of their life. No goal is too big or too small to benefit from this system. If you are looking for a way to establish new habits, set attainable goals, or make progress toward a life-long dream, this planning system can help.

Do you use PowerSheets or have you tried other goal-setting planners? I’d love to learn about your experience. Share it below in the comments.

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**Image credits-images on graphics and in article are originals by Vidalia Patterson.

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