I am going to include a little video to show you what I am talking about. Please stand by for that.

What do I use the back pages of my planners for and how do I set them up?

The first thing I typically do is create a pen test page in any notebook and/or planner that I haven’t used before. Although lately, I have been doing it in every planner and journal because I have been doing far more pen/ink experimentation than switching up my planners.

It is typically a simple swatch page, using the very last blank page of the planner. I write “Pen Test” at the top of the page. Using the pen or marker or highlighter or even the paint I am testing, I write out what I am testing. So with the paint, I will try to write it out with the paintbrush; this is the only substance I will write over in black pen (one I know already won’t bleed through the page) so that it is legible to everyone, not just me.

After writing what I am testing, I will scribble a bit. With my Tombow Dual Brush pens or things of that nature, I will make a single swipe, then another where I swipe twice in the same place. Finally, I will create the last swipe by swiping three times in a different place. This way I will have three different swipes of each color, testing out how the paper works depending on how heavy a load of ink I put down. I also use this method when testing paint.

With the pens, I normally write the name of what I am testing and leave it at that.

After that, it all depends on what my needs are.

I do not set up the back pages in any planner the way I would set up pages in a Bullet Journal. I do not create spreads or anything like that.

Now, I will take notes on my back pages. I will answer questions from different printables I get or have. I will create mind maps. I will break down goals into action steps. I will make lists. I will jot down websites, social media handles, the names of books, or anything I see that I want to remember. I do Tarot and/or Oracle spreads. I will also glue in pictures, cards, or various ephemera from a vacation or an outing that inspired me. Or something that I want to look at or check out periodically, but it doesn’t fit anywhere else in my planner.

It’s not a lot.

Some years I use up all my back pages from my planners.

In other years I don’t use it much at all.

It depends on what I am doing when I have my planners near me.

What about you? How do you use the back pages in your planners?