Welcome to Your Overflow Planner Walk Through
1. Start with the season
Vision + Planning
Before you plan the days, get clear about where you are going.
At the beginning of each quarter, start with your planning and vision spread.
Use this space to pray through the season ahead, write down what God is highlighting, capture the dreams and goals you are carrying, and think through what it may take to move forward.
This is not about building the perfect three-month plan before the quarter begins. It is about giving God room to speak into the plan before your calendar fills up.
You may want to ask:
What am I believing for?
Why does it matter?
What is God asking me to focus on in this season?
What steps can I take?
What may need to be surrendered along the way?
2. Plan the month and the week
Monthly + Weekly Spread
Make the plan. Leave room for God to move.
Your monthly and weekly spreads give you the big-picture view before you get into the details of each day.
Use them for appointments, deadlines, family plans, projects, priorities, and anything else you need to see at a glance.
OVERFLOW COLUMN
On the monthly calendar, the last column is labeled Overflow. This is your space to plan in faith. Write down the things you’re building toward, believing for, or intentionally pursuing this month. It’s where your dreams meet your calendar. Use it to name the goals that feel bigger than your abilities, the steps you’re trusting God to help you take, or the ideas you’re developing from your time in His presence.
Let this space be a visual reminder that your month isn’t limited by your capacity; it’s empowered by your connection to the Source.
GOD MOVES COLUMN
Do not only record what you plan.
Record what God did.
Use the God Moves box on the weekly spread for answered prayers, unexpected opportunities, a change of direction, something God showed you, or one of those small moments you do not want to forget.
Over time, this becomes a record of His faithfulness.
HOW WAS YOUR TIME WITH THE LORD?
The Overflow Planner is all about rhythms. How were your rhythms last week? Not looking for perfection here. Just location. Did you have sweet time with Him? Or was your week full of distractions that drew you away? Regardless of your "score," just keep growing.
3. Choose your Sabbath
Intentional Rest + Refresh
Decide when you are going to stop.
On the weekly spread, check the box on the day you choose the day you are setting apart for Sabbath.
Your Sabbath may not look exactly the same every week, and it may not look like someone else’s.
The point is to intentionally make room for rest, God, and the things that restore you before the week fills every available space.
Rest and enjoyment deserve space too.
At the top of the weekly spread, you will find your Intentional Refresh:
How will I have fun this week?
How will I rest this week?
Simple questions. Very easy to skip.
Don’t.
Sometimes the most responsible thing you can do is make room for something that restores you.
Plan the dinner. Watch the movie. Sit outside. Take the nap. Call the friend.
Your life does not have to be all output.
5. Begin the day with God
Daily Devotional
The devotional pages are there to help you make room for God before you move into the rest of your day.
But there is not one “right” way to use them. You can read the included devotional and Scripture. You can use the Scripture as the starting point for SOAP. You can study something completely different in your Bible and use the page for your own notes. You can journal. You can pray. You can sit with one verse for three days if that is where God has you.
If you want structure, use SOAP:
S — Scripture
What are you reading?
O — Observation
What stands out? What are you noticing?
A — Application
What does this mean for your life today?
P — Prayer
What do you want to pray in response?
6. Pay attention to how God is speaking
Hearing from God
Write what you sense God highlighting, correcting, reminding you of, inviting you into, or asking you to release.
You will also see:
Hear | See | Feel | Know
Those are simply prompts to help you become more aware of how you are experiencing God in that moment.
Maybe a Scripture or phrase keeps coming to mind. Maybe something becomes clear in a picture or dream. Maybe you feel a strong sense of peace, conviction or burden. Maybe you simply know something you did not reason your way into.
You do not have to force yourself into one category. God speaks to us in different ways. Just know that you were created to hear from Him.
7. Let what you heard shape what you do
Intentional Priorities
Now we plan.
Instead of beginning with everything that could be done, ask:
What does God want me to focus on today?
Choose these few things as those that deserve your attention. Your Intentional Priorities are not necessarily the loudest things on your list. They are the things you are choosing to give your attention to today based on the prompting of the Lord.
8. Use the Surrender Box
Surrender to God
The Surrender Box is one of the most important parts of this planner. Write down the thing you keep replaying. The outcome you are trying to control. The problem you cannot solve today. The question you do not have an answer for. The person you cannot change. The thing you have done everything you know to do about.
Get it out of your head.
Give it to God.
Then move through the rest of your day without carrying it into every meeting, every conversation, and every task.
9. Track the rhythms that support you
Daily Habit Tracker
Your daily habit tracker gives you a quick way to pay attention to some basic rhythms:
- Smiley Face - Did you take time out today to laugh or do something you enjoy?
- Exercise Icon - Did you work out, go to the gym, or take a walk to get your body moving?
- Pause Button - Did you stop today? Not when everything is all done but just to take a break, enjoy some sun or the people around you?
- Water Drop - Did you hydrate today?
Plus space for habits that matter specifically to you. You do not have to earn a perfect row of circles but use this as information.
What helps you feel well?
What keeps slipping?
What rhythms make it easier for you to show up fully in the life God has given you?
10. Get it out of your head
Overflow/Brain Dump
Your brain does not need to hold everything.
Use the Overflow Pages for:
- brain dumps
- to-do lists
- project notes
- ideas
- prayers
- groceries
- random reminders
- things to come back to later
Not everything on your mind deserves a place on today’s schedule. Put it here first. Then decide what actually belongs in your Intentional Priorities.
11. Look back before you move forward
Quarterly Reflection
At the end of each quarter, stop before immediately jumping into the next one.
Look back.
What did God do? What changed? What prayers were answered? Where did you grow? What worked? What did not? What are you still carrying? What needs to shift before you enter the next season?
We spend a lot of time asking God what is next. Reflection helps us notice what He already did. Then begin the next quarter with more wisdom than you had when you entered the last one.
12. Your Sermon Notes have their own home now
Sermon Notes
Your Sermon Notes are now in the separate notepad included with your planner.
Use it at church, during a podcast, while watching a message online, or anytime you want more room to capture what you are learning.