Frequently Asked Questions About Nika Erculj Life Design Planner System
21 answers covering everything from basics to advanced usage.
// Basics
What exactly does 'Life Design, not task management' mean?
It means the planner's job is to design your whole life, not just capture tasks. The vision board, yearly theme, goals, habits, routines, and budget all live in one document so you never lose sight of what you're working toward. Tasks exist inside this larger structure — they descend from your vision rather than floating as an isolated list of chores.
What are the emotional connection questions?
They're three prompts you answer for every goal as if it's already the end of the year: (1) What is your why? (2) How has your life changed now that you've achieved this? (3) How have you changed or improved? If answering these produces no genuine feeling, the goal isn't truly yours and you replace it. This test catches goals you feel you 'should' want.
What is the 3x3 SMART goal setting system?
It's the structure of up to 3 life categories, each holding up to 3 SMART goals, for a maximum of 9 goals per year. The constraint is intentional — it forces genuine prioritisation rather than a scattered wish of twenty ambitions. Each goal is validated against all five SMART criteria before being committed to the planner.
What tool is the Life Design Planner built in?
The creator's version is a Notion-based system that houses the yearly theme, vision board, goals, habit tracker, routines, affirmations, wish list, and monthly planner in a single daily-use document. The principles, however, are tool-agnostic — the structure and cadence matter more than the specific app. You can replicate it in any flexible planner or database tool.
// How To
How do I choose my life categories?
Choose exactly 2-3 categories that reflect how you actually spend your time and energy — for example Personal, Business, Finance, Health, or Creative Projects. They must reflect your real life, not an aspirational version. Don't add a category just because it sounds impressive; if you don't genuinely invest time there, leave it out.
How do I build a Progress Tracker for a goal?
Break the goal into concrete sub-steps. For each sub-step, assign a type (task or habit), the month it should be completed, a specific deadline date, and a status (not started, in progress, done). Fill it in at the start of each month during the Monthly Reset. This tracker becomes the source you pull from during weekly planning.
How do I write an identity shift affirmation?
Write a single statement of who you are becoming, not what you are doing — always in 'I am…' form. For a fitness goal, 'I am someone who moves my body daily' beats 'I want to work out more.' Each goal gets one, and they're consolidated in the affirmations section so the identity shift is visible every time you open the planner.
How do I run a weekly planning session?
At the start of each week, open every goal's Progress Tracker, identify which sub-steps are due that week, and copy them into your weekly to-do list assigned to specific days. Do this every single week without exception. It's the bridge between your annual goals and daily action, and the reason goals don't quietly disappear.
// Troubleshooting
Why did my system collapse when I tried tracking five habits at once?
Because tracking multiple habits simultaneously dilutes focus — it's the number-one reason systems collapse. The Life Design Planner deliberately tracks only one habit per quarter. Identify the single most impactful habit, delete the rest from active tracking, and let one habit become instilled before adding the next. Fewer habits, tracked consistently, beats many tracked sporadically.
My goals feel hollow — what's wrong?
You're likely setting goals you feel you 'should' want rather than genuinely want. Run each goal through the emotional connection questions as if it's year-end. If the answers produce no real feeling, discard the goal and replace it. Hollow goals never get worked on; goals with genuine emotional resonance pull you forward.
I filled in my Progress Tracker once and never touched it again — how do I fix that?
The tracker only works if it's opened during weekly planning and sub-steps are actively copied into that week's task list. Reintroduce the weekly ritual: every week, open each tracker, pull the due sub-steps, and schedule them into specific days. Pair it with the Monthly Reset so the tracker is refreshed with new sub-steps each month.
What if I'm too stressed or overwhelmed to keep up the system?
Recognise that both over-planning and complete avoidance are stress responses, not organisation failures. No productivity system survives prolonged mental distress. The system supports a regulated nervous system — it doesn't replace one. Address the mental and emotional foundation first; the planner is a scaffold for a stable mind, not a substitute for one.
// Comparisons
How does this compare to bullet journaling?
Bullet journaling is primarily a flexible logging and task-capture method centred on daily and monthly logs. The Life Design Planner is goal-and-vision-driven: it starts from a yearly theme, enforces a 3x3 goal cap, ties money to life goals, and uses a Progress Tracker to feed weekly planning. Bullet journals capture the present; this system engineers the year backward from your vision.
How does this compare to OKRs used at companies?
OKRs set objectives with measurable key results, usually quarterly and team-oriented. The Life Design Planner is personal and holistic — it adds an emotional yearly theme, identity affirmations, emotional connection tests, routines, a wish list for joy, and an integrated budget. Where OKRs optimise output, this system optimises life coherence and long-term adherence through emotional buy-in and deliberate constraints.
How is this different from generic 'set annual resolutions' advice?
Generic resolutions are directional wishes with no mechanism to survive past January. This system replaces vague resolutions with numbered SMART goals, tests each for genuine emotional resonance, breaks them into dated sub-steps in a Progress Tracker, and pulls those into weekly planning. The maintenance cadence — Monthly Reset plus weekly planning — is exactly what generic resolution advice lacks.
// Advanced
Why per-month budgets instead of one annual budget?
Because months differ materially — travel, gifts, seasons, and birthdays make a single averaged figure unrealistic. You set up income and category structure once annually, then allocate a fresh, specific amount to each discretionary category at the start of every month based on what that month actually looks like. Bills and subscriptions carry over automatically.
Why should financial goals always be a specific number?
Because specific numbers are trackable and directional statements aren't. 'Grow my savings' or 'post more' can't be measured, so progress stays invisible. Replace them with an amount to save, a follower count, or a revenue figure. For variable income, use an annual savings number and let monthly investing flex rather than locking a fixed monthly amount.
What role does the Net Worth Snapshot play?
The Net Worth Snapshot records total assets — cash, bank accounts, investments, property, other assets — minus liabilities at the start of the year. It establishes a concrete financial starting point that makes abstract money goals real, showing exactly where you're beginning. You update it periodically to measure year-end progress against a fixed baseline.
How do I use the Wish List without turning it into another goal list?
Never track, schedule, or attach deadlines to Wish List items — doing so destroys the spontaneity that makes them enjoyable. Keep it deliberately unstructured: concerts, weekend trips, hobby experiments, random joyful things. Its purpose is to counterbalance the discipline of goal tracking so the year contains delight, not just a performance review of your targets.
Can I add a second habit mid-quarter if I'm doing well?
No — resist it. The one-habit-per-quarter rule is a hard constraint, not a suggestion. Adding a second habit mid-quarter is the primary way this system collapses like every other you've tried. Let the current habit fully instil, then choose the next habit only when the new quarter begins.
How specific should a goal's sub-steps be?
Specific enough to be measurable and schedulable. Vague sub-steps like 'gratitude practice' should become 'morning gratitude list of three items.' Each sub-step needs a type, a target month, a deadline, and a status. If you can't drop a sub-step directly into a specific day during weekly planning, it isn't concrete enough yet.