Planner Mania

Managing the Chaos

Erin Condren Hardbound Vertical Planner at Staples for $34.99 in MidCentury Circles

As it is mid-August, it is back to school time in my area. This means finding lunch boxes and backpacks that were abandoned in June, shopping for school supplies and returning to a busy schedule. I've also taken on a different role at work so I will be needing school supplies that reflect an increasing number of meetings I will be attending and remembering what I will need to do next. I will also be making my own schedule versus following one all the time. I searched through Amazon for a planner that fits what I think I will need but I'm a person who needs to see and feel stuff so I ended up going to Staples to look at each planner. I came across an Erin Condren Planner Vertical Style in MidCentury Circles that fit my needs and more. I'd like to share the set up, organization and how I fell in love with this planner after a few hours.

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The Planner Craze

Having three large-sized columns for each day is great. Each column is one aspect of my life: work, class, home with some room on the bottom for notes, food, medication reminders

When I picked up the Erin Condren planner I liked how the vertical planner has three slots per day and lots of room for lists and reminders. The planner starts from July 2017 and goes through December 2018. The paper feels good and I like the 8x10 size because I will not lose this thing in my bag; it is big. Since I will be opening it up every day multiple times a day I wanted something that would make me happy and look professional. This planner is hardbound not spiral and at first I thought I wouldn't like it, but the pages lay flat and they are sewn in. I also like when I'm taking it in/out of my bag, the coils aren't grabbing onto other stuff. You can also go to ErinCondren.com and order a planner there and get your name on the planner and really personalize what accessories you would like to add and which layout you would like.

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I love the month view because I can really see an overview of how I am going to get things done. I try to color code and I do enter in dates, appointments and meetings twice so I can keep track of them.

I was always a planner addict and during my high school and college days, smart phones and computers weren't really in vogue or existence to take on the task of helping you organize events, meetings and motivation. With the advent of the smart phone I abandoned my paper planners and opted for electronic but even with this method, I lost a lot of appointments and it was hard to keep focus on my goals. I am still using GoogleCalendar because that is how my family communicates about appointments and what is happening. My planner needed to have different spots to help focus all the different areas of my life and I needed a month view to see how everything was going to get done.

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Personalization and Assessories

When looking for what else I would need to add to my planner, I saw monthly tabs. I would recommend these because it makes it easier to find those monthly calendars in the book. I also added on a sticker book to help spice up my planner and keep all the aspects of my life separate and organized. I would also recommend PaperMate InkJoy Pens because they write so well and dry to the touch instantly. The paper in this planner is thin (but thicker than other planners I was looking at) and there is a slight bleed through onto the other side of the paper from the InkJoy pens. These pens are gel and not ballpoint so there is no raised surface on the other side of the paper. This is not bothering me but I know I can't use a sharpie on this paper.

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These stickers seem pricey to me at $15 per package but I appreciate the gold foil details and I really like how they make the important items stand out when I'm glancing at my planner.

In summary...

I'm really liking this planner. I feel like I don't have to carry the weight of remembering every detail of a busy life. I like how each day has three large sections so I can write what is important for that aspect of my life that day. I'm enjoying using the stickers and ultimately the planner is making me happy and organized and therefore less stressed. I purchased all items on my own and decided to share my experiences to help others as they make their decisions about planners and organizing their busy lives. I have added affiliate links to facilitate finding these items. I purchased mine at Staples but Amazon seems to have better prices so I've included those links here. If you click on those links, I may receive a portion of the sale at no cost to you. Thank you for your support. If you search through the internet and Pinterest and Instagram, there are a ton of examples of how people are using these planners. I'm linking toJennifer McGuire andKristina Werner's videos because that is where I first learned about these planners and their videos are a good introduction to how to use and set up the planners. I will post an update on this blog later once I've been using the planner for a few months to see how it's going. Good luck setting up your lives and getting organized and let me know how you handle the chaos in the comments.