Hello Friend!
I don’t know if you happened to catch my post on my 2017 resolutions but the best way, in my opinion, to accomplish goals is to be and stay organized. The biggest way I do this is with my Erin Condren Life Planner. I spoke about this last year in my 10 Ways To Keep It All Together post and how a planner is just 1 of those 10 ways. Today, I want to dive deeper into my planner, which one I use, and why.
Erin Condren is such a top notch, quality company. Everything they make has such love put in. It shows in the packaging, the customer service, and the quality of the product.
The main color is this beautiful teal color. It shows in the freebie sticker shown above and the box itself even adorns the fun signature color, pattern, and “enjoy!”
Packaging is so important. As soon as I see this box at the front door, it immediately brings joy and excitement. Maybe that’s a little nerdy over a paper planner but you guys, I love staying on top of things and I have a sneaky suspicion that you do too. This planner, is just the means to how I do it all.
As if the teal, patterned box wasn’t enough, the planner is wrapped in bubble wrap and bright pink tissue paper and topped with a couple of bonus surprises. I just love this be merry sticker. The fact that it’s all wrapped up emulates a present – even if it is just a present to myself. But it isn’t just the present of the planner but of organization and time well spent because it was thought out.
Something I really love about Erin Condren is they love to live life seasonally as much as I do. With the interchangeable covers, I can have something for every holiday and every season. Living seasonally is so important to me since moving to LA. Since there isn’t weather to match the seasons, I have to portray it in other ways. Coming from Colorado, it is always so important to me to mark time with the passing seasons and I love that I get to plan my days and scrapbook my memories with a cover on the front to match the season.
With it being a fresh new year, I went with a more New Year cover to start out the year.
This teal is a common color in my house. I love the brightness and freshness of the color and the silver leafing is gorgeous. I went simple with my name on the cover, also in silver. My coil is silver to match, of course. Type A-wesome personality coming through.
As you open the front cover, it is already evident the changes that have been made this year. For one, the inside of the front cover has space to act as a white board. Truthfully, I’ve only put sticky notes there and haven’t utilized this feature. I have heard other people say that if you use their white erase marker, it is hard to get off (in a good way) but can be removed simply by rubbing it with a tissue. I mostly use sticky notes in this way so I’m not sure if I’ll use this feature. Especially because with a sticky note, I can just take it off and throw it away. Regardless, pretty cool that they made use of what was otherwise un-utilized space.
Also new this year, the pocket isn’t already in the planner. It is placed in the front cover and comes with one of the coil clips so you can put it on the pocket and put it where you like. I never had an issue with it being in the back and I just took off the covers and flipped it to the front if I wanted it there but the versatility is neat.
The pocket comes with other free add ons which is really lovely on the company to include. There are compliment cards, stickers, post cards, etc. I really think it’s a nice touch to the purchase.
The front page appears the same to me although I haven’t compared. The vellum sheet in the front is a nice, classy touch to enjoy as soon as your open the cover.
This year is the third year I’ve gone with the company and I couldn’t be happier. I’m so excited that they have come out with more layout options and this year, I took the plunge. My first two EC planners were both the traditional vertical layout with all the colors. This year, I went with the horizontal version with the neutral option.
I’m excited to try this new layout. Having a horizontal planner is what I used in school but it will be interesting to see how well that translates from classes and homework to work events and to do lists. The reason I switched was that even though last year they took off the labels of the three boxes on each day, I still felt like it had to be in some sort of order. I found that it just didn’t work for my train of thought if I had put evening to-dos in the bottom boxes but then ended up having dinner with a friend, I felt the dinner shouldn’t be in the middle box but neither should the evening to dos.
This layout, even though I’ve only been living in it for a month now is much more versatile which is perfect for me. Some days, I have a lot to do in the morning and afternoon and my nights are more free. In the old planner, I wouldn’t be sure what to fill the bottom box with. With this layout, I can arrange my day as I see fit. It’s more fluid but still maintains structure having the box on the end.
I also use my planner just as much as a planning device as I do for memory keeping. So the extra versatility is really aiding in making my planner as functional for me as I need it to be.
The reason I switched the color was although I loved how fun, happy, and bright the colorful planner was, I felt like I had to stick to that color as far as pens, stickers, what have you. I’m currently trying it out and seeing how I love the system but now, I can use colors as a system and not necessarily have to match to the color of the month. I don’t feel as boxed in as to what colors I have to use and I enjoy that creative freedom.
The back pocket got a makeover and I’m definitely a fan. Keeping it simple, the perpetual calendar is included and another white board on the back cover. Simple, classy, functional – all the things I look for in a planner.
And of course, Scout is always helping.
If you ordered an EC Life Planner, what options did you choose? If you didn’t use Erin Condren, what planner do you use?
Once I’ve gotten into a groove with this layout, I will be posting an Inside My Planner so I can show how my planner equally functions as both a planner and a scrapbook. I would love to get a peek into your planner and see what works for you!
Happy Planning!
*Disclosure: if you click on the Erin Condren link in this post and purchase something when you do, I may receive 10 dollars for referring you. After that, you’ll get your own code and can share the magic of this planner with your friends!
I love it!
Same!! Thx for the comment!