I love my planner! I use it for everything. I have my system, my own way of using it. I know people color code, blue is for this and red for that. But not me, I love to use multiple colors to write in my planner. Normally I write the things I have to do that day, like “call school”, “finish homework”, and “check status” and in red if I have an exam or the deadline for an essay. I also use red to check the things I have accomplished and if they are not done that day, I write them again the next day so I can finish it.
In the left corner of each week, I wrote a weekly song. It was a song that I liked that week and it was the first one I heard every morning for that week.
I also use the notes to write everything! This year I used it for books I want to read, the universities I was applying too with the TOEFL score I need, the log in and passwords for each university portal, the SAT, ACT and TOEFL codes for each university, the school I’m applying (asked in EVERY. SINGLE. FORM) and a list of the universities I got accepted. WHOOT WHOOT. I also wrote my resolutions for this year and I have to admit I haven’t done many of them. Ups! And some log ins and passwords.
At the end, there is a small white folder where I wrote quotes and inspirational phrases and where I keep my train tickets, SAT and TOEFL tickets, recipes and mail tracking.
I used to buy whatever planner I find in a bookstore. Once I used one that came with my school back pack. But as I grew older, my love for planners grew too. I found one in my hometown that is simple and beautiful. Inside it’s white and black and really simple so I can style it with my colors. The con’s about this planner is that it doesn’t have a month spread and the months are not divided. Everything else is just perfect. The sad part is that they go out to the market late August, and I tried to contact the girls who made them but have no receive any response in three weeks. Last year I had a great conversation with them and they even told me where to go and buy it so I can be the first. This year, with no response so far, I think they will not produce these planners anymore.
So naturally I decided to change my planner this year. I will start college this fall, and I love to write EVERYTHING on my planner so I can be organized. I was on Pinterest as I always am, and saw this picture that said something like “Best Planners” or something along the lines. OF course Lilly Pulitzer Agenda was on that list, but if I’m brutally honest, I don’t like it. Yep, haters gonna hate (please don’t hate me) but I don’t like her agendas. I find one or two covers pretty, but knowing myself I will hate the patterns after a month or two. And the inside doesn’t work for me. I’m not saying it’s a bad agenda, or that it’s ugly, it just doesn’t work for me. I also saw the PINK agenda and another that it wasn’t my style at all. As I said before, I used to use any planner that I found, and that made me realize what works for me and what doesn’t when it comes to organizing.And then I found heaven. Erin Condren Life Planner was there. I clicked it with the hope to order mine, but they were out of stock. I wanted to see the inside to see if they work for me, and after 2 hours of video watching at YouTube, I knew THIS was the planner I need. I entered the FB page, followed the Pinterest boards, follow her on Twitter. I became obsessed. After a day I knew exactly that I wanted this planner, so I sign up and created my account. I patiently –not so patiently- waited for the launch on June 12th, and ordered mine. It should arrive in next week, but for personal reasons I won’t be there to receive it until mid-August. Snif Snif
What made me fall in love with this planner was the laminated tabs, the personalized cover, TWO PAGE MONTHLY SPREADS that were lacking in my current planner, over 25 notes pages which I love since I used them a lot, and not only a folder to keep things together but a plastic pouch at the end of the planner! I also liked the stickers even if I never used stickers in my planners. Last year planners came with Special Occasions pages at the beginning of the book which I loved and at the end of the planner contacts. This year EC made it a perpetual calendar booklet that goes in the small folder at the end. This is the only thing I’m not crazy about. Each year, people come and go, I meet new people, I’m not near certain ones, and writing each year in my planner people’s birthday it’s better for me than having a perpetual calendar. Same with contacts. During my senior year I had the yearbook email and MUN email, along with my teachers’ emails for that year. I don’t need those emails this year, so why have them written down in a perpetual calendar? I guess I will buy this booklet each year and write the information I will use that year.
This planner in particular has two options: you can buy an 18-months planner from July 14’-December 15’, or a
12-months one from January 15’-December15’. Since I will use it as an academic planner, I have bought the 18-months. I’m crossing my fingers so EC team can come up with an academic planner next year, and if not, I will keep using the 18-months one. Even if I will have 6 more months on it, it will help me plan ahead and I can use it until the new planner arrives.
I splurge on this planner because it’s worth it. It has everything I’m looking in a planner and it will help me be even more organized. As I always have, I will carry this planner with me wherever I go. In my old planner I wrote the things I have to do that day with no time order. “Write check for electricity” was an activity for my night, and it was written before “Send requirements” that was a task to be completed before 11:00 A.M. I love that ECLP days are divided my Morning, Noon and Night so I can write my tasks in each block! It will also have my name in the cover and since they improve the planner this year, I can buy a new cover whenever I want and personalize it as I like it. This is a HUGE plus. How many times have I stand in a store deciding which cover I like for my notebooks? Same with agendas!
https://www.erincondren.com/life-planners-more