Planning: My Erin Condren Planner

After having kids, I quickly realized that my brain just didn't remember things as efficiently as it once had.  So, I began the quest of a life organizer. I had tried written plain planners (which I recently found the stack of failed attempts in my office).  I tried using technology.  While I LOVE my iphone, and it is really nice being able to sync with my husband's calendar through google, it just didn't work for me.  I'm not very good at committing to exact times for certain to-do's.  It has to be a bit more flexible for me.  So, after a few weeks, that was it.   Last year, I resorted to creating my own planner.  After purchasing three different sets of planners, punching and re-punching the holes, add and removing pages, I finally had a planner that worked for me.   (I know it worked because I effeciently used it from April- December last year! Wooo-hooo!!!)  

However, that was a lot of work, and frustration.  Quickly, very quickly, I lingered on the thought of creating my own, but came to my senses.  That wasn't going to be an option. 

So I began the search. Etsy, Amazon, Staples.  The day planner, the personal planner, the passion planner. Planners for moms, planners for photographers, planners for the creative.   There were MANY, MANY options.  Finally, I decided on the Erin Condren planner, and I have to say that I am loving it!  I did have a hard time finding images of the weekly and monthly views in one spot, which is why this review. 

First thing that I loved, when taking it out of the box and tissue paper is the colors. It is so bright and fun!

There is a monthly layout:

There is a weekly view with room on the side to write weekly goals and to-dos, as well as space on the bottom of each day to make other notes and plan meals: There is also a removable ruler that I use to place in the weekly view so that I can quickly reference my schedule for the week. 

There are also a few pages of stickers that are really useful for adding to highlight important events, dates, or to-dos.  Some are already pre-designated, while there are also some that have room to write your own.  

Another one of my favorite aspects is the quotes that are placed throughout:

There are also blank pages in the back where I have written in my 2015 goals, keep track of important information and a place where I can leave notes.  As an added bonus, this planner comes with a removable book where you can put important days and contacts. Making it easy to switch to next years book at the end of the year.

The size, at first I thought it might be too small and not fit all of my scribbles but it is actually perfect for toting around wherever I go.   Also, I invested in the extra notepaper option. The note pad came with sticky pads that I attached to the back cover, so that I also have a notebook with me wherever I go. I love having random notepaper to plan and sketch so that is a huge bonus for me. 

A few things that aren't a make or break, but worth mentioning. There is a plastic ziploc type pocket in the back for important business cards or notes.  There are some cute stickers and gift tags in there that are customized to my planner.  The cover is hard and sturdy. However, the kitten was chewing on the corner and I can already see that the pieces are trying to come apart. I believe that if it does, I can easily order another cover and even have it customized with my own image.  Also, in the video on the erincondren.com website it shows that there is a removable clip for important notes and such but mine didn't come with it. Not a big deal and I never tried to contact them, so I don't know how the customer service is.  The last thing was price. While this planner wasn't the most expensive planner I looked at, it was definitely not the cheapest. However, when I considered the cost of the one I configured myself last year (with three planners), this one is worth every penny.

In the end, I have no regrets with this planner.  In fact, I am actually really, really happy with this planner.  It works great for my creative, crazy, chaos. It keeps everything in one place as a reference and I can easily and quickly check in. 

If you decide on an Erin Condren planner and want $10 off, let me know because I can get you a referral link.  (I'm not posting it here because my goal is not to refer people, but to give you an honestly excited review.)