Hi, I’m Sheree and I am a planner/list addict.  As if you didn’t already know that.  I have owned almost ever planner known to man.  The Franklin Covey, The Day Planner, Student Planners, Mead Planners, Goal Planners. Financial/Budget Planners, you name it, I’ve had it.  In the past, planners have strictly been for organizing and scheduling your day.  There was no glitzy, preppy, girly element to it.  But, let me tell you, things have changed.  The planner craze has taken over and with it has come the need to make it look good and feel good(embellishments).  For some, the planner has replaced the Family Control Center, as a way to plan out their lives in one portable location.  I personally have a planner that I use for my Household/Mommy/Wife Life and another one I use for this blog and my Etsy business.  But, I am the person that needs to compartmentalize everything, each thing must be in its individual box.

This year I purchased my very first Erin Condren Life Planner with the Horizontal Weekly Layout.  I had a pretty lengthy list of all the planners that I was interested in and after much deliberation I chose this one for my business needs.  Let me tell you about it.  Well, this was not the determining factor but… I was able to have it personalized.  So that was a major plus for me.    I need things to be horizontal. My planning is more like writing or journaling.  If you are into Bullet Journaling then the vertical one is probably a better option for you.  Included in the package with my planner was Pandora’s Box.  It came with all kinds of stickers and dots, Coils, books, etc.  And, at that point, I knew I was in trouble.  It was the equivalent of Apple products. For example, if you got the iPod, at some point you probably got the iPhone, and then the iPad, and eventually the iMac.   You probably have the Apple TV and you could probably think of a million other Apple products you would love to have.  I went straight to the Erin Condren site and I was in seventh heaven.  From there, I went to Pinterest and Searched Planner Stickers and then I was on to Instagram for more ideas/inspiration.

Photo Source: Instagram Pages – PlannerStudio ThePlannerSociety

Thankfully, I was able to apply the brakes here. Being a former Scrapbooker, I was able to see the trap before I fell into it.  While I certainly aspire to have my Planner Pages look like some of the ones shown above.  I knew that this would be a job all to itself.  And, trust me when I say that I do not need ANOTHER JOB.  Now, I won’t lie to you and say that I didn’t  order any stickers because, I did but I tried to keep it simple.  If you are up to the challenge – Check out the Links to the  Instagram Pages in the links above. I decided to compromise with myself and put together a system that I could manage without feeling overwhelmed.

1.   Key/Legend/Color Coding- I decided that this would be easiest way for me to keep up with my tasks by creating a Key and Color Coding. I split my Household Planner up  into these categories:  Household – Kids/School/Family – Meal/Diet/Fitness – Financial/Diet -Me/Other.  I split my Business Planner up into these categories: Blog – Social Media – Etsy – Ideas – Me/Other.  Take some time  and figure out what categories work for you before setting up your system.
2.   Stickers –  If you are concerned with the looks/aesthetic of your planner than you will most likely get sucked in here.  For me, I need maximum writing space.  But, I found the smaller stickers were useful when tracking things like vitamins, water intake, exercise, and appointments.
3. Tabs/Arrows – I find these helpful as ways to draw attention to certain areas or upcoming projects.  And, with all the color  and style options they can look cute too.

We are almost through February and I think I have found a system that works for  me.  I am sure I will make more tweaks as the weeks go on but for now, this seems to be working.  What is your favorite planner?  And, how do you keep it organized?

“a goal without a plan is just a wish.”