Erin Condren Planners

Have you all heard of Erin Condren planners?  If you like to keep organized, and prefer the low tech method of writing things down on a daily/weekly diary, you may enjoy this brand.  I was a long time Filofax lover, and when I heard about Erin Condren planners I was all over it.  They are larger than the Filofax I previously used, and the fun thing about them is all the choices you can make when ordering one for yourself.

They aren't cheap, that is for sure.  One will set you back over $50.  When ordering, you can choose your personalized cover design, the type of calendar layout you like (horizontal/vertical) and if you would like colored pages or black and white.  The bulging planner you see above is an 18 month version, that I have used since July 2015.  There is a reason my planner is so fat, and that is because I got into decorating my planner pages with stickers and other embellishments!

You can order stickers from various sellers on Etsy (it is a BIG business, I tell you!).  I like to order digital designs for pennies and print them out myself on blank sticker paper that goes in a desktop printer.  I also cut out card stock and use it for borders and other things.    You can completely transform the look of the plain pages into something totally fun and customized to the season, holiday, or your personal preferences.  

This whole planner decorating thing may seem rather senseless (and some folks go so crazy with the stickers and embellishments, there is hardly any space to write!).  I use my planner not only to organize, but as sort of a diary to see what I did in a given week, so having it decorated in a quasi scrapbooking style is just fun for me.  

I purchased my Erin Condren planner the month my sister died.  I immersed myself so completely in decorating the pages and planning out my short term future, that I was able to block out the painful feelings I was going through at the time, at least for a little while.  Playing with the stickers and pretty pens gave me a focus I couldn't seem to find in any of the other activities I normally enjoyed.  I couldn't concentrate on sewing, reading or watching tv, so this was a nice outlet for me during that difficult time.

My husband also pointed out to me that focusing on planning for events that would take place in the future was psychologically therapeutic given that losing my loved one was such a powerless, out of control event.

So, I have to say, I credit Erin Condren and her planner for getting me through a truly crappy time in my life.

As December is approaching, and Erin Condren was having a sale, I ordered my 2017 planner a week or so ago.  It came in the mail, and I just have to share with you the unboxing of it.  These folks really know how to make getting a package fun.

This is the mailer!  I turned it around so you can't see my personal information, but how pretty is that?

Open the box, and have your first peek at what is inside.  I have goose bumps.

Woo hoo!  This is my cover choice for this year.  Did I mention that the covers are interchangeable?  So if you get tired of what you ordered, you can switch it out for another one.  My planner is usually open on my desk, so the cover isn't such a big deal to me.

For my first planner, I chose a vertical layout, with each day having three boxes positioned vertically on the page.  Seven columns for each week.  Last year the planner pages were all a certain color for each month.  Yellow for August, pink for February etc.  This year you had the option of getting the planner in black and white pages, which I did.  

The planner is a great way to plan your week, set and track goals for yourself, make lists, and look ahead to where you want to be in the months ahead.  Erin provides pages of inspirational quotes, but there is lots of blank space to record your own if you like.

I purchased my first Erin Condren planner to help me get through a trying time, but ended up having so much fun with it, now I can't imagine doing without it!