There's an built-in bonus danger in being my loyal and trusted advisors.
Just ask Aunt Chrissy.
Today's obsession is....day planners.
Yes.
Day planners.
For the last seven or so years, I've used a Franklin Covey spiral bound day planner showing the week on two pages. I throw it in my purse, write appointments and such in it, and get on with things in a relatively half-assed, yet totally well-intentioned sort of way.
This year, Aunt Chrissy and I were in the JoAnn Fabrics when we spotted some simple date books that had pretty pictures in them, so I whipped out a coupon and went all Bargain Betty on myself.
And then I came home and went on the Pinterest and came across something called an Erin Condren Life Planner.
Holy Organizing, Batman! I've got visions of life planning spinning around in this tiny little brain of mine, and I cannot think of anything else! I want to have a book that magically transforms me into a healthy, well-appointed, perfectly-ordered, happy, and creative person who sprouts rainbows and unicorns from her ears and who can empty the dishwasher without having to take a nap and pack a lunch first.
The Erin Condren search then lead to something called a Rainbow Planner (speaking of rainbows) from Bowl Full Of Lemons, and I went into a whole other tangent of wondering if a DIY planner would be better for a nut job like me who really just wants to use the billion dollars worth of scrapbooking crap she has in her studio, because scrapbooking was going to be "my thing" until I discovered that I had absolutely nothing to scrapbook besides baby pictures of Stewey, and I mean, come one, how many pictures of a sleeping dog with an overbite does one spinster need, anyhow?
So I need your help, kids. Any Erin Condren/Rainbow Planner devotees out there who want to take my hand and save me from myself? I don't need full-on executive style day planning, since all I need to keep track of these days is dog pee and appointments, but I wouldn't mind capturing stuff for budgeting/bills, things to do in the house (see dog pee above), and lists and such for this thing of ours. I'm not at all opposed to becoming a fanatic, by the way. It will be hard not to approach this without my usual calm, measured, and sensible manner, but if I need to go batcrap crazy and reinvent the proverbial wheel...I'll give it my best shot.
(I can hear you laughing, by the way).
Even though I love those fancy paper planners, I ended up using the Google calendar because I have it on my PC and it syncs up automatically with my iPad and my iPhone, so it is with me all the time and it is FREE.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Bonnie. I'm obsessive about paper planners, but I'm NOT obsessive about using them. After going through many of them, and still holding on to my prettying Kate Spade leather binder..., I returned to my handy dandy free from the bank wall calendar and paper clips. Has always worked for me.
ReplyDeleteI buy very pretty day planners and never use them. I'm useless in this matter.
ReplyDeleteI'm seriously OCD about being organized so I say go for it. EC has lovely planners that don't require any decorating. They are done up pretty already. Also you can get a slightly cheaper version at Staples if you're not interested in adding a picture of Stewey to the cover. I use Filofax and personalize it however, it's easy to get carried away and make it a scrapbook so don't pull out too much scrappy stuff or you'll loose the forest for the trees. You may want to check out Websters Pages for their new planner as well as Becky Higgins. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteAnd I just want to reduce my Diet Pepsi intake. I have used a "pretty" planner in the past and loved it. I use the planner on my iphone as it is always by my side and I can even set it to remind me of upcoming appts
ReplyDeleteLOL! I LOVE dayplanners! In fact I have day planners for work things, and then a day planner for home stuff, and then day planner for my stitching stuff. It's crazy! But I love it!
ReplyDeleteOkay...I get it! I've been there and done that. I'm 65 and I've been trying to live the fantasy of being organized since I turned 18. (Hanging head here) I've had good intentions that fizzled out each and every time. I'm a failure...utter and total. That being said, as I get older (sigh..) I can't even remember what I had for breakfast, let alone appointments I have made. I remedied that by using one of those HUGE calendars that are made for desk pads and put it up on the wall. It shows a month at a time and has about eight lines for each day. I hung it on the wall by the kitchen so that every time I go into the kitchen, I have to look at it. Then I found the calendar on my MacBook. I now use both and haven't missed an appointment for about a year. I say the less complicated the process, the more likely I am to stick to it. You see, I can't possibly take out time from my stitching, knitting, and beading to keep up a complicated system. Good luck with whatever you choose. I'd really like to hear which way you go--just me being totally nosy.
ReplyDeletePamela from Tucson, AZ where it's supposed to be 80 by this weekend. woohoo.
I Bullet Journal and it's something I actually do instead of look at! :)
ReplyDeleteI too was in your same situation. I was hit hard by the planner bug. I have discovered http://www.kikki-k.com its a company in Australia. But they are having a great sale on some of their pretty planners. I had already purchased a Heidi Swapp memory planner (still waiting for it to come in) before I learned of Kikki K. I signed up for their emails and just have received a $10 coupon. Make sure you click the worldwide button on the top right corner to get US dollar prices. I too have a Franklin Covey binder but I wanted something prettier. In the mean time I found at Target bins a few calenders to hold me over. All this started with wanting to track my stitching wips. Instagram is where I found out about Kikki K planners and Filo Planners. I searched the hashtags #filofax #planner #kikkik my goodness there are so many. Also Webster pages is coming out with some very pretty planners as well. I was in over load. And of course seeing all the decorated dashboards (the first page you see in your planner & its lamented) was just so inspiring. So no you do not have to be a scrapbooker - lol, to enjoy all the fun of planners. Hope this helped you or I have made it worst. On my blog I just posted the 2 calenders I got from Target. Have a look if you would like to. love Annette
ReplyDeleteI hope you got my first response, but Google took me out of it as soon as I logged into it. Have a Compact Franklin Covey - love their stuff. But sometimes getting started in with a new system gives one renewed vigor for organizing ones self. Go for it. Have fun. If it doesn't work for you, well, you didn't lose anything. It's important to have a style that works for you. They say use one calendar. Right! I have my FC for work and my phone for personal. I'm sorry but I ain't takin that FC compact-sized planner to the movies! LOL!
ReplyDeleteI'm using my first Erin Condren Life Planner this year and loving it. I use a FC Classic at work and tried a Filofax Personal with diy decorated dividers last year. I'm hooked on my EC now though and love decorating it with washi, stickers and stamps. My goal is to find the perfect Filofax or Kikki-k cover to put it in so I can have the best of both worlds.
ReplyDeleteI have a friend who is trying to talk me into getting an OmniFocus app for my iPhone to keep me very organized. But it requires so much time. I'll go on keeping it in my head (and occasionally forgetting something critical, i.e., dinner with friends, taxes.) Good luck.
ReplyDeleteI say enjoy yourself. Also, you have things to scrapbook; your stitching, your gardening, holidays with Chrissy, friends visiting, etc. And, of course, there are never too many photos and layouts of Stewey.
ReplyDeletethe cozi app on phones, etc is thought as great by flylady (about 500000 followers). i lik emy ipad calendar but also have paper calendar by desk.
ReplyDeleteuse goolge calendar for work.
I'm a paid-up member of Day Planners Anonymous. I'm been abstinent for two years and 36 days. All I allow myself now is the in-built calendar in my smart phone. It's just enough to keep me on the straight and narrow.
ReplyDeleteYou.Are.a.De-light! (I'm also a bullet journaler.)
ReplyDeleteGod luck with the planner. I just use the calendar and reminder app on my IPhone. Like someone else said it syncs with my google calendar.
ReplyDelete