Fun fact: I like to watch planner videos on Youtube, I like to see how #planneraddicts decorate their planner pages on Instagram and I've secretly been wanting an Erin Condren Life Planner for a while, but I wanted to be 110% convinced before I spent that much on a planner.... well, after reading and seeing many great reviews and with the beginning of a very hectic year, I was convinced, I need to really organize my life and my time.
One thing I have learned as a planner amateur is that it takes a lot of experimentation to find what works for me especially while planning the many segments of my lifestyle (wedding, blogging, day job, events, appointments, fitness, etc). I tried a pocket sized agenda (too small), I tried a zip around planner (still too small), I tried a large size planner (too bulky) and just like the Goldilocks of planners I came to love my Erin Condren Planner because I can take it with me anywhere and I could customize it to my liking.
Here's what I chose: I ended up going with the Gold Foil Planner in white because of the beautiful gold coil, foiled cover and the gold metalic band. I know it was a lot to pay for a planner, but I used a coupon code for $10 off (get it here!) and now that I paid a pretty penny I am determined to use it religiously.
One of the biggest pros of Erin Condren this year is the interchangeable cover and seeing as they are all about customization I gave their 7x9 covers -picture this! -full frame - multi cover a run for its customization.
I really wanted things that inspired me on the cover, so I pulled 20 of my favorite Instagrammed pictures on @lilbitsofpau to design my own cover.
If you want to do it too, it's pretty simple! I saved my 20 Instagram pictures onto my computer (you can email them to yourself), then went on PicMonkey > Collage > Square Deal (5 by 5) Only fill out the first 4 by 5 (since the rest is not going to fit)> Save your grid, then load it up into 7x9 covers -picture this! -full frame - multi. Keep in mind that the outer pictures get trimmed a little bit!
And voila! A cover of your Instagrams!
A lot of #planneraddicts customize the inside, the cover, the pages, which I'm going to start experimenting with and I feel like we do it because we want to be inspired and motivated to plan the many tasks in our life, from the mundane to the intense.
I would love to hear any tips on how you organize your life in the comment section below!