All my life I’ve been a planner. When I was in kindergarten my teacher told my mother, “Emily is just so . . . organized. Everything needs to go in the right folder and in the correct place in her backpack.” Needless to say, this quality hasn’t changed much, but the way I organize my life has.
Surely we all remember the planners passed out to us in elementary school? They were large, flimsy, and usually had our school’s colors on them? Well, imagine those but with customizable covers, pages for note-taking, and a metal coil holding everything together to act as the cherry on top.
If you’re like me, when you first look up the price of the Erin Condren planner your eyes widen and your jaw drops. The starting price of the coiled Academic Planner is $38. After waiting for over a year and trying dozens of planners in my life, I decided to take the plunge. Spoiler alert: it’s worth every penny.
Obviously, $38 is quite the investment for a collection of paper to write stuff down in—but you’re not just paying for a stack of paper. No, you’re paying for monthly tabs completed with an overview of each month, a notes section, a quizzes/exams/tests/projects section at the beginning of each month to reflect on, and a Monday-Sunday weekly layout with plenty of sections for notes and a built-in to-do list. There’s a place for everything—even random tasks you need to complete throughout the day!
To summarize how I use my planner, every Sunday I look at my week ahead. This means reviewing syllabi, catching up on professor emails that I didn’t read over the weekend, and reviewing what needs done for work and school. I write down which readings on which days need to be done, assignment due dates, and reminders throughout the week to work on assignments, study, or review readings before class. Having this written down and planned out not only helps me remember what needs to be completed this week, but also allows me to have a visual plan of what I have to do. Each time I complete a task, assignment, or to-do list item, I cross it off, which rewards me with the sweet, savory feeling of accomplishment.
If you’re looking to take it one step further, check out planner sticker shops! They can take personalizing your planner to the next level beyond color coding. Some people keep planners as scrapbooks for their life to look back on. Sticker shops custom cut stickers for the Erin Condren Lifestyle Planner to completely cover the spread. It’s honestly quite marvelous.
Needless to say, if you’re looking for a durable planner that’s cute and has a place for everything you could ever need to write down, the Erin Condren planner may be your new best friend.