I have been obsessed with planners and organization for a long time. I remember being in 5th & 6th grade and having a planner to keep track of homework and extracurricular activities like softball games and band concerts. In high school I heavily relied on my planner for homework, work, band concerts and competitions, and cheerleading practices and games. Once I got to college, I took my love for planner up a notch and started color-coding my blocks of time by “have to,” “need to,” and “want to.” I also started saving mementos in there like fliers and ticket stubs and throwing stickers all over the place.
For the past several years, all of my jobs have relied on Microsoft Outlook, so I’ve gotten away from the traditional planners in lieu of my computerized counterpart. However, I felt the need to keep my home life more organized, so it was time to make the switch back to a traditional planner.
It now seems like planners have taken over the world! Not only does it seem like almost everyone has a planner, most people I see use them almost like a diary or scrapbook. Erin Condren planners seem to be a popular choice, but to get back in the swing of using my planner on a regular basis I decided to venture out to my local craft store and pick up The Happy Planner.
So far, in my brief time of using The Happy Planner, I can say that I absolutely LOVE IT! There’s plenty of space to keep track of whatever is going on your world. For now, I’m going to try to use it as it’s laid out – morning, afternoon, and evening. However, I’ve seen people rename those boxes for all sorts of things like errands, chores, bills, goals, to-do, projects, shopping list, etc… Basically, you can make this planner whatever you need to be functional for you. The other cool thing is that you can find so many add-ons, stickers, and inserts online. There are some that are made for the happy planner, some can work with all planners, and others are things that others in the planning community have made to share with others. You can find them on Etsy and I’ve discovered Pinterest is another awesome resource to use to find cool stickers and things to add. And, the best part is that you don’t need any fancy tools to make the stickers, I just printed them on some sticker paper (actually single sheet shipping label from the local office store) and used my scissors to print them out. I’ve also already made my own stickers to use in the planner. I’ve made stickers to keep track of when bills are due – to whom and for how much. Also, I made little stickers of a scale so I can keep track of my weight loss goals easily next to each days’ date.
The things I’ve added so far to make things more fun in my planner include stickers, washi tape, scrapbook paper, punched paper, die-cuts, and of course markers and pretty pens. The options are seriously unlimited which makes it so much fun to plan out the days/weeks ahead. I also have started following several instagram accounts that are devoted to planners and have amazing ideas that are shared throughout the day meaning you can constantly stay inspired! 🙂
Do you use the Happy Planner or other planner? How do you personalize your planner and make it work for you?
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