Category: Organization Binder

Well guys, it’s been a couple years since I wrote one of these. For I believe 5 years in a row, I LIVED in my Erin Condren LifePlanner. As a social worker in a school setting, there was no way I could keep my evaluations, meetings, and lesson planning in one place. But then I moved to another district that used Google Apps for everything and it didn’t make sense for me to have both a paper and Google Calendar.

I definitely missed my time with a paper planner, but I just couldn’t justify copying events by hand from one to the other. I tried a stint in bullet journaling to keep track of my to-do lists and organize other parts of my life, but making all the layouts was SO MUCH WORK! I’m a full-time working parent with two kids. If it’s not efficient, I’m not going to be able to stick to it.

I realized while bullet journaling that what I needed most was a space for daily to-dos. In my current role, I end up with about 5-7 tasks I have to do each day. The time isn’t important but they have to be done on a certain day (such as sending out consents for special education evaluations, scheduling a Birth to 3 transition meeting, filling out state reporting forms). I kept checking back on the EC website and none of the layouts really seemed to meet my needs so I just kept going along with my notebook paper to-do lists. Then came this year! Erin Condren has made some big updates this year – including a layout that looks almost exactly like what I was doing for bullet journaling!

You can read about my past experiences in 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016. I placed my order they day they launched and it finally came today! SO, here are my thoughts about this year’s new edition!

Pros:

• Lots of layout choices. I opted for the new compact vertical layout. I’m not sure how I’m planning to use Saturday and Sunday yet, since I use this for my workweek only, but I’m thinking I might put some stickers over the day title and use them for future planning or random personal-life to-dos that enter my mind while I’m at work:

• 12-month date academic-year option! In the past, you could opt for 12-months (January-December) or 18-months (June through December the following year). It didn’t work out great for people who wanted an academic year calendar. I’d pay extra to get the 18-month version and then promptly rip out the last 6 months. It was one of the biggest downsides to this planner and I hated that.
• Adorable month intro page! For those who like the look of bullet journaling without all the work, this page is great! Provides plenty of customizable space for lists, future planning, inspirational quotes, or anything else you can think of.

• Cute, customizable covers with words and pictures. This year I opted for a simple “2022-2023 School Year,” but in previous years I’ve had pictures of my kids. Like previous years, the Erin Condren covers are removable and interchangeable so you could swap it out for something else if you need a change during the year.

• Rear storage pocket and dry erase back cover!

• Tons of size options. Prefer A5? Coils? Rings? They’ve got you covered!

• Accessories! From magnetic bookmarks to covers, washi tape to sticky notes, and snap in dashboards. You can customize your planner as much or as little as you’d like!

• Fun extras! My planner came with some stickers in the back for free as well as inspirational quotes throughout.

Cons:

• Cost. I’m listing this as a con because it’s the most common complaint I hear and yes, I do feel a bit of sticker shock each time I order. However, let me justify it to you this way: I work 185 school days and probably spend 10-15 minutes per day using my planner. That works out to 32 cents per day. 32 cents. 15 minutes of coffee? $3. 15 minutes of a massage? $15. 15 minutes in a car? $1.50. 32 cents is pretty darn cheap! Do yourself a favor and just get one 🙂 Once it arrives at your door, you won’t look back!
• Shipping time. So, the nature of custom items is that they do take longer to manufacture. That being said, the website will always tell you an approximate ship date for your products. This year, mine was 10-15 business days! Therefore, don’t wait until 2 weeks before school starts back up and expect to have it for the first day of school. Just go ahead and order as soon as you can and enjoy filling it out whenever you start to feel the “back to school blues!”

To get a coupon to use on the new Life Planner, add your e-mail address here:

I promise this is all I will use it for – I won’t sell it, or give it away, or anything else nasty like that! You get a coupon – I get a coupon and we both win!

Note: Some pictures in this post are from Erin Condren. I get coupons if you shop through the links on this site, but all opinions are completely my own! I just really enjoy the planners 🙂

It came today!!!! MY NEW ERIN CONDREN LIFE PLANNER CAME TODAY! This was my 5th year now of getting one of these little pieces of awesomeness. You can read about my past experiences in 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015. I usually place my order the day they are launched, but waited a few extra weeks because I wasn’t quite ready to think about back-to-school quite yet. But, Target’s early set-up of their back to school section has gotten to me little by little and I guess I’m almost ready to think about it.

SO, here are my thoughts about this year’s new edition.

Pros:

• The biggest thing you’ll see on Erin’s site talks about the 3 different layout options for the planner. In the past, they’ve only had the vertical layout for each week. Days across the top, time down the side. While this is always the best layout for how I use my book for work, I totally understand the appeal of having a horizontal option as well. And the year, they added an hourly vertical layout. I almost went with this option, but decided I loved my usual format, so I stuck with the non-hourly vertical option. Here are the layouts:

• Same cute, customizable covers with words and pictures. This is one of my biggest reasons for loving these planners. I get to look at my super cute daughter’s picture each day on my planner! Here are three of my favorite new designs this year. Also starting two years ago, the covers are removeable and interchangeable. So, you could change them seasonally, monthly, or, I suppose, to replace that picture of you and your ex after a bad breakup!:

– Custom “colorways.” In the past, you had to stick with one or two color combinations for your chosen color or pay a $15 design fee to further customize it. I love that the option is available to get a really custom look, but starting last year on many of the covers, you can choose any of their colors to create a unique look for your cover. Just look for this: 

Here’s what I ended up with (with a picture of my husband and daughter on the front!) As a side note, this year, the website offers the ability to “preview” the cover before proceeding to customizing the rest of the planner. I love this!

• Different color variations! New this year, you’re able to choose from one of 3 layouts, but also one of 2 color versions – colorful and neutral. There’s a cool slider view to let you see how each looks in the planner. I opted for the colorful version and love it!

– Accessories! If you’re thinking, “You know…I could just buy a cute planner at the store and add a cute picture, and color code everything myself!” Sure! Buy can you get all of this stuff too?? It’s almost completely insane how much extra stuff you can get. This year, I got the pen holder, monthly sticker book, write-on dashboard, and dot stickers. I’m hoping the write-on dashboard will become my new t0-do list rather than the millions of sticky notes I end up with all over my desk! Another thing about accessories – you get 15% off of them once you order 4 or more! Some of the accessories are really cheap (like the dashboard and pen holder), so it’s really easy to get this discount and save yourself a bit!

– “Thankful thoughts.” Last year, they added a little “thankful thoughts” box each week for both layouts. What a great way to remember to focus on something positive each week!

Cons:

• One of the first years, they offered an “academic” July-July format. Starting last you, you can get Jan-Dec 2016 or pay $5 more to also get the rest of 2015 included. I understand the manufacturing logistics of not offering any start and end month as an option, but think it’s pretty obvious most people are using a July-July format if you’re LAUNCHING YOUR PRODUCT in June. So it does truthfully really irk me I have to pay $5 and then just rip out July-Dec 2017 when I get the book. Plus, it’s just sad and then the coil looks a little big for the book. Come on, guys!

• Cost. I’m listing this as a con because it’s the most common complaint I hear and yes, I do feel a bit of sticker shock each time I order. However, let me justify it to you this way: I work 185 school days and probably spend 10-15 minutes per day using my planner or smiling at my daughter’s picture. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been having a really crummy stressful day and then I brush a few papers off and see her smiling at me from that cute, colorful book. That works out to 32 cents per day. 32 cents. 15 minutes of coffee? $3. 15 minutes of a massage? $15. 15 minutes in a car? $1.50. 32 cents is pretty darn cheap! Do yourself a favor and just get one 🙂 Once it arrives at your door, you won’t look back!

• Shipping time. So, the nature of custom items is that they do take longer to manufacture. That being said, the website will always tell you an approximate ship date for your products. This year, mine was 10-15 business days! Therefore, don’t wait until 2 weeks before school starts back up and expect to have it for the first day of school. Just go ahead and order as soon as you can and enjoy filling it out whenever you start to feel the “back to school blues!”

• No more customizable stickers. In the past, one of the things I loved was the ability to put loved one’s faces on pictures and customize the writing on stickers for birthdays, school improvement days, etc. This year, no more! They did introduce a monthly sticker book, which offers color-coordinated stickers for each month, but is AMAZING.

EDIT They do still exist! They just aren’t in the “accessories” section when you’re personalizing your planner. If you want them, you’ll have to click on “sticker sheets” at the bottom of the front page of the website and then you’ll find them. So sad I missed these this year! I don’t want to pay for $8 shipping again to get them 🙁

I love this new book, but I’ll miss seeing my sweet family’s faces on their birthday! I’ve seen a few Etsy sellers that do customized stickers to fit the EC planners, so might go that route for institute days, school holidays, improvement days, or other pre-scheduled events!

To get a coupon to save $10 on the new Life Planner, add your e-mail address here:

I promise this is all I will use it for – I won’t sell it, or give it away, or anything else nasty like that! You get a coupon – I get a coupon and we both win!

Note: Some pictures in this post are from Erin Condren.