How I Plan Using My Erin Condren Planner

My Erin Condren planner has become one of my most treasured possessions. Which seems silly, because I was all-in on digital calendars, and making to do lists with apps and not on paper. But there's just something about paper for planning that is still so customizable and flexible. And now that I've gone down the Etsy planner sticker rabbit hole, there's plenty of room to decorate as well. I wanted to do a kind of how I plan post, because I know I do things a little differently from a lot of those "Plan With Me" videos on YouTube. And maybe it will give you ideas and inspiration for how you want to decorate and plan with your paper planner!

I am already addicted to the interchangeable covers of the Erin Condren planner. This is my second cover, and already have another one I have yet to put on. I mostly use my planner for planning blog posts and new releases, so I just have my first name and "Evolution of a Foodie" on the front. This is the "butterflies" cover, which I absolutely love for spring.

This is how my monthly view looks after I've filled it in for the month. I like using washi tape to block off the dates that aren't in the actual month, April was this adorable cat washi tape I found at Target! I also fill in birthdays, bills, and of course Game of Thrones nights. On the right, I use the lined portion for writing down my favorites each month as I go. That way they are all in one place, and I can refer back to them in the future. Then at the bottom I note the books for my two online book clubs I participate in. I don't always read the book for that month if it's something I'm not interested in, but it's there for easy access.

For May, I also marked any vacations I was going on. And I also use this space for a sticky note of new releases that are supposed to happen within the month, but don't have a firm date yet! It makes it easy for me to remember what's being released in the indie world.

And here is how much I pre-plan! Not many people pre-plan, and pre-decorate, but I have to. As soon as I get my monthly sticker kits in I lay all those stickers down so I can throw away the sheet. I've been purposely limiting my sticker storage so I can't get too many before using them. The tiny flags at the top of each day is a birthday countdown, and all of my blog reviews are color coded and planned way in advance. Many times they need to be moved around, but most stay where they are. I just use the blank Erin Condren stickers for blog review posts, which I love. Here's my code:

• Hot pink - YouTube videos
• Purple - Misc. beauty reviews
• Lavender - Indie subscription reviews
• Blue - I use this for various things, usually bills though
• Teal - New releases
• Mint - Indie Weekends reviews
• Green - Things I'm doing with B
• Light green - Planner Wednesday reviews
• Chartreuse - Indies of the Week reviews
• Tan - Product reviews of products I've been sent by the company

So this is kind of the look I go for when I pre-plan. I've got my planned reviews down, a checklist for every day, various stickers in the monthly colors to decorate any blank space, bills due at the bottom, tv shows written in at the bottom, my weekly to-do checklist all ready on the left side, and some other various checklists on the weekly side as well.

Here's a close up of my weekly to do list on the side before I start filling it in. You may recognize those checklist stickers from Scribble Prints Co. And on the right is a close up of my monthly favorites list. I just write these in as the month goes on and I find new favorites!

Here's an advance view of what I've been working on recently, and that's planning out blog reviews I want to do for the rest of the year. Each month has these little sticky notes, with reviews I want to do in that month, be it a new release, or something I've had in my collection for months. For instance, on the left sticky note I've got all my subscriptions I anticipate receiving that month, and on the right are all my Indie Weekends reviews.

And I've just been using these little sticky tabs for planning reviews on each day. That way I can easily move them around. I will probably firm up the schedule the month before, or maybe even right at the beginning of the month they will be for.

And what a fully planned week ends up looking like! It might be a little busy for some, but there's usually a lot happening. On the left, I've got my weekly to dos, including tv shows I want to try to watch that week. My daily checklist I've got in the "Day" box is pretty flexible. I like using it as a checklist for all the things I need to photograph for reviews, but I don't necessarily need to get them done that day that I write them in. They are usually a sort of weekly to-do, but I like putting them there. I write in what I ate that day, and you can see I ate such a huge variety of things this week...haha! I also don't mind layering stickers, sometimes I pre-plan with stickers and something needs to go over the top. It's not a big deal for me.

So there's a little glimpse at how I plan using my Erin Condren planner, let me know how you plan in the comments! Are you a pre-planner or do you plan everything the Sunday before the new week?

If I've somehow convinced you that you also need an Erin Condren planner, you can use my link here to get $10 off your purchase!

Disclosure: This post contains referral links!