Planner problems in the year 2025

i got this because it was plaid. that was my criteria.

I've written posts about planners before. In fact, I swore off teacher planners and then I bought one this year(!). I stopped using it around September, if anyone is wondering. Actually I do use the gradebook feature in the back because I like that it keeps everything in one place. I don't use the planner part though anymore. I use a Google Doc with a lesson plan template I made years ago. 

I thought about a Home Planner. My friend loves them. They seemed so involved to me (maybe that's what I need though?) and all the good colors were sold out when I got around to being ready to order.

The Erin Condren planners have doubled in price in the last 10 years for some reason. 

I was leaning toward a Day Designer. 

Last year, I got an undated Erin Condren one from Amazon and it was fine but I ended up scrapping it after about 6 months and just grabbed a calendar planner from Walmart, month by month, to get me through the rest of the year. Mostly just to write down appointments and reminders.

Over Christmas break, I had some free money from a rebate and I stacked some coupon codes and ended with up an Erin Condren planner again. It obviously wasn't cheap...they never are...but it was "free" (or, rather, it was $45). 

I still remember my first EC planner. It was $27 plus shipping so it was less than $35 altogether in 2012. Now the price is about $60 + shipping, which is insane for a planner. I did lots of research over Christmas break, which is funny considering I went back to the brand I always go back to...and they aer ALL about $60 now. 

Last year, before I got the undated Erin Condren one cheap on Amazon, I got a Passion Planner and I hated it so much that I never used it. I tried to sell it for like $10 and it was a no-go so it just sat in a drawer. 

I've tried, before you ask, to do electronic calendars. I can't handle it. I went through of period of using Google Calendar and it was fine but then I was never just *seeing* it in front of me so I was always forgetting and checking off things and pushing reminders...and I operate under two different (well, 3, but that's a long story) Google log-ins: school and personal. Scott doesn't use Google Calendar at all so we can't share a calendar the way lots of couples do, and he uses Outlook for work and basically never wants to see a calendar in front of him if he doesn't have to. He also uses an android and a regular computer (not a Mac) so we can't share an iPhone calendar. 

What kind of planner did you go with this year? 

Or, did you do what I almost did and just give up altogether? Are planners still worth it? Eh. I don't know. They still bring a silly amount of joy, you know?

(I suppose I get a kickback from this but it doesn't actually matter since I already ordered a planner this year and I don't spend money on the Erin Condren website other than maybe once a year...

But I wanted to drop this link again, if YOU still need a planner and want $10 off.)

School Year 21-22 Planner

Absolutely no one is ready to see school supplies out and about (me included!) but I did order myself a planner a few weeks ago because I know these can easily end up on back order. 

I decided some time in the middle of last school year that I would just buy myself the holy grail of teacher planners if I had my own classroom again in the fall of 2021. You see, finding a planning style when you're teaching is just as complicated as finding a planning style for day-to-day life. While I find that a calendar and a to-do list works best for me when I'm at home (instead of a book planner) , having one book to keep everything together is much more efficient in the classroom. I cannot count the number of times I've changed up my planning style mid-year, just to make myself feel like I had a better handle on things. 

While actual lesson plans need to be typed up, detailed, and handed in, keeping the framework and the important dates ready for when I am planning is the key. 

All this to say that the Erin Condren teacher planner should help me do this. While it's a little bulky, it has everything in it that I would need so it's just carrying one book back and forth. Plus, it's already done for me. I've spent lots of time over the years developing cute spreadsheets and charts and templates. The amount of energy that takes is hard. I just want to make this easy for myself. (I mentioned on Monday that I learned a lot in 2020-2021 when it came to teaching and I really was able to hone the craft if we're being honest. A goal for 2021-2022 is to focus on the teaching and not on the set-up. I tend to get super sucked into "set up" because I like to make things as functional as possible.)

And all of the stickers that I will likely never use :)

And the nice thing about this style of Erin Condren planners is that they are full-size, 8 1/2x11, so the pocket in the back fits any old sheet of paper. I would find it really hard to justify this size of planner for anything but teaching or homeschooling. It's not a thing you would just carry about in a tote bag for fun. 

I can't speak to it's efficiency yet, but this is the one I got. It looks promising so far!

Linking up with Keeping It Together! 

The irony of the 2020 planners

In the past, I've bought fancy planners that begin in January. I've done Erin Condren pre-orders in October, received the personalized planner in November, and stared at it lovingly until January when I could finally(!) really begin to use it. The last one I bought was in 2017, for 2018, and I'm 99% sure I stopped using it far before 2018 was over. 

Amazon

My issue is that I always get an itch to get a new planner in August, because I do tend to run on an academic-year pattern of thought. It just fits how I think; new years begin in August and not January. For this reason, last year, I finally gave in and just bought a $15 Day Designer version at Target. It's actually served me pretty well, and I'm about to finish it up next month. I track workouts, errands, appointments and, most importantly, I have dozens of post-it note reminders throughout for tasks that need to be taken care of each month. i.e. "vet appointments" for June, etc. 

In a very ironic way, my current planner concludes with June. Which just so happens to be the end of our known timeline. We don't know quite what July looks like. But there are reminders and things that I need on the books for July and beyond. I ordered a new planner from Amazon because I have a few details I like in a planner and this hit them all: Spiral-bound, hardcover, thick-ish paper, and some color but not too much. 

There's a lot of meme content out there about the waste of 2020 planners, and I'm glad I didn't start a new one in January. What about you? Is your planner getting a workout these days? I don't do pretty-planning, but I like being able to put things on the calendar months in advance if it's something I want to accomplish during a certain time period. 

Planner Preview for 2018

I went with the old standby of the Erin Condren planner. I probably talked about it last year, but I got this one because I know I'll use it. They're functional and STURDY. 

Here is the post I did about 2017's planner, if you want to compare some features (some of us take our planners pretty seriously). 

If you're looking into trying an EC planner, here's what you can expect...

I went with houndstooth because it just is pretty to me. I don't love florals as much as I want to, but anything with a preppy twist is generally my thing. 

#motivationgalore

I use the calendar spreads for work, to plan out my month. I will (not so) shamefully admit that I have 99% of my lesson plans in my head and I don't even write things down anymore. (It's awful really...I just have piles of things for each day and each week because I've done this for awhile now.) But this calendar allows me see the big picture for my 9-5 life.

This is a new addition this year. I'm assuming it's for goals or things that stand out about each month? There's one at the beginning of each month.

This year, I went with the vertical layout, so as to plan my mornings and evenings (perhaps) more efficiently because I've been just writing down whatever,wherever in the horizontal layout. 

Some notes pages at the end...

Dotted bullet-journaling pages as well...

And then coloring...

And a forward look toward 2019...

The stickers are more fun this year. 

And a pocket.

They always throw in that perpetual calendar and I honestly have no idea why. 

What kind of planner are you looking to use this coming year? This is always such a first-world issue, right?

Erin Condren Planner Overview (2017?)

I don't know if I can even call this planner "2017" properly because I just ordered it and got it and looked at it, but I haven't used it. I can't report on anything other than perceived functionality. I like that: perceived functionality. Isn't that why we spend so much on planners and organizers and the idea alone of planning ahead? We perceive ourselves to be better in the new year.

Anyway. I got a new Erin Condren planner. Edited to add: They were having a Black Friday sale. Normally, with shipping, this would have cost me about $65. On this day, with a 30% off coupon, and I didn't pay for any kind of priority shipping, it was $45. That was how I justified it. More in this post. 

I had a EC in 2012 and then I bought one in the middle of 2013 and that lasted from September 2013 until September 2014. This time, on my receipt, it said Thank you for your third order! which is weird because I always check out as a guest, I've moved twice since then, and I've used different credit cards. Erin Condren magic, I suppose. Since I've had two in the past and it's been a couple of years, I thought I could now report in on what I see (or perceive) the difference to be and what motivated me to go back to EC.

The cover is why I bought this planner. I couldn't find a Plum Paper cover I liked. I love the sturdiness and durability and designs that EC has available. I would have gone with a rose-gold coil, but it was like $10 more and that was definitely not a dealbreaker. 

Upon opening...

I went with the neutral color scheme. I like neutrals. 

The month-long layout pages. Last time I had this planner, I used the month pages to track work things, but I think it'll be for planning/tracking Pilates now, because that's the habit I've gotten into with my current planner.

Ah, the new horizontal layout. This was the selling point. They didn't offer the horizontal layer back in 2013, and the previous morning/afternoon/night layout didn't work for me. It might work for some, but I like this so much better. 

There's a notes section and a Thankful Thought space for each week too. 

After each month, there's a notes page and a quote. This is all in color, even though I went with the neutral scheme, which is nice. It doesn't mean that the whole planner ended up in black/white.

And then there's 3 separate types of notes page at the end of the planner...

Regular lined.

Graph paper. Maybe to encourage some bullet journaling? (shudder)

And a few blank pages.

There's several pages of stickers.

I admit that these will be (and always have been) wasted on me. I'm not into decorating planners, but they come with each planner purchase.

There's a pocket in the back, and I like the black and white pattern. There's also a clear zip pouch that I meant to take a picture of and forgot. #bloggeroftheyear

A perpetual calendar that also showed up with my planner.

And this back inside cover. Is that dry erase? Do we actually know what it's for?

And if you want to talk about "perceived functionality", I stood on a chair to take these pictures on our bar. Then I took a shot of the rest of the kitchen just to prove that perception is everything.

This was before I cleaned a few things up.

But the cookie ingredients are still out because I've yet to bake the cookies. 

What kind of planner are you *planning* on using in 2017???

My Thanksgiving break is over.

I did finish all of the Christmas decorating so that's something.

Made this.

First, motivation. Because it's Monday. Sigh.

A thought if you are in a leadership position. 

Secondly. If you've never seen one of my November recaps, read this (if you're so inclined), because this November just added to the list, as a deployment ended in November. It's always November.

Thirdly...

I'm not really sure where Saturday through Wednesday went. I spent a lot of time reading, cleaning/decorating for Christmas, walking dogs, and just puttering around. Scott has also been working on the basement remodel a bit more.

On Thursday, I did make pretty much what I said I would, minus the rolls because I didn't have milk. For an over-planner, I'm pretty bad at planning sometimes. After we ate, we made plates to take to the barracks and Scott was able to check in with all of the staff duties, which was really nice I thought. I remember the days in Alaska, where he'd have staff duty at the company on weekends and/or holidays (Has it really been 7 years since we got to Alaska? Yes, it has.)

Very interested in what's happening on that counter

We finished the evening with a Steelers game, which is always nice to see in Colorado.

I never eat Chipotle these days. I haven't craved Mexican food in almost a year, but I felt like this on Friday night. 

On Friday, Scott went hunting and then we went to look for a new dishwasher (!!!!!) and ran a few errands. The dishwasher will arrive in two weeks. #victory

On Saturday, I made a cake for Scott's birthday and I got him these...

cake via Crazy for Crust

I contacted Kori Clark monthsss ago after reading about her on Nichole's blog and thought there'd be no better gift for Scott (and no better way to spend any money I'd put towards a birthday gift) than to commission some portraits of the dogs.

Sunday, I went to the grocery store and the downward spiral of absolute misery began: another week is beginning.

In order to make myself feel better about this, I ordered a planner...I looked at Plum Paper's site many times over and just could not find a cover I liked. I know this sounds ridiculous but I couldn't justify spending $32+shipping on a PLANNER if I didn't like looking at it. I would end up hating it and discard it by February (which is exactly what happened with last year's knock-off Day Designer). I also didn't want to order a Happy Balance planner simply because it was the same price and I didn't know what I was getting for that money. I'd never held one or seen a review anywhere. I'd just noticed them on an Instagram account and thought Neat.

So, I went to Erin Condren to drool over that watercolor design I brought to your attention months ago. Lo and behold, EC was having a 30% off sale and I was sold. I paid what I would for a PP or a HB planner (minus shipping...always minus the shipping) and since I've had ECs before, I know what I'm getting. I would like to run a study of 4 or 5 different planner brands, used side by side for a few months, in order to really be able to tell someone what they're getting for their money and what is the best use for each. I adored my plaid EC back in 2012 and I did use my EC in 2013-2014 to death. So while they are bulky, that is not a deal-breaker. I think I used them fully because I paid so much for them, therefore I'll be stuck with this one whether I like it or not. If I buy cheap planners, I'll buy more. I spent $40 at least on "planning"-like materials in 2016, including what I use for school.

And that was the highlight of my weekend. Other than that, we sat on the couch and watched The Crown and Shameless. It was wonderful.

Planner Problems

I'm on my third planner for 2016. That is, I bought a planner last December, to start in January. Got sick of it by February. Bought a new one in March. Got annoyed with it in August and bought a new one.

Yes, that is a planner, on top of a planner, on top of a planner. 

I even wrote a whole post on why I switched from a day to day planner to a monthly planner (it was $5 from Target) and why I didn't believe in those "$60 planners" anymore, and then the html wasn't working on the post when I previewed it so it got pushed to the back of the queue and eventually deleted.

The upshot was that my days are pretty regimented and I have them "planned" at school with a lesson plan book and I didn't need an hour by hour planner because that was overkill.

I actually switched to Google calendar for most of the summer because:
1. I didn't need to find a pen in order to write something down.
2. It provided reminders.

Then I realized I kind of hate technology and it doesn't provide the same level of satisfaction to use Google calendar. There was no way to mark things complete. You either did it or you didn't. Reminders I have set from July are still there, recorded. In order to move past things, you just have to delete them or ignore them.

No, that wasn't going to work. I need to cross things out.

Then I realized that habit is habit and a planner was a good thing. That was when I started looking for a new paper planner.

I found myself on erincondren.com with one of those "$60 planners" (which are $70 for some reason now) in my shopping cart.

I knew that wasn't going to work out. I could buy a lot with the $70+shipping that I'd spend on an EC planner.

Something about fall signaled that I needed a new planner and a fresh start, so I set off for Target and bought my fresh start for $9.

This was the last one at my Target...$9, hard plastic cover (double cover on the front) front and back. It seems durable enough. It's just navy and white on the inside. No cutesy stuff. 

Tell me. What do you think about planners?

Planners and purses are two things I spend way too much time thinking about.