I love planners. But I need handheld paper planners. No electronics. I’ve had a LOT of planners in my time as well. And yes, if you have read long enough, you’ll remember I tried going back to the Happy Planner.
A girl has the right to change her mind, and I’ve done just that! I’ve gone back to the Erin Condren Life Planner with a vertical layout.
So, you may be asking WHY?
Simply, it had superior features and overall much better quality. My favorite thing is the spiral binding. The Happy Planner I had migrated to had the plastic binding and it makes it difficult to flip pages easily or get hung. It drives me crazy. I like my pages to flip smoothly with no snags!
Erin Condren 2020 Life Planner Review and Unboxing
Let’s get straight to it. What about this unboxing!? Let me share it with you!
(Now, I’ll admit I videoed the unboxing, but I’m too embarrassed to put it up. I had worked all day, you can see my dark circles under my eyes, and I’m not great in front of the camera. Maybe one day, I’ll get brave enough to share a video with me in it, but until then… you get pictures of my products.)
The outside box is always so much fun – it has a beautiful print with an “Enjoy!” printed on the corner. My box was really big this time because I also ordered the teacher’s personalized desk calendars for Christmas.
When you open the box, it’s nicely packaged with everything wrapped in bubble wrap. There is an Erin Condren newsletter included.
The Life Planner itself was boxed in its own separate box with a kaleidoscope pattern. It was nicely enclosed in tissue paper.
I am planning to use the kaleidoscope box for the storage of my stickers, washi tape, and other things I enjoy using in my planner.
I’m in love with my cover. The light pink leaves remind me of cherry blossoms. It is also monogrammed at the bottom with matching pink, I’ve just cropped my name out…
Erin Condren Dashboards
Before we dive into the planner, I also ordered a dashboard and wet-erase markers. I do highly advise using the Erin Condren markers if you get a snap-in dashboard because I’ve had difficulty erasing them in the past.
This time, I got a checklist dashboard, which I am VERY excited about. I have to admit, while blog planning is important, I don’t like writing it down into my permanent planner! I tried having two separate planners, and that didn’t go over well either. SO, I can use this to write down blog tasks and check them off weekly!
These dashboards are easy to click in and out of your planner so that you can move them throughout the year.
Inside the Erin Condren Life Planner
Now, a peek inside the Erin Condren Life planner.
As I mentioned, I prefer the vertical layout! It just works for my brain and how I process things. I would encourage you to look at both layouts: the vertical and horizontal, to decide which one would work best for you. I think you’ll know instantly which you would prefer. You can even get an hourly layout, which is definitely not my style, but I have a friend who sells Mary Kay who swears by the hourly layout!
This year, there is a nice monthly overview before you go into the month – I really like this. You can jot down birthdays, goals, or anything you would like to highlight for the month.
There is also a contacts page, which I appreciate. I don’t like to always put things into my phone. Maybe I’m odd (or old fashioned) – but I don’t like some numbers on my phone where they could be dialed on accident or just take up room. For example, I had a number for a personal trainer in town that I wanted to have on hand, but not on my phone.
Erin Condren Extras
There are always some extras included. A nice plastic pouch full of cards, gift tags, and other Erin Condren goodies.
She also includes stickers in the back as well. I tend to buy my own planner stickers because I have a few sellers I really like, but I also incorporate these stickers as well!
One of my favorite Erin Condren features is the folder pockets in the back. I like being able to store bits of paper or information in the back. I usually keep my checklists and ideas when I plan the large Cub Scouts celebration in there. I also keep wedding invitations, birthday invites, and other bits of information stuck in there.
I also tend to keep my planners. My dad always kept his calendars that he’d write things in – and we could look back at them. He would write down when it snowed 2 feet or if we went somewhere, and sometimes it is nice to look back. So, if I store invitations, I can look back at them and it’s a place to store them.
That brings us to the end of my planner. I have to say I absolutely love it.
Did you get yourself an Erin Condren Life Planner this year? What’s your favorite feature? Do you use any of the dashboards? Are you team vertical or team horizontal?
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