Something very exciting came in the mail today… my Erin Condren planner!
I first heard about these planners a while ago (last fall maybe?). I instantly wanted one but couldn’t bring myself to pull the trigger on a $50 paper planner- yes, that’s right. $50. paper. planner.
I’m a huge paper planner person. Thank my Type A personality. I use one every single day to organize my entire life. I have been this way ever since I was in middle school. Sadly, each summer I would be ecstatic when it was time to go back-to-school shopping because it meant I could get my yearly planner.
People always ask me why I don’t use my iPhone, Outlook, a calendar app, etc. to plan things and the truth is that I have tried them all, but I just don’t like them. I actually decided that I needed to get with the times and exclusively used my iCalendar for over a month… and I hated it! I think when it comes to organization, to each their own. What works for one person may not work for someone else and that’s okay.
Once I went to my internship orientation, I felt like my good ole Mead planner was not meeting my needs anymore. I write a ton of stuff in my planner each week like work reminders, meals, workout plans, personal plans, birthdays, and bills. I was getting ready to add internship stuff on top of that: preceptor schedules, assignments, presentations, etc. The problem with my Mead planner was #1 it was too big and #2 the weekly part of it wasn’t sectioned at all, so all of this info was just kind of jumbled together.
So I decided that in celebration of getting accepted into an internship, which had been a *huge* goal of mine for years, that I would treat myself to an EC planner. I believe that it’s okay to splurge every once in a while if you really love something and you are going to use it all the time. That’s what I’m telling myself anyway.
It came in a very elaborate box. I was actually kind of embarrassed because my apartment’s office accepted the package…
The first thing inside the box was an envelope with some gift label samples:
The samples were nice but I was not very impressed with the quality considering how much these cost online. It looked like something I could easily create myself with a colored laser printer.
Here’s the rest of the inside of the box
And here is the planner. I chose the “Feur Feliz” design. You can pick your own color so I requested purple. I actually really wanted a fuschia one but thought purple may look a *little* more professional yet still kinda fun. My name is printed on the cover also.
There are quotes all throughout the planner. I’ve heard negative comments about this but I don’t mind it.
Sorry some of these pictures are not right side up. I tried rotating them and they still download like this into blogger. I’m technologically impaired.
Here is the monthly planner part. Remember when I said my Mead planner was too big? I actually went and bought the same planner in a smaller version, and the monthly part was not even functional to me. The boxes for the days of the week were so tiny that I couldn’t even write everything I needed to in them. I like the EC planner because this calendar is the perfect size.
This weekly planner layout was what really sold me on this planner. This is how I think I will structure it:
Morning: what site I will be interning at and my preceptor’s hours. The days and hours I work change, especially in my rotations at the hospital.
Day: school work I need to get done
Evening: work I need to do for my job
Area below: meals and workouts
In the back there are a lot of blank lined pages
There are also some pages that are not lined
There are pages of stickers for different occasions, like birthdays
And blank stickers also
The back also has 2 pockets
And a zipper pouch with some more labels with my name on them
Here is a view of the back
So, there you have it! I am happy with the color and design. It seems like the quality is great and the cover is heavily laminated. I can’t wait to use it! It starts with July.
I will update later on and let you know how I’m liking it.
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