Top 5 Planning Essentials

Continuing on with our productiveness in the new year I figured that I would share all of my planning essentials with you!✨Being someone who loves planning and anything organization related I could make this post forever long - but I maybe I will just make another post in the near future hahah. Today I am going to share with you all my favorite planners that I have used along with all of the miscellaneous things that come along with planning that I love to use!

Planner - one that works for you

When it comes to planners I am someone who is SOOO picky - but I finally have found the perfect one after many years! You might think to yourself, why/how did it take you so long to finally find a planner? There are so many different planners out there. When it comes to planners, they usually are unique depending on the different layouts they have: monthly, weekly, hourly, daily, etc. Through trial and error I have learned that the layout really does determine whether or not I am actively using my planner everyday. So the most important part of planning really is to find a planner that is perfect for you! Here are some of my favorites & ones that I have tried out:

The Day Designer: This is my current planner and my tried & true!💕 They offer different sizes, and a couple different varieties of planners. I personally have 2 of their planners that I used consistently! On an everyday basis I use the Day Designer Weekly Planner. This planner has a monthly calendar and following that there is a whole week spanned out over two pages. The days are separated and broken down into hours with a section to write your top 3 to-dos for the day. There is also a running to do list area on the side to keep track of any weekly to-dos. My other planner that I use by them is the Today & To Do Planner. The Today & To Do Planner I use for my blog posts! It is an undated planner that has monthly, weekly AND daily pages. I love it because it really gives me the flexibility to use it on days that I am busy designing, writing and doing all things blog-related! This planner company also offers planners where one page is devoted to one whole day - I used to use this when I was in college and it was a life-saver!

Erin Condren: This company has what they call the LifePlanner which they allow you to choose from 3 different styled layouts: Hourly, Horizontal and Vertical. I have used the horizontal before and I loved the overall planner and the space it provided me with. This was a planner I used in high school and it worked for me then, however if I was to purchase one now I would most likely go with the hourly layout. Really customizable and cute! There are other products by them which I still currently use - that being the notebooks which are amazing!

Blue Sky Planners: I used these all throughout high-school and they worked perfectly. They give you enough space to write out any assignments, meetings or appointments and seem to stress on the simplicity side of planning. These planners can easily be found online, Staples stores, Walmart's, Targets, and most likely many other retailers.

Good Pens & Highlighters

Thinking about it, I am just as picky with my pens as I am with my planners! I love a fine tip pen, Zebra makes a .7 mm pen that I use on the daily and I also love the BIC Atlantis Exact Fine tip pens as well. Occasionally I like to use a gel pen too, I have found really pretty ones for a good price at Hobby Lobby that come in a 4 pack, but the Paper Mate Gel Pens are also great! For highlighters I love the simple BIC brite liners - these help me separate what is important and things that I want to get done.

Stickers

I use stickers to mark important things and also just make my planner cuter. I have found stickers at Michael's for a good price that are icons for important things such as: grocery shopping, gas, bills due, etc. Another place that you could get stickers from that are sooo cute is Etsy! My favorite shop to get them from are SodaPopStudio, she sells kits that come with so many different stickers to set up your week and also individual sticker sheets that have specific stickers (my favorite ones are probably her iced-coffee stickers!) They are a little more pricey, but are worth it and a good treat yourself purchase.

Sticky Notes & To Do Lists

Sticky Notes and to - do lists are a girl's best friend! I know that if I did not have sticky notes that I would probably forget about every appointment or event that I had.. Hahah. To-do lists are also so important for me! I find super cute ones at TJMaxx or Marshall's that are affordable as well. I have been using a Rae Dunn to-do list that I found at TJMaxx and I love it, so cute but also practical. They are easy to grab and jot down a quick to do whether it be something to do right away or something for later that you don't want to forget about!

Book Marker/Page Marker

It may seem simple, but having a book marker, magnet page marker or anything to help you flip to important pages makes it so much easier than flipping through and trying to find the right page! Now, the Day Designers and Erin Condren's come with a page marker that is also a ruler that clips right onto the coil of the planners! I have that in mine and also a magnetic page marker that came in a set - and they are adorable and so useful! Here are some that I found for you all: Donut Magnets, Erin Condren Magnets, Erin Condren Planner Book Mark

Hoping that these essentials that I have shared get you into the planning spirit! Now everyone is different when it comes to planning but everyone can plan, so grab your pens and get to writing down all your goals, plans and dreams. ✨

Until next time,

Michelle Elizabeth 💕