OCD Guide To Life: My Favorite Planners

It’s time to get your ship together. Like, your ship, as in your house, right? Like, you run a tight ship? Not a substitute for my #2 favorite obscenity, duh…

Anyway. People comment often that I am very organized. This is not true. I can not remember ANYTHING that I have not written down.

The biggest lie I ever tell myself is, “I’ll remember that; I don’t need to write it down.”

False. I need to write it down. I write eveeeeeerything in my planner. I write appointments, to-do lists, schedules, meal planning… all of it.

Some people use their phones for this purpose. I have tried this. I can not do it. Something about the physical act of writing it down is soothing to my frenzied mind, and being able to underline, circle, exclamation point, all caps, color code, and all of the other nonsense I do in there makes me remember stuff.

I’m a paper planner girl, through and through. I am also super picky about my planners.

Planner Perfection

To make the cut, I need to planner to have:

1. Weekly and monthly layout. I want lots of space to write my various appointments and tasks for each day, and a monthly calendar for things like birthdays, trips, and important days.
2. Hourly/chronological day format. I typically like a planner that has a daily hourly layout, with space for non-time-specific task. My most recent planner has 3 blocks for each day, without defined hours, and this works for me. I want to be able to write down appointments and time specific things, in the right order, but I also want to be able to write other things that can be done at anytime.
3. Space for tasks not assigned for a specific day. I want to be able to write that I need to get a carwash this week, but I don’t want to put it on a specific day.
4. Notes pages for writing random things I need to remember.
5. Bonus if the planner is cute.

I don’t like my planners to be ultra-small and portable. My planners have all been small enough to put in a large purse or diaper bag, but they’re pretty bulky. I have a lot of stuff to write!! When I’m away from my planner and need to write something down, I have a Note in my phone called “Planner Notes” and I add to it, and immediately write it down when I get back to my planner.

I’ve used a planner faithfully for as long as I can remember. I switch up the brand every few years, and here are my top favorites!

My Favorite Planners

Erin Condren Life Planner

This the planner I’m currently using, and I am in love. I love the 3 blocks of time, I love the space for notes on the side, I love the annual calendar for writing birthdays and other annual events, I love the accessories, I love that it’s cute, I love all of the little quotes and stickers. I love it. And I’ll be getting another one next go around. Yes, they’re a tiny bit pricey. But it’s an 18 month planner, and it is SO worth it to me. They have different page layouts, including hourly, horizontal, and all sorts of different configurations. Lots of cute patterns and covers and accessories. Big fan. I especially love this little accessory:

Erin Condren Menu Planner Bookmark

I LOVE this meal planner! I use wet-erase markers, so it doesn’t smear from the paper, and it’s great seeing my meals laid out and how it fits in with my days. Like, I’m not going to plan a meal that takes lots of time to prepare on a day where I have a busy afternoon. There’s also a shopping list on the back.

Shopping lists are one of the few areas where I have converted to an app. I use Grocery Pal, and it’s been life changing. Too many trips to the store and leaving my list at home! Now I never leave it at home, and I can check stuff off as I go, and I can continually add to it as I discover things we need.

Franklin Covey Her Point of View Weekly Planner

Before I got hooked on my Erin Condren planner, I used this Franklin Covey planner for years. I loved being able to add refills to my planner and not have to replace my entire planner. I loved having pockets in the cover for holding random papers I needed. I loved the notes section in the back, and I loved the different page layouts. I chose an hourly one, for hair appointments, and I love the split layout. One side for hourly, one side for other tasks. It also has space for random tasks not particular to a day. Big fan.

Franklin Covey Vinyl Spiral Agenda

The one draw back of the Franklin Covey is that it’s not super cute. There are a few cute covers, but I had this boring black one. But it did the job, and I really loved this planner for a long time.

Simplified Weekly and Monthly Planner

This was a one year planner for me, but it’s a great and inexpensive option. It’s cute, no frills, and has lots of space for writing. I love the daily two columns for time and tasks, again. I gotta have that. I need to see the layout of my day, to see where my other tasks can fit it. It’s a great planner.

At-A-Glance Day Minder

I used some variation of this At-A-Glance planner for probably 6 years. I used it all through college, and after. It’s inexpensive, has plenty of room to write, and it comes with some cute covers. I like the different choices for page layout, it’s less bulky than some of my other planners, and it’s just my old faithful.

Bonus Favorite Planner Stuff

To Do List Pad

I always have a lot of random tasks that don’t necessarily have any timeline for getting them done. I love this to-do list pad for keeping my list of tasks I can’t get to right now, but I don’t want to forget. The question is, how many times can I write “organize my photos” on this to-do list pad before I finally do it? I also like to use this pad for when my day is bonkers and I want to write every single thing I have to do in order, and check it all off. Sometimes my planner gets too busy and full and I need to rewrite it. Hello, did I mention I’m crazy?

Paper Mate Flair Pens

I am obsessed with these pens. Sometimes I really have my ship together, and I color code my tasks. Blue for hair, Purple for kids, Red for appointments. But most of the time, I choose one color for appointments, one color for kid stuff, and one color for tasks to get done. It helps me visualize my day. Plus I just love how these pens write, and I like to doodle with them.

So where do you stand? Are you all about the pen and paper planner life? Or are you all about the phone calendar? I wish I could convert to the digital planner, but I just can’t! I find immense satisfaction in writing and crossing off the things I need to do, and I think I’ll have a physical planner until I’m too old to remember what I’m supposed to do everyday anyway.