I’m not going to deny the fact that I can be quite lazy most days when it comes to tidying up. I’ve been hard at work trying to break myself of the 95% habit and complete tasks that final 5%. I’m the type of person who will take the clean clothes, fold them, and bring them into the closet just to abandon ship right before finishing the chore and putting them away. So when it comes to making my organizational life a little bit easier, I have one super simple trick.
Take a dish, put the things cluttering your counters into it. Boom. Your room just got a whole lot cleaner. I really enjoy the look of clean counter-tops, but there are just some things that demand to be out on display. Corralling them onto a tray or into a decorative dish not only adds an element of style to a room, but makes it look like you intended for these items to be out and about.
Simple. Effective. And my favorite organizational trick.
A day in the life of my Erin Condren is a simple, yet tiresome one. I tote my 18-month neutral hourly around with me like a security blanket making sure I have my head on straight when the middle of the day hits. Plus it’s just gorgeous to stare at when I’m having an inspiration block. So here’s what my planner gets up to in a regular day
8:00 AM – Sitting on my nightstand as my phone alarm vibrates on top of it.
9:00 AM – On the kitchen island helping me figure out the game plan for the day.
9:30 AM – Up the stairs to my office for its big performance in whatever video I’m filming that day.
10:30 AM – Down the stairs to the Oh, Hello headquarters to keep me company as I check things off my to do list in the office.
2:00 PM – Back upstairs for a break and some Netflix in bed. Plus it needs a break after all that to do list checking.
5:00 PM – Out to dinner with Alex ready to take notes for whatever ideas we may come up with while eating.
8:00 PM – Prepping for the next day while lounging in bed catching up on YouTube videos.
11:00 PM – Getting some rest for the next big work day tomorrow.
About two months ago I finally figured out a good enough reason to get a personal planner. I’ve been heart-eyed emoji over them for ages, but could never quite pin down what I would do with it until recently. The addition of it to my planning routine has made things so much easier and I finally feel like I have my system down.
In the front of my Recollections planner are a few cute bits and bobs and my alarming stack of Erin Condren coupons (they come with planner orders). I also tuck some stickers in the back pocket for easy access.
There are a few different tab sections and the first is for daily to do lists. I love decorating the pages with stickers and cute things to keep my interest in my lists. I tend to remove the pages when they’re done on both sides, and keep a few days worth of lists into the future. The next section has some inserts I’ve created to track swaps, pen pals, and brand collaborations. I also keep any notes I’ve written in this section for work and personal things. The back section holds extra paper. I love having scratch paper on hand for to do lists when we’re out to eat or if Alex needs to write something down. It’s so handy to always have a pen and paper on hand at all times.
And that’s it! It’s super simple and more or less just for lists, but it’s so nice to have something smaller than my planner to tote around with me on a daily basis rather than all of my supplies. There’s so many more options for customizing and it’s just nice to feel part of the personal planner world!
Do you use a personal planner? What do you use it for?
So in the perfect storm of planner supplies an order I placed arrived the day before a lovely surprise package from Erin Condren landed on my doorstep. So a haul of course had to happen. The Erin Condren Back to School Line is downright amazing. Cute, functional, and some of the highest quality supplies I’ve ever seen. And the lunch bag makes me wish I had a day job to show it off at. Not to mention the new summer collection had me throwing around money like confetti. Erin Condren is one black hole of awesome planner supplies and I’m more than happy to tumble into it way too often. You can also save $10 if you haven’t fallen into the black hole yourself yet.
In order to share the Erin Condren love I’m having another giveaway! It’s open internationally to everyone over 18-years-old or with parental consent. Back to school season doesn’t have to be all bad…
As the last of my sticker binge rolls in I thought it time to put the stickers where my mouth is and give away some of them that I won’t use. They’re all fabulous stickers, but sticker hording is not my goal and I know you guys could really get some usage out of them! The giveaway is open for a week to anyone 18-years-old or with parental consent. International planner gals are welcome too!
I’ve been planner decorating for over a year and a half and am still in awe of how much things have changed since I first started putting stickers in my planners. Sure my life itself has changed drastically as well which is always a contributing factor, but I definitely feel like I’ve finally settled into a style and routine I love. When I first started out, I was obsessed with the Erin Condren Vertical Life Planner. It was as if it was created just for me to find planner peace. It was the perfect format to divide my life up neatly into three categories: work, school, personal. Everything fit so well into those little boxes and I couldn’t shut up about how amazing the Darice sticker books are.
Now I still love the verical layout, but since I work from home everything kind of blends together in a mess of to do lists without a clear, defined category system. My life is more about when I’m going to get things done over what things there are to do.
But that’s what I love about planning and Erin Condren planners in particular. They adapt and adjust with your lifestyle and there’s so many layouts to choose from to suit whatever it is that you do in a day. I know that in the next few years my life will continue to change and morph and so will my planner journey. Soon we’ll start having kids and that’ll open up a whole world of swim practices and play dates. It’s always nice to look back and see where I’ve come in my planning story, but I can’t wait to see where it heads next.
So enjoy a side by side comparison of spreads a year a part.
