How To Set Up Your Erin Condren Planner

This Is The Best Way To Set Up Your Erin Condren Planner

/ Goals And Productivity, Planning

So you totally caved and bought yourself an Erin Condren Planner. First of all, Yay, congrats! Now you are on your journey to become your most organized and optimized self. Let me just start off by saying that the best way to set up your Erin Condren Planner is the way it works for YOU. But it always helps to receive a little nudge in the right direction. Ultimately, this suggested setup will work for your Erin Condren Planner of choice.

I am of firm belief that the way you set up your planner, sets the tone for the entire year. Consequently, some people tell me that they buy a planner and they don’t use it because they forget they have it. If this sounds like you, you are missing out on an incredible opportunity. Truly, your planner can become your best productivity and motivational buddy. It also helps that the Erin Condren LifePlanner Collection has a layout that inspires you to use it! So let’s jump in and set up our planners…

*Some of the links included may be affiliate links which means that I may earn a small commission when you make a purchase. However this does not affect the end price. These are all products I use and love so I am sharing my true opinion on these. Thank you for your support!

What Is A Planner Setup?

Well what is a planner setup anyway? Why do you need to set up your planner beforehand? Can’t you just flip to your pages as you go and just start planning? These are all questions you may be asking right now. And well, yes, you can simply open up your planner to your monthly view once January 1st comes around and just put pen to paper. However, if you really want to optimize your planner to be useful throughout the year, it is important to do some prep work before the start of the year.

Setting up your planner means that you will personalize it to fit your needs and organize it in a way that will be functional to you. Before you begin setting up your planner, it is important to begin determining the purpose of this planner? Will you be using it for school, work, or will this be your catch-all planner? Assigning a function to your planner will help you optimize it correctly. As for me, it tends to be a very personal process and a moment of reflection and goal setting before the year begins.

Types Of Erin Condren Planners

Before we get started, it is important to go over the different types of Erin Condren Planners out there. Below you can find them listed in case you are still shopping around for your planner. If you want a more comprehensive list of the Erin Condren planners and planner accessories, you can find it here.

How To Set Up Your Erin Condren Planner

Now let’s get started and put pen and stickers to our planner pages! As you can see, Erin Condren really offers some great options for different planning styles. Despite all the different options, most of their planners have the same layout. The layout includes a year-at-glance page with a calendar view of all the months throughout the year. There is a goal overview page at the beginning of the planner as well. Then for every month you have a calendar view, monthly dashboard pages, and a weekly or daily view (depending on your choice). Lastly, there are usually blank notes pages at the end of the planner and sprinkled throughout.

1. Gather Your Planner Supplies

Indeed there is so much space and potential to fill up your planner and personalize it to your liking. To take advantage of this space, here are some supplies that you can use to organize and color code your planner:

2. Personalize Your Year-At-A-Glance Section

The Year-At-A-Glance section includes 12 or 18 mini months that you can use to get an overview of your entire year. This is a great place to mark all the birthdays, holidays, events, or travel throughout the year. Personally, I love color-coding this section whether it is with dot markers or transparent dot stickers that will just help me quickly review what is going on that month. This way when I am planning for the month ahead, I can quickly flip to this section and see if anything was planned beforehand.

Trust me, by marking this section before the year begins, you will recall dates and things that will happen throughout the year. Again, make sure to personalize this section according to your needs. There are people, that use this section as a school calendar for their children. Others use this to mark their paydays throughout the year. Find what works best for your lifestyle!

3. Customize Your Monthly Overview Page

The monthly overview page in all Erin Condren Life Planners is truly a magical page as you can customize it to anything you desire. This page includes 12 blank spaces that you can use for each month of the year or to make lists. This is a great place to lay down your monthly stickers. Below are a few ideas that you can use to fill out these boxes:

  • Create a monthly overview page that allows you to pre-plan for the month ahead. In this section you can list things that you want to focus on for the month. My favorite way to use it this way is to write down what I will focus on, an upcoming event, a goal for my health, and even a book I will read.
  • This can be your monthly goals page. Among all the options, this is perhaps the most common way this page is utilized. You simply write down your goal or goals for each month in each section.
  • You can use this page as a way to track your achievements. After each month is over, you can simply come back and write down something you achieved that month.
  • Additionally, this page can be a tracker. You can use it to track books to read, social media tracking, mental health tracking, or any tracker of your choice.
  • Lastly, this is a great place to do memory keeping. You can place a picture and write a little caption right next to it with a special memory from that month.

4. Arrange Your Notes Pages

After you set up the front of your planner, now it is time to flip back to the notes pages and arrange them in a way that you will flip back to them all year long. Uniquely, notes pages are a great way to create lists of things that will keep you motivated throughout the year. Here you can find an entire list of ways that you can utilize the notes pages.

However in general, these are a few ways you can use your notes pages:

  • To create lists of things that you want to do throughout the year including a wishlist, travel list, books to read, movies to watch, etc.
  • You can use the notes pages as reflection pages, goal setting pages, and memory keeping pages.
  • Additionally, you can write down special quotes, memory verses, or ideas that come to your throughout the year.
  • Lastly, you can use these pages as fitness or wellness trackers.

However you choose to arrange these pages, remember to flip back to these pages throughout the year. You will be so surprised as to how much you have accomplished!

5. Get Planning!

Now that your planner is set up for the year, you will be most likely to actually use it. By setting up your planner, you are not starting off with a blank canvas and have spaces and elements in your planner that you can fill out throughout the year. Will you be giving it a try? Let me know in the comments!

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