One of the things I’ve struggled with, especially since starting the blog but definitely BEFORE I had one too, is finding and successfully using a planner for an entire year. I’ve tried soooo many brands, methods, and styles, but essentially none of them stick. I’ve tried separating my three lives (blog, work, and personal) into separate ones, as well as combining them all together. Seriously… nothing works. Here’s list of posts about planners of yesteryear, in case you think any of my misery may help you.
- Planner-Related Struggle Bus
- My Planners/Organizational Series
- Lauren Lately ft. Do It All Planner
- Five on Fridays ft. Day Designer
- Five on Fridays ft. Happy Planner and Reading Notebook
- Book Bag with my Erin Condren and Foxy Dori Planners
- Reading Notebooks/Foxy Dori
After all this trial and error, I’m here yet again to share my newest planner acquisitions that started in December of last year. So far so good and my fingers are crossed!
Personal, blog, and work: Plum Paper Planner
Details: Base model is $32, plus you can include extra page add-ons for around $2+ (this is for the 7×9 size)
Attraction: I wanted to make sure the cover really suited me and they had plenty of options! They also had a million ways to customize it through choosing the layout and adding sooo many extra pages/sections to the planner. I like to-do lists and bill trackers, plus having the morning/afternoon/night layout. They’re incredibly similar to the Erin Condren planners and cost about $20 less.
Cute cover I selected – as Kristin said, it’s so ME 🙂
Favorite parts:
- So many cute cover graphics to choose from, plus adding name/year/etc. to the front
- Add-on pages for bills, to-do lists, notes, etc. (can add after each month OR at the back end)
- Choose the best layout for your needs (AM/PM/evening, custom sections, hourly, etc.)
- Can use stickers to decorate or keep it utilitarian
- 7×9 or 8.5 x 11 size options
Any negatives: I can’t think of any, really. My biggest issue with coil planners is that it gets hard to write neatly when your hand is resting on the coil all the time, depending on where on the page you’re working.
Left: weekly to-do list, notes section where I plan meals for the week
Daily: to-dos/errands are usually in black, work is in another color, blog is in another
Daily to-dos: section I use for each day’s meal planning
Books and blog: Always Fully Booked Planner
Details: Planner was around $25 but shipping to the US from Canada made it $37 total
Attraction: I couldn’t resist snapping this up immediately when I saw it, even though I had JUST purchased my Plum Paper. I’ve always loved the idea of having a reading journal but they never worked well for me in the past. I needed an actual planner like this MADE for bookish people.
Favorite parts:
- Beautifully designed pages/graphics/quotes throughout the whole thing
- Each month has book-specific pages for TBR planning, new releases, monthly calendar (more on that in a second), daily agenda pages, reviews, and monthly wrap-up
- Monthly calendar has a panel for the bookstagram challenge you’re doing that month – each prompt and the hashtag at the top
- Extra review pages at the end and yearly wrap-up section
Any negatives: I think the biggest issue for me – someone who reads between 10-15 books per month – is that there isn’t enough room for that kind of reading capacity in a lot of spots. The review section for each month has seven spots, the “books read in 2018” layout doesn’t have as many as I’d end up filling, etc. It’s PERFECT for people who read about 7 books or less per month, maybe 10 depending on how you decide to use the book review sections.
Friends who are curious about the Always Fully Booked Planner (@bringmybooks @gonewiththeword) here’s a video flip through! Enjoy the background music from a video Chris was watching on YouTube ? pic.twitter.com/WdYm8Rlcwn
— Lauren (@bookmarklit) December 12, 2017
YES! I have a Plum Planner (my third) and got the All Booked Up one after seeing yours on IG. I love Plum Planner and am pretty bare with decoration but love using it to write everything down. I agree with the book one there is not enough pages for reviews. I want more!! But overall I love it and use it for books/blogging schedules.
Yay! I’m glad you’re liking them. I think the Plum Paper would be a lot of fun to decorate but honestly I like having enough spots to write everything and just be quick about it haha
I’m using the exact same planners this year! As you know, I totally copied you when I saw how amazing your Plum Paper planner seemed on your insta story and I have to say that it’s the best planner I’ve ever used. I’m addicted to it (specifically because of the add in pages and I love the weekly to list and the overall format). I ordered the one with the hearts but yes, the one you got screams Lauren! And I also have the bookish planner too and I have the same issue- I read too many books for everything to fit in it! I may add post it notes or something? But I haven’t decided yet!
YAY! I’m so so glad you love it. It’s definitely exceeded my expectations. I think the add-in pages just make it so much easier and better to use!! WAIT how did I miss one with hearts on it?!?! Hopefully they have it next year!
I haven’t written any reviews in mine yet because I’m not sure how to do it!! GAH
Right now I have an Erin Condren for the blog, a Blue Sky (cheaper option) planner at work for work, and the same Blue Sky Planner for home. I get the struggle! I find I want to write every little detail in my planner instead of using it as a reminder for the more important things.
I really love the Plum Planner as it seems to have everything the Erin Condren LifePlanner is missing. I’m definitely going to have to remember that for next year! The one you chose very much seems to be you based on your blog aesthetic. I hope this one works for you too!
Yes, you should!! Thank you 🙂
As you know I bullet journal cause thats the only thing that works for me. Ive been doing it for about a year and a half now and I still love it even though ive gone way more minimalist now. I wish i love planners because they habe some really pretty ones! I hope you find something that works for you Lauren 🙂
Ah I’m jealous – I always wanted the bullet journal to work for me 🙁
OH. MY. GOSH. I’m obsessed with this post. This year has so much coming up for me and I definitely need to invest in a planner to keep up with everything. That book planner is to die for. All I have are a bunch of Post-Its stuck to my wall to remind me of what I need to get done, but having that planner would save me. Thank youuu!
No prob!
I love a good planner post. My goal is to be better about using mine this year. I’m a day designer kind of girl because I like the check list and the hour by hour break down, but I bought ink and well for one of my friends and may have to try it for goal setting. I also love the essential planner by Peacock Paper and want to try it next.
I like the Day Designer a lot too.
YAS I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS POST! I though about the Plum Planner but once I added on all of the add ons I wanted it ended up being more expensive than the EC planner I wanted since I had a 30% off coupon for EC. I LOVE the bookish planner, but it would be annoying to not have enough room to list all of the books you read. I also think I’d use a monthly version of it more since I doubt I’d use the weekly spread since I have my EC planner for that. Thanks for making the video so we can see inside!
[…] bought the 2018 Fully Booked Planner and really enjoyed it. I think I’m going to integrate bookish things into my standard planner […]
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