Erin Condren Life Planner

First I'd like to introduce myself. I'm Kaitlyn. I'm a full-time journalist covering two towns. I am also in the midst of planning a 2016 wedding and balancing a lot of things in my life.

I found Erin Condren Life Planners after a friend of mine ordered and shared her referral link to me. (The referral links for EC allow the new person to get $10 off their first order and for the referral giver $10 of gift card credit for ErinCondren.com.)

I ordered my classic LP on Oct. 8 and received it across the country on Oct. 23. (EC ships from California and I live in Connecticut.) I ordered a pretty standard planner, the 12 month plus the remaining months of the year for $5 so I had October, November and December 2014 in my planner along with all of 2015. I chose the cornflower and white paisley cover, a standard cover for EC, and simply put my name. No extra customization.

I was so excited when it finally came! The ECLPs come in a nice, sturdy box with tons of little extras including personalized gift tags/labels, a $10 off your next order coupon, and a $15 off $50 coupon. The planner also comes with a moveable plastic see through ruler, Keep it Together folder, some stickers and a recloseable plastic bag a lot like a heavy duty Ziplock in the back.

The covers this year for the ECLP are interchangeable so you don't have to be stuck with only one cover. I actually have my free cover on the way from the deal EC was running back in October and early November. It has since ended.

The planner is organized by a month page beginning each month and then weekly pages. At the back of the planner is a number of lined notes pages, some blank but designed and pretty pages, the sticker pages, the folder and the envelope. Each weekly page is laid out in a Morning-Afternoon-Evening fashion with some space for notes on the bottom and side.

Some thoughts: I'm not quite sure what to use my monthly pages for. The ECLPs have a huge following on Pinterest and Facebook with multiple groups dedicated to decorating, hacking and using their planners. Some of them have thought up some creative ways to use the monthly pages versus weekly pages, but I haven't gotten the hang of them yet. I tend to put more general things like birthdays and such on the monthly, but they always also end up in my weekly pages.

The ruler: I don't like it. I tried to use it, but it just added unnecessary bulk to my planner. It got me annoyed quickly. I also broke one of the little tabs just trying to put it back in the first time after I took it off the front of the planner. Needless to say, it frustrates me and I use a paperclip with a ribbon on it to keep my place in my planner.

The interchangeable covers: Another thing I'm not quite a fan of yet. Like the ruler, the tabs sometimes break or don't want to stay in the coil. I find myself constantly pushing especially the back cover's tabs back in on the top and bottom of the planner. Not that the cover comes completely off, but just that I'm constantly adjusting it.

The Morning-Afternoon-Evening layout: I'm not sure it's for me. Although I have found a way to use it. (Before noon is morning, Noon to 5 p.m. is afternoon and the rest is evening.) I think possibly the hourly layout of the Plum Paper Planner may be more for me since I have to schedule a lot of interviews throughout the day.

Notes pages: I like them. I found a couple of creative ways to use each one like goals, things to remember and inspire myself, a Christmas list, etc. I even have some work pages and some set up for poems that I want to write or things that just pop into my head.

Overall: I am enjoying the ECLP. I find myself consistently writing things in. I also enjoy decorating with fun stickers, washi and other things I have found at craft stores. I'm just not 100% sure it's fitting my lifestyle with the weekly layout or the bulkiness of the overall planner once you consider the ruler, pages, folder and envelope. It ends up being close to an inch thick, possibly more. However the ECLP design is bright with lots of vibrant colors and it has a lot of good, inspiration quotes scattered through the planner to keep you going.

To order an EC: you can use my referral link if you would like: Kaitlyn's Link.

*In no way has this entry been sponsored by Erin Condren. I purchased the ECLP myself.