Organisation with Erin Condren

I have a slight 'Type A' personality. Meaning I am organised, and I like things to be perfect. Some would call it OCD. My Husband likes to call it 'Highly Organised Individual' syndrome. Which ever way you want to look at it, I LOVE organising. I could make a career out of it. I spend countless hours reading Organisation blogs like The Sunny Side Up by the gorgeous Erin, Iheart Organizing by Jen & simply organized by Samantha - and that is just to name a few.

I have tried and tested countless Day Planner/Organisers and Erin Condren has by far been my favourite. This is my first year using a Life Planner, and I love it so much I also ordered the Teacher Planner to keep track of my full days at school.

The hardest part of having an Erin Condren is choosing a cover...seriously, there are so many designs, I spent so long going back and forth. This was the design I ended up choosing:

Confetti Cover

On a Sunday Afternoon I like to sit down (quite often with a glass of wine) to plan out my week. Of course things do pop up after Sunday, but if I have a clear plan of how my week is looking come Monday Morning, my head feels clear & I am able to add extra commitments with ease & confidnece that I wont have to cancel because 'oh my gosh! I forgot I had something on!' (that is the WORST). 

I use washi tape (from a variety of locations!) to add colour and block of days when we might be on Vacation. I also use various stickers and my favourite Staedtler Triplus 'Rainbow Pens'. Oh how I love them!

Week at a glance

Typical planning tools

EC Planners are divided up into 3 sections per day : Morning, Day & Night. I find this works quite well for me as I use the Morning for before school, Day for after school & Night for well, night! Like I mentioned before, I have a separate Teacher Planner to plan out my days at school. 

As well as the week at a glance view, the Life Planners have Month View. I have found I use this to block out Vacations & trips, note down birthdays or use for long term planning. 

Month view

What my Sunday Afternoons usually look like

The Life Planners come with many cute little extras such as pockets (clear and slide in), stickers, and beautiful inspirational quotes. I use the clear pockets to store my label stickers, cards, planing tools and notes that I don't want to fall out of my planner. The sliding pocket is where I keep my Birthday reminder booklet and bills. The stickers are great and come in a variety of labels and colours.

I use the clear pocket to hold my name label stickers, cards, notes and other miscellaneous items. 

Organisation doesn't come naturally to everyone. And for some people it is not a high priority in life. For me it is & for anyone struggling with keeping on top of things, I have a few tips below:

1. Write everything down. Getting ideas/plans/commitments out of your head and onto paper or an electronic source is the key to being organised. Whether you are a paper or electronic planner, make sure your preferred medium is always close by. Choose a planner that is a good size to keep in you handbag or car (EC is great for this!)

2. Make Lists. Start the day with a 'To-do' list and aim to have everything crossed off by the end of the day. Below is a Printable that I created to help keep your week be as organised as possible. You can keep daily lists and if anything is incomplete, simply transfer it to the following day. 

This is ideal for writing out daily to-do lists to keep you on track!

 3. Be accountable. How much time do we all waste searching google, watching TV, scrolling through our instagram feeds? Too much. I am guilty of all 3 offences. It is more than fine to do these types of activities - it is sometimes where we get our biggest inspirations from! But just time it. Devote the time you can afford to such activities, otherwise other areas of your life will suffer and you will be running around in circles before you know it.

4. Prioritise. What is more important in helping you achieve your End of Day goal? When writing your to-do list, try to start with the most important, and conclude with the least. Naturally you will go through the list from top to bottom, so this will ensure that pressing matters don't get left til 5pm that afternoon!

5. Plan for fun. Sometimes, we can get wrapped up in 'busy'. Busy is a word that my husband and I have tried to eliminate from our vocabularies. What does it mean, anyway? People may ask you 'How was your weekend?' and a common response is 'Busy'. Be mindful when using this word. If you have a full life, you should count yourself blessed. Busy means that your life has meaning and you are making a contribution to the world. Try not to use it as a negative. Some are not so lucky.
But back to the fun - sometime our calendars get so full with things we have to do, that we forget about the things we want to do. Schedule in a pedicure with a girlfriend. A solo shopping trip. A morning walk. A movie date. This is key to not falling off the organised bandwagon. It doesn't always have to be about work & chores.

6. Find a planner that works for you. Yes - I think the EC is great & can't recommend it enough. But that is me & a simple notepad may work better for you. Some people like electronic - I have tried this and found it the most confusing and unorganised year of my life. I need to write things down, and be able to open to a page and see what is what. Experiment. Find something that fits with your lifestyle and go from there.

Happy Organising everyone.