A Year in My Erin Condren

08/22/2016

A Year in My Erin Condren | The Rebel Planner

I was through my planner the other day and saw that my first spread was in August. Then I looked at the dates and I realized: I’ve been using my planner for a year now! It was so strange to think about how a year has already passed, so I decided to make a post to chronicle how much my planning style has changed in just one year. Take a look down below!

In August of 2015 I got my planner but I didn’t plan on using any of my August colored stickers because I was only in August for two weeks. I decided to only use the one sampler I had and the Mambi Happy Planner sticker book I bought from Michaels. The spread looked sparse and very boring compared to my recent spreads. I love how I drew a box around the E in Etsy. I would never do that now because I mean, look at how bad it is. It looks like a little kid drew it.

A Year in My Erin Condren | The Rebel Planner

Look at my handwriting! I was using the Sharpie Pen at the time because that’s what every planner girl on YouTube was telling me to use. My handwriting was so bad with this pen until like, November. The only reason I kept using it was because I wanted to keep everything the same. I didn’t want to switch to the BIC ballpoint pen I use for note taking in the middle of the month or week. That would look strange.

One thing I noticed that I did different was checking off when I did something. I don’t do that anymore! I definitely don’t make as many lists, either. I noticed that for at least a month I made daily checklists. This was my way of planning throughout college, but the EC horizontal didn’t work out for me that way. And the checklists kind of gave me anxiety eventually. Giving myself two to three tasks a day to accomplish was more than enough, and setting them up in a way that didn’t require them to be checked off helped me calm down and eventually get everything done.

Also, look at me annoying Ian, Matt and Sabryna even before school started. Oy. Someone should have stopped me.

The check list and flag are from Ladybugzdesignz. The smileys are from CVS. The recycle sticker is from Erin Condren.

A Year in My Erin Condren | The Rebel Planner

And now we are in 2016! My planning style now is filled with stickers, color and decoration. Back in 2015 I hardly did any decorative planning. If it wasn’t functional I didn’t want it. But I’ve given into little decorative elements and even succumbed to washi tape! I own so many rolls now. I bought this roll when I got my planner but realized it wasn’t for me. Now it’s my most used roll! It’s funny how things change like that.

This week I worked a lot and did too much shopping. I wish someone stopped me (a trend for August I guess??) I was supposed to meet Amy Schumer Thursday but she cancelled. Boooooooo. But I did more shopping, so yay?

The circle icons, tear drops, weekend banner and dividers are from Ladybugzdesignz. The mini square dots, mini white square check boxes, dotted sticker, basic sticker and TV stickers are from Planner Kate.  The coffee stickers are from Abundance of Erica. The happy mail stickers are from Happy Cutie Studio. The camera, scale, “shopping day” girl, makeup brushes, planner and contacts are from Keena Prints. The half box, Blobbys and dotted box are from Oh, Hello Stationery Co. The “cancelled” and “not today” stickers are from KPL Plans. The striped half circle and shape icons are from two different Mambi Happy Planner sticker books. The washi tape is from Target.

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I just can’t believe that one year has passed. I think about where I was a year ago and where I am now and I’m such a better person. I have better friends, better relationships, a better outlook on life and a better sense of self-esteem. A year ago I wanted nothing to do with school because of so many negative memories attached to New Rochelle and the campus. Now I’m looking forward to when I get to visit Iona because I miss my friends so much it hurts. A year ago I looked in the mirror and didn’t like what I see but now I’m so much more comfortable in my body.

I didn’t plan to get this emotional, but I never look back at a year and think hard about how much has changed.

A year changes a lot and I am very thankful that I could document it in my planner. It’s something different that a journal in that I can document the day-to-day things that I may forget about. It’s cool to look back and see all of the fun and cool things I did.

Thanks for reading, y’all.

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