My Current Planner Set Up: EC in a Filofax!

I don’t even remember how it first popped in to my life but I know that the first time I saw an Erin Condren, and a beautifully decorated one at that, I was in love. I started looking up YouTube videos, blogs, and Instagram accounts that showcased these beautiful planners. From these sites I was introduced to all the different types of planners. I pined after an Erin Condren but just couldn’t justify spending that much on a planner.

I made due with a planner from Target that I decorated, then I caved and bought a cheap DayTimer from Office Depot, then a bullet journal Moleskine, and then a Filofax. When the new Erin Condren releases rolled out around June I knew I had to get one. It was something I had been wanting for a year, so I knew it wouldn’t be something I’d get and then forget about, and planning had also turned into a hobby and passion of mine. So this time I could justify getting it.

There were tons of coil and cover options to choose from but I wanted mine as soon as possible (I’d already waited over a year!) so I chose the ready to ship option. I loved the ready to ship cover on the rose gold so that’s the one I ended up ordering. My EC arrived in time for July and I adored it. I heard about some people’s trouble with the coils being crooked or their planner never shipping. I had a bit of trouble with the planner shipping about a week after the estimated ship date (which was already about 3 weeks after ordering) but I emailed them and that day it was on it’s way. My coil didn’t have any issues.

I knew ultimately I wanted to uncoil it and put it in a Filofax so I could still have the amazing flexibility and different sections that I had with my personal size. That was just more money though, so I tried using it coiled. I still loved it, but wanted the ability to have those extra sections and pop things in and out. The coil clips Erin Condren offers were just too expensive for me (although there’s a great hack using page flags) and I still wouldn’t be able move things around like I wanted.

My birthday was at the end of that month so I used some of the money I got to get an A5 size Filofax. I compared tons of different models on a lot of different websites to get the cheapest deal for the best quality.

I ended up ordering an A5 Black Patent Original Filofax, exactly like my personal fuchsia but black and big.

Side note: Originally I was also nervous about this too because the whole reason I stopped using my DayTimer before was that it was too heavy and big. But I had worked it out where I didn’t need it with me all the time. When I was working on stuff that I needed to check off of my to-do list I was at home. I didn’t need it with me when I was just going to school. If I received an assignment that wasn’t already on the syllabus I would add it along to my class notes for the day and put it in my planner when I got home.

So after I received the Filofax I started the scary process of uncoiling and punching my EC. There are tons of tutorials on how to do this. Punching into the squares a tiny bit wasn’t a big deal to me, I could always punch through a sticker and it really didn’t take up that much space. I did this because I would rather be able to close the planner than not have holes.

I was nervous I wasn’t going to cut the pages the same height or punch the holes in the same spots. Although some of the pages aren’t exactly even they’re all pretty darn close and the holes are close enough you can’t even if they’re off once they’re in the planner. It was a long process though. (This video shows you how to do it without punching in the boxes, but it adds a lot of time.)

The planner ended up still being a little difficult to close because of the monthly tabs but it still snaps and that’s good enough for me. It looks gorgeous laid out open on my desk.

Then I ordered stickers. I started with monthly kits which I highly recommend doing because you get all the stickers you could need for a month and a few decorations. It’s enough to make your spread look good. Then I ordered some functional icon stickers to represent things I did often. This gave me a solid foundation for functionally decorating to maximize my productivity.

I couldn’t be more happy with my setup. With July 2015 through May 2016 (the end of my school year) in my Filofax as well as a notes section, some extra paper, a notepad, and a pen hooked in the pen loop. I’m pretty sure I’m going to be using this setup for a long time. And the great thing is as your needs change you can play around with how you set up the boxes, stickers, and to-do list to organize different parts of your life or day. As I’ve gotten more in to school and exercising I’ve been playing around with how I want to setup my week.

I never thought I’d be a week on two pages person, I thought I would always need a day on a page, but the vertical layout has made the weekly view possible.

Here are some good YouTube planner channels as well as some Pinterest Boards: