A Look at My 2018 Planners

Posted January 18, 2018 by shooting in Planning / 45 Comments

happy planners

Last year was the first time I used the Happy Planner, and I absolutely loved it, so I knew I wanted to get another one for 2018. I got the Classic size last year, so this year I decided to go with the large and the mini. The mini was going to be used for work and the blog and the large was going to be more of my “real life” stuff.

That was the plan.

Of course, I ended up changing how the planners were going to be used. Now the mini planner is for work and keeping track of what I eat for my dietitian appointments. As for the large planner, it’s still my real life planner, but I also decided to use it for my blog!

My Happy Planners: A Look at Two of My 2018 Planners! #ontheblog #planners #planner Click To Tweet

Let’s start with the mini planner. I chose this fairly simple design, but I liked the message – This Will Be A Good Year. I got a mini planner kit so it came with some additional items to help decorate and set up the planner.

When you open the planner, you see this little pocket. Somehow I ripped it so I did have to add a little tape, but it doesn’t look too bad!

Each month starts with these two type of pages. On the left, you get a section for Birthdays This Month and then a section for Important Dates. On the right, there is a page that includes a fun design/quote.

The above photo is just another example of what the beginning of each month can possibly look like. As you see, it’s different each month.

The mini planner I got didn’t have the months/dates set up because it’s made to start at any point during the year. They gave me silver stickers though, so I put the month in the upper left hand corner on the calendar page, as well as the months on each tab on the right hand side of the planner (the little colored tabs; I added mini stickers to designate each month for easy flipping). Since none of the months are written out, I had to go through the calendar and add all the dates too. I’ve done January – May right now.

After the main calendar, there are little sections for each day of the week to fill up the rest of the month. As you can see, I wrote some of what I ate (days I work are easier to keep track of), as well as some work notes. My mini planner kit included this fun cactus bookmark magnet that lets me flip back and forth between the calendar and the current weekly pages I’m on.

Finally, this is the very back of the mini planner. Another item included in the kit were these cute post it-notes. These are inserts so you can pull them out and put them back. I chose to put them back here next to the Notes page.

My blog/life planner is the large Happy Planner. I actually thought it was going to be the size of my planner last year, but I didn’t realize I had the classic planner for 2017, so this one is definitely larger. I still really like it though! I want to use this planner as even more of a memory keeper this year.

In the beginning of each month, there is a page like the one above on the left hand side. It has a section for that month’s birthdays, a Noted section, a place for Monthly Goals, and then Important Dates (with some automatically added in for you). I love how each month has different colors, but the same set up.

The photo above is the right hand side of the Birthdays/Notes, etc. section. This is obviously for January as well, as you can tell by the color combo.

 

After the fun photo is the full calendar section. I got the January-December large planner, so it already had the months/dates included. I went ahead and included “life” type of events and appointments in this section.

After the large calendar, there are these weekly spreads with three vertical sections. The top section is used for ShootingStarsMag posts and the second section is used for Let’s Get Beyond Tolerance posts. I like how each weekly spread also has a Notes section on the left hand side, which I have been using! I’m not using anything for the third vertical section (yet) but I’m still thinking of possible uses.

To give you an idea of how the monthly intros change each month, I also wanted to include the one for February. Isn’t it pretty? I like that some of the months have quotes/words, while others are just colorful designs!

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There you have it! A brief look at my 2018 planners. I do recommend going to Michael’s to check out the various planners as each one has different designs/monthly intro pages, so it’s good to figure out which one works best for you.

I’ll be sharing a lot more planning posts throughout the year! So tell me, do you have a paper planner? What brand do you use?

45 responses to “A Look at My 2018 Planners

  1. Aww, that mini planner looks awesome! I love the message as well. :] I’ve been trying to stay on track with my bullet journal (varying degrees of success at the moment)–will probably update at the next coffee date! 😛

  2. I love planner posts and how people decorate theirs. I have the Day Designer and I like it but I actually think it might be too big for me. It’s just on my desk but it IS good for life and blog and work stuff (though I kind of like the idea of breaking out different ones for different purposes…).

    Hope you have a great weekend, Lauren!! Xo

  3. I have a happy planner too and I love it so much I got another one this year. I love the bigger spaces I can write in for the days. I want a smaller planner for my blog but as of right now I use the one for everything. Yours are too cute!

  4. I love planners! Your mini planner looks awesome. The Happy Planner is probably my favorite planner. I love how it’s still fun and pretty but not overly complicated. 🙂

  5. It’s very interesting that you use two different planners. Do you ever find that you need something that is in the other one? Or do you carry both of them with you at all times? I do LOVE the Happy Planners! All the beautiful color schemes and quotes!!

    • shooting

      I tend to carry around the mini with me all the time, just so I always have it for work, etc. So far it’s been okay with keeping up with things because I look at the large one all the time when I’m home.

  6. You did a great job of really helping see what is in this planner! I got a bigger planner this year from Plum Paper and I use it for everything! I am really liking it so far!

  7. Liz

    Ooh super cute! I basically live off my planner – my fiance knows that if he wants to ask me about something coming up he has to first make sure I’ve got my planner otherwise I’m lost without it! I’ve stuck with the Lilly Pulitzer planner for my personal planning since college but I like seeing other planner options and playing around with different planners for the blog 🙂

  8. Elizabeth Seal

    Your planners are so pretty ahhh! I definitely need to find a new one, mine is all scribbly and tatty haha, maybe it’s a sign it’s been well loved but I adore the feeling of opening the first page of a brand new blank book 😀 xx

    elizabeth ♡ ”Ice Cream” whispers Clara
    (I would love to follow each other on bloglovin if you like! :D)

    • shooting

      Hey Elizabeth! Aw, thanks. I love a new planner as well – it’s just fun to do something new every time. I’m following you on Bloglovin now!

  9. These are super cute planners! I need to get better about using a planner. I bought a really nice one last year and only used it for a couple of weeks. This year I got something really simple so hopefully I won’t get overwhelmed!

  10. So many colourful planners!! I don’t think I can pick one, but I would happily take a feature from each one and mix them together to make my perfect planner. =D

    I used to have a Filofax, but this year I decided to go for a regular diary.

    Fran recently posted: Introducing Kind Hearts
  11. Great post! That mini planner is awesome. I like that it has the overall monthly calendar, the day-by-day pages where you can write more detailed notes, and I like the page where you can highlight important dates that are happening each month. I also love that it looks small enough to easily slide into any of the purses I own.

  12. I have a happy planner this year too, classic size, and I really like it! I always love seeing how other people use their planners–it’s so fascinating!

  13. I’ve seen quite a few people mention these planners, so thank you for sharing your through post on them. I have a Kate Spade agenda, which I don’t use as much as I should! lol

  14. I have never in my life been able to have a planner. I at least these days put things on my computer calendar, which is more than I used to. If I were going to get a planner, this one would be a good choice. Love the photos and the quotes. It’s really cute.

  15. Your so organized! I love the idea of using the mini planner for work and food and the bigger one for your personal life and blog. You are giving me ideas . . . I had thought I would use just the one, but it’s not quite working out for work. A smaller one just for that might be better.

  16. I love love love the happy planners, they are my favorite! I just about died in Michaels a few weeks ago when I came across the one with the food all over it and cactuses, so cute. I still have to go back and get it. I actually slacked off SO bad on my planner last year- I used my work one for both now just bc it was easier… still trying to figure out making time to sit down and actually plan in these fun ways. But I have blogged about it in the past, if you want to check it out! Happy planning! 🙂

  17. Gosh, I can’t even keep one planner going so I’m totally impressed you have two! I like the monthly overview page of the large planner, the watercolour section looks neat 🙂

    Wattle recently posted: Sunday Post #16
  18. Unfortunately a lot of the lovely planners like yours are too expensive to ship to Australia, I’m always to envious when I see them on Instagram. The best place on Australia to buy a planner is probably typo or even the department stores that sell fancy hardcover lined books. I’m not sure I could start with a blank slate though, not being all that creative. I love the planners Lauren, it’s inspiring! <3

  19. San

    I always love planner posts and to see how other people work with their planners. Unfortunately, I don’t really like the “disc binding” and so I have stayed away from Michael’s planners, although I know they’re so affordable.

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