With the start of a new year, many of you have asked me about planning. I know if you go on Instagram and Youtube, the planning community can be a little overwhelming with all the different kinds of planners, pens, stickers and inserts. So today I’m going to share my version of a “planner starter kit”. Basically in this post, I’ll break down each category and share my favorite recommendations for you to get your first planner and get starting with planning! So let’s get started…
The first thing you will need is a planner obviously. However, this is probably the most difficult choice you will have to make. There are a ton of different styles out there ranging in format. The ones that have worked the best for me is the Erin Condren Life Planner and ring bound planners like the Filofax or Kikki.
The Erin Condren comes in three different styles, so once again you have to see which one will fit to your style the best. Since I like to use a lot of stickers to help denote things in my planner, I use the vertical style. However, if you don’t want to use stickers, I would suggest the horizontal and the hourly. Here’s what my ECLP looks like before the pen with stickers.
But ring bound planners are the ones I’m using in 2018. You can read my 2018 planner lineup here if you haven’t already. There are typically three sizes of ringbound planners: a5 (or half letter size), personal, and pocket. I utilize a a5 as my main writing planner and personal planners for my personal calendar. Keeping them separate is much better for me as it helps keep things organized in my brain.
Like I mentioned, Filofax and Kikki K are two great companies that do ringbound planners. I personally prefer Kikki K because of the pastel leathers and cute designs. Filofax is better for minimalists or if you want a more professional look.
Now that you have your planner picked out, let’s move onto supplies. You obviously need pens to write with. In my ECLP, I used to use a black Staedtler pen exclusively. But since I’ve started using a Kikki K this year, I use a ballpoint black pen from Muji. I highly recommend the Muji pens since they have both gel and ballpoint pens in a variety of colors. They are relatively inexpensive and amazing quality.
If you’re interested in where I get my stickers for my planner, I get them off Etsy. There are a TON of stores that make stickers exclusively for the ECLP, Happy Planner and even personal planners or traveler’s notebooks. So just do a search and you’ll likely come up with a ton of hits. I always buy full EC sticker kits for functional planning. But I also like to add character to my spreads with kawaii characters as well. Stickers are absolutely not necessary for planning effectively, but for me, they do make things a lot more fun!
No matter what planner you are using, you’ll like want some post its for jotting down quick notes or for pre-planning. This may sound boring but the best quality post its are from the Post-Its brand. They are super sticky so you can be sure you won’t be missing any info. However, I do have a lot of kawaii post its with different characters and designs. Post its are a great alternative to stickers since they are cheaper but add just the right amount of color to your spreads.
And lastly, these other things are completely optional but are often seen in other people’s planners in the planner community. Washi tape is a great way to add some color to your spreads. They’re not too expensive and come in a way of colors and designs. Paper clips have become cuter and cuter these days and there are even some stores on Etsy that make felt and paper-type clips to add to your planner for decoration. If that’s not enough, you can also add a personal touch with die cuts, dashboards, and inserts to make your planner work the best for you. Here’s just one pic of one of my washi boxes.
