My Planning Line Up for 2018!

Oh man, it’s been a while since I’ve written a blog post, hasn’t it? Well, that’s because I’ve been busy writing up a new series called Moonrise Beach for you guys. It’s completely different from the Glory MC series because it’s a Contemporary Romance, but you’ll soon learn more about it when I release the cover and blurb for the first book very soon.

Today, I wanted to talk about my planning system for 2018. If you follow me on Facebook or Instagram, then you may be familiar with the fact that I am a planner addict. I’ve only been planning for a year, but ever since I started writing my own books, I realized that I needed a way to keep track of deadlines. Unlike most people, I use multiple planners to accomplish my tasks. The first planner is my main planner for work and I only keep writing related tasks in here. Then, I tend to have several personal sized planners for more “personal” things. So, let me show you what I’ve decided to use.

In 2017 I started the year using the Happy Planner, but when that died on me (read: I dropped it and it broke) I moved over to the Erin Condren Life Planner. With this planner, I quickly found “planner peace.” It’s something you reach when you find a system that totally works for you. I ended up sticking with the neutral vertical version all year round.

But the downfall with this planner was the fact that I couldn’t future plan very well since mine was only for the current year. So that is why for 2018 I am moving to a A5 ringbound system which allows me to take out and insert pages to my liking. It’s this ability to customize everything that gets me excited and solves my future planning ordeal. So I ended up buying a A5 Kikki K. Isn’t it purdy? I love this planner. It’s sturdy yet also delicate and I just love the lavender interior. It’s my favorite color! I’m sure I’ll have a blast planning in this once I get the hang of the horizontal inserts.

Next up, I’ll still be sticking with my hot pink Kate Spade Wellesley planner. Once again, I’ve been using this all this year and this system has everything from my personal weekly inserts, bullet journal, habit trackers, expense trackers and lists all in one. I keep my personal stuff separate because my brain works better when I compartmentalize things.

About midyear I got the Filofax Domino Soft in Soft Pink in personal size, which I initially wanted to use for future planning for my writing, but now I’ve decided to use it for my journaling. This also contains my lessons and notes for Korean and Japanese since I am currently trying to learn both languages.

And lastly, I’ve got the latest addition to my 2018 planning setup and it’s yet another personal size Kikki K. The one I got matches my A5 one since it’s from the same collection, but it’s a zippered version, meaning I can stuff this baby full and not worry about things slipping out. For this planner, I have inserts for online order tracking and notes on my dog, etc. So basically, it’s another one for my “personal” needs. That’ll be four planners in total!

So as you can see, I’ve really gone for the rings for 2018 but since I’ve been using this system for much of this year, I’m pretty sure that this system will work for me. If you’re not a planner, some of you may be thinking, why do you need so many planners? For me, I like to see everything laid out on paper because once I see a task written down, it motivates me to do it. I am much more productive with planners and it’s also a nice source of creativity for me because I deck mine out with die cuts, clips, stickers and dashboards.

Having multiple planners allows me to know exactly where everything is and also have a bird’s eye view of my goals and schedule. With this, I feel much more confident about my plan of action and my working schedule for the upcoming year because when you’re an author, it can take up to 6 months to a year to complete a book and release it. So planners are really an essential tool for an author, especially a self-published one like myself.

Do you plan? If so, what system are you using in 2018? I would love to hear from you and see your setups!