Finding more functional purposes for organizing my Erin Condren Life Planner is one of my favorite things to do.
It feels so good to have all the space in your planner working for you.
And for 2023, I have a few more tricks up my sleeve.
See my latest planner organizing hacks below, hope you’re inspired!
I receive such nice feedback from ladies when they find my planner organization ideas from over the years.
And many of the ideas have withstood the test of time, still hacks I use in my planner year after year.
I’ll make sure I link those past posts for you below!
In fact, the kind comments have encouraged me to write yet another post of MORE planner hacks I’m using in this year’s planner.
Thanks for stopping in for the fun.
Let’s get to it, shall we?
HACK 1 – COVER PAGE
First off, don’t forget to put your own little spin on your cover page.
There’s so much more you can do in addition to writing your name.
Yes, this planner belongs to you.
So make it your own right off the bat!
Page one, have some fun.
I don’t decorate inside my planner much, it’s more of a functional tool for me. Less of a crafty outlet.
But I’ve decided, the cover page with my name is a great place to doll things up a bit.
Stickers, markers, washi tape. This is your time to create, and to set the tone for pages to come.
And for those of you afraid to actually write your name, lest you mess up…
try using a label from the back of the planner.
If you don’t like how you wrote on the label, you can try again and again until you have it the way you want it.
Then put the label name sticker on your cover page.
See how easy that is?
The hack I most want to highlight for cover pages, though, is including your word of the year!
The concept of choosing a word for your year has become quite the rage.
And I truly embrace this chance to focus my year into certain mindsets.
I’ll never forget the year I chose REST as my word. Let’s just say, I developed some must-needed skills that I still use today.
Just the other day, I went through all my past planners to see what my words for the years were.
And any year that I didn’t write it down (stupid 2020)…I regretted not putting a word down.
This year, my word is CONSISTENCY.
I will consistently write my word-of-the-year in every new planner, lol.
Here’s my cover page shown below.
This time I wrote my yearly word on a label, added some EC washi, and usually always add a coffee cup…one of my favorite things.
See, it’s nothing too fancy. But it’s me all the way.
HACK 2 – GOALS PAGES
So at the beginning of your planner is a great layout with 12 boxes, perfect for 12 months of the year.
And the saying at the top of the pages is something referring to setting goals and dreams.
I can’t remember exactly what it says because I covered it up. HA!
Over the past several years, I’ve done different things with this layout.
Organizing by month and setting goals was cool.
Organizing by categories and setting goals was fun, too.
But last year I ditched the whole goals idea altogether and made these layout boxes more about recording memories.
And I loved it!
I titled the 12 boxes with important parts of my life like hubby date nights, family getaways, school accomplishments for the kids, church events, etc.
Then I jotted down special times from the year, as they happened.
Now I can look back and see a-year-in-the-life of my family all at once. It’s amazing!
The years fly by so I just really like seeing all the special memories in one easy place.
We always accomplish way more than I think we do.
As you can see below, I simply covered the goals saying with washi tape and made the layout completely my own.
Also note, I titled the boxes using label stickers just in case I need to change something out as the year goes along.
HACK 3 – MONTHLY NOTES
In my Erin Condren Life Planners, I’ve never done a lot with the monthly calendar spreads.
I’ve also not done much with the monthly note section.
It’s all about the weekly calendars and notes for me.
In the calendar spread, I mostly note birthdays unless it’s a really busy season like summer…where I’ll jot down the big picture of summer camps and vacations.
And my monthly note section has mostly gone untouched in years past.
But dang, we want no space going to waste! Am I right?
So this year, I’m turning over a new leaf.
Using the monthly note sections for personal health notes and goals is my new tactic.
I have high hopes for this, we shall see!
Then I can check my health progress by month, which seems most significant to me rather than by day or week.
Last year I wrote down some general things about my health journey in my planner, it seemed to be a monthly recap kind of thing.
So I’m excited to have a new place for these details.
See below.
HACK 4 – MONTH HIGHLIGHTS
This is probably my favorite part of the Erin Condren Life Planners.
Each month has a special page for really anything you want.
They print no headings or labels, a great place to use the label stickers in the back of your planner.
And totally make it your own!
I’ve used this area to note business work before.
But now I most love it for notes on scripture, prayer, and other parts of my spiritual journey.
If you’ve seen my faith cards on Instagram, you’ll understand why taping one card into each monthly section is really special for me.
Oh, and I do add the family memories section for anything big we accomplished that month.
You may use this monthly page for just about anything you’re focused on organizing or remembering.
Here’s a glimpse at how I do mine.
Again, labels for headings allows you to change them or write them neater if you want.
HACK 5 – POCKETS
For my last hack this year, I’m giving all the pockets their due attention.
I love planner pockets!
Perhaps I have too many loose papers in my life.
And pockets are definitely an easy solution to not losing those papers throughout the year.
Yes, Erin Condren Life Planners come with the two sturdy carboard pockets.
I use those for bills and for schedules.
However, two pockets just aren’t enough.
For years, I’ve purchased two extra pockets from Erin Condren to add to my planner.
The large, clear, self-adhesive corner pockets (affiliate) are where it’s at!
Simply stick these babies into the inside laminated front and back covers of your planner.
I feel like there’s no better place. This makes for super sturdy pockets.
And these pockets are used for holding stickers and school papers for my kids.
Not every school paper. But the ones that are really important, like my booster club notes.
Again, the label stickers from the back of your planner come in handy here, too.
Use labels to mark what each pocket is for so you’re not just throwing papers anywhere.
We want organized pockets, ya know.
Here are some planner pocket pics to inspire you.
Pockets rule!
Clear Large Pocket Added To Front Cover
Clear Large Pocket Added To Back Cover
One of the 2 Sides of the Included EC Pocket
And that wraps up my 5 new planner ideas for this year.
Each year gets better and better in my planner.
And I love being even more organized as the years go on.
Hope you gleaned some new ideas for organizing YOUR Erin Condren Life Planner!
These hacks ensure that I’m using my planner day after day, week after week, month after month, with awesome yearly reflection.
If you like these planner ideas, you may like my organizing hacks from other years, too.
MORE PLANNER HACKS
These are all practical inspiration for functional planner girls like myself.
I’m so excited to add these 5 extra hacks to the mix.
Let me know your favorite!
Click here for $10 off your first EC planner (referral link).
If you’ve already gotten your first EC planner, click here to shop supplies and more (affiliate link)!