My Latest Organizational Tool That Keeps Me Sane

Some of you may remember that I dappled in bullet journaling for a while. I really enjoyed it at first. It was fun to design my own pages and tweak it however I wanted to if I found that something wasn’t working for me. However, it became too time consuming and I found myself getting too far behind and then trying to play catch up. It wasn’t as enjoyable anymore and I wasn’t happy with how sloppy it was looking because I would try and rush just to get something on paper. I also didn’t like how random new lists or my party planning pages would get mixed in with everything else and would end being difficult to find.

I wanted to find a planner that basically had everything already laid out but that I could also customize and add things in where I wanted to.

I looked and looked and ended up narrowing it down to The Happy Planner or the Recollections Creative Year planner from Michaels. I ultimately decided on the Creative Year planner because I like how its’ weekly schedules are laid out. The days are horizontal across the page, which is how I would lay them out in my bullet journal, as opposed to The Happy Planner, which were vertical. I ended up buying this rose gold binder and a calendar insert package. The calendar insert came with all of the pages for an entire year and month dividers with tabs, which I love! The pages were blank so I was still able to hand write the months/days and I decorated them with washi tape and stickers to make them pretty. I ended up spending about $40 on everything but I think it’s worth it. My only complaint is that it is a little bulky and can get heavy in my purse. Otherwise, this planner is exactly what I was looking for!

Horizontal weekly layout and space to write notes at the bottom

I love the pockets in the front

I got a package of stickers by The Happy Planner, which add some color and spice it up a bit!

The dividers are so pretty

The calendar inserts came with this cool little fold out calendar page

They have all kinds of little booklets that you can insert into these binders – fitness, meal planning, inspiration, goal setting – you can customize it however you want. I ended up getting an insert called “thoughts,” which just has blank pages so I would have extra pages to write my memories on like I did in my bullet journal. I stick these at the back of each month behind the weekly planning pages. If I have a party to plan I stick those pages in the back of whatever month the party is scheduled for. That way they don’t all get jumbled up together in the back of the book.

The binder came with some blank pages, a few dividers and these To Do pages, which come in so handy!

Mixed in there are also my shopping lists and my “brain dump” pages. They are typically the first page when you flip over a divider so they are super easy to find.

In the very back there are a few extra dividers where I keep my “collections” pages. Here I have Audrey’s growth chart and milestones/new words, “Raley-isms,” schedules for dance/MMO, birthdays, etc. I’m also keeping up with the details for our upcoming trip to California in a back section.

I absolutely love this planner! I love that it keeps me organized with a laid out monthly and weekly calendar but also gives me the opportunity to customize like a bullet journal. If you’re looking for a new planner, check out Michaels stores. You’re sure to find something you love!