Hello, my name is Laura and I’m a plan-o-holic!
Seriously. We’re talking M.A.J.O.R. plan-oholic! I’ve been using planners for … oh, at least twenty years. I’m talking Franklin Covey, Day Timer, Day Runner, cheap ones from the Target Dollar Spot, and Filofax. Some have been very good, but none have truly met my needs.
Enter the Happy Planner system.
Now along with my Bullet Journal, (post about this coming soon,) my Morning Pages journal, and my Happy Planner, I have finally achieved planner bliss. Yes, there is such a thing as a planner bliss. It’s when the clouds part and the angels sing from the heavens above because you finally discovering a system that truly works for your life. It’s a gorgeous thing, y’all, as well as a great tool for 2018 Dopey Challenge Training!
First off, I go into full detail about my Happy Planner and how I’m using it for my 2018 runDisney Dopey Challenge Training. If you’d like to watch, then click on this link or play the video below!
For this post, I’m covering the basics starting with my Filofax and why I switched.
I used a Filofax last year, a very gorgeous, very expensive Filofax. What I loved about this was being able to design and customize planning pages according to my life and planning needs.
The problem with this, however, was all the time it took to design, print, cut and hole-punch those pages. So this past New Year’s, I decided that I was going to save time by going digital and keep everything handy on my iPhone.
Come January 5th, however, I started to get the shakes.
You can plan a life on a phone! I’m a tactile person. Tactile people need to write things, to see lists on pretty pages and for the love of God, we need stickers. So I headed off to one of the greatest places on earth.
Michaels.
At Michaels, you’ll find many different Happy Planners. Right now, they have ones that are pre-dated from July 2017 to December 2018 that are good for teachers. They come in three different sizes:
- Personal
- Classic, which is what I use
- the big momma desk version
- and non-dated planning kits.
They also have a ton of accessories such as additional planning pages, stickers, sticker pens, and so much more!
For my planner, it’s thicker than the standard classic thanks to the extender tabs I had purchased.
I needed the additional room because I use my planner to track my:
- Fitness and training plan as well as skin care regimen, since I’m DETERMINED to get rid of my horrible sun damage.
- All Joyful Miles content
- My personal life
- And my writing life.
Something you may not know about me is that I am a published author with two books out and how I’m currently reinventing my writing career by getting a third book ready to submit as well as writing a women’s fiction novel to self publish. So yeah. I have a big life with a lot of planning needs!
For my planner’s cover, I have to admit that I wasn’t a big fan of the laminated print ones. I prefer a solid, classier look so I just about squealed with delight when I saw they had a deluxe planner cover in pink. Pink!
(Please note that all Amazon links are affiliate links … it doesn’t cost you more but gives me a small commission to use for Joyful Miles expenses.)
I also use a pocket folder at the front and back to act as a stabilizer.
Additional notepads in both the full size …
… and half sheets.
Stickers … lots and lots of stickers …
The expander rings but in gold …
And these colorful plastic dashboard inserts that act as bookmarks.
And the Fitness Planner Extension for my Dopey training and health planning.
Oh, and speaking of Dopey Training, I also am loving the Happy Planner Fitness Sticker bundle as well as these stickers from the Etsy shop, Pretty Sheepy!
I also use two different Happy Planners … one for Joyful Miles and one for my personal/writing life.
Oh, and pens! I adore these Staedtler Triplus Fineliner pens! They’re not great for journaling or long bouts of writing, but for planning … perfection!
If you were to buy everything all at ones … yikes, it will be pricey, so I shopped in spurts when I had a great coupon. The good thing is that my Michaels is near our Aldi’s, where I do all my grocery shopping, so it’s no problem to pop in and add to my collection whenever I have a good coupon.
So there you go, my Happy Planner. Want a more detailed grand tour? Head on over then to our YouTube Channel where I chat all about my planner and how I’m using it for Dopey Challenge Training. Jackey also talked about hers from a beginner perspective.
And once September rolls around, be ready for even more posts and videos about life planning and goal setting, including a detailed chat about my Bullet Journal!
Until then, thanks for reading and have a joyful day!
