The new Erin Condren Life Planners are officially available on Wednesday, April 29th, but if you are an EC Insider you get early access (starting TODAY through the 28th). Here’s a sneak peek at the new Life Planners, why I keep using a paper planner, and a look at what I have in my cart:
With everything going on, the new Life Planners weren’t on my radar this year. I am subscribed to the Sneak Peek emails, but I didn’t really look at them until right before the EC Insider early access. This year’s theme is called “Layers” and I like it. It’s kind of a watercolor mountain vibe.
If you are already an EC Insider, but haven’t gotten your email for early access, here’s the link to the new planners.
WHY I USE A PAPER PLANNER
This will be my 8th Erin Condren Life Planner, and it’s pretty crazy to think I’ve been using a paper planner for 7 years now. It feels like there’s a huge push to migrate everything to digital planning/cloud storage. Paper planning can seem old school, but I prefer it and feel like it helps me to be more productive.
When I write down my goals and tasks, they become more “real”. I physically have to take my pen and write them out, and then I see the words written on the paper. Writing things out really solidifies what I was thinking, and just locks it in to place. It’s easier to remember what I wrote, and I’m more motivated to check that thing off my list. There’s something really impactful about putting pen to paper and making your thoughts a reality.
To me it’s so much easier to just scribble down a note or an appointment, than to go to a calendar/appointment app and scrub through the time and type in an appointment especially if I’m on a call or otherwise using my phone. Of course, I use a digital calendar as well, but initially it’s easier to use a paper planner.
Each week, I sit out with my planner and map out my week and update my progress on long-term goals. With a paper planner, it’s easier for me to focus on what I’m doing without distractions popping up on my phone. My planning time is my me-time.
With a paper planner, I can track my tasks and goals, but it’s also a space where I can be creative. I like to decorate my planner with doodles, stickers, photos, and colored pens. It’s a way to make my planner even more personal and something to look back on even after the year is over.
Overall, I love the colors and the customization of Erin Condren Life Planners. When you love your planner, you are more motivated to use it and I love Erin Condren planners. With my planner, I was able to stay on track with my goals to pay off our debt, and also when I lost 30 lbs in 3 months.
If you are making your first purchase with Erin Condren, create an account through my link for $10 off your order.
NEW 2021 ERIN CONDREN LIFE PLANNER
I love when a new theme is released. This year there are two themes to choose from!
LAYERS THEME
It looks like the Layers theme is the main theme this year with a colorful version and a neutral version. I always prefer the colorful version because it’s a fun rainbow of colors. The neutral version of the Layers theme is more minimalistic looking with soft blue, navy, and soft rose gold/peach colors.
FLOWER POWER THEME
For the first time ever, there’s a second planner theme to choose from this year. The Flower Power theme is an explosion of flowers that sort of give off retro vibes to me. I don’t really care for these colors, but it’s cool that they’re offering another theme.
DAILY LIFE PLANNER DUO
If you are really into sticker planning and decorating (or if you create and print your own stickers), this may be the option for you. Instead of one 12-month planner, you get two, 6-month planners. This makes planning super portable and would be nice if your planner usually gets bulky from lots of stickers.
WHAT’S IN MY CART
I usually order my planner on Launch Day because I’m so excited for the new theme and there’s a fun gift with purchase. I was especially excited for this year’s gift because you could choose a second gift — either the exclusive Layers Neutral Productivity Journal or Layers Colorful Beaded Coin Purse. I planned on getting the coin purse because I love the seed bead look and thought that would be perfect to hold my stitch markers for my knitting.
EARLY ACCESS GIFTS
I woke up in the night and remembered the Erin Condren launch, so I checked my phone to see if I’d gotten an email (I hadn’t). But I have the link to access the new planners from last year’s early access, and it worked!
Unfortunately, there wasn’t an option for me to select a second gift, so I’m pretty sure they just ran out. It was only “while supplies lasted”, but I was online at 12:30am PST. Either the launch happened sooner than I expected, or there were a ton of orders/very few gifts.
I had 2500 points that I redeemed for a $25 discount code, but I didn’t end up making my purchase. I always get the January – December planner anyway so the only real incentive for me to order now was the gift with purchase. I’ll make my order in a few months when the demand dies down which is probably better anyway.
LIFE PLANNER
Even though I’m not ordering my planner anytime soon, I’ll be getting the colorful Layers theme in the horizontal layout with gold coil. I love this cover so much; it reminds me of the desert and the sunset.
ACCESSORIES
The only accessories I wanted this year were the Snap-in Stylized Sticky Notes and the Sticker Book. I thought about getting the snap-in bookmarks, but I already have some from my previous planner.
They also have a bundle with a planner, the sticky notes, the sticker book, and markers for a better price. But, you aren’t able to customize the planner cover or layout.
OVERALL THOUGHTS
If you are an EC Insider and are shopping today or tomorrow, did you get the extra gift with purchase? I hope they end up selling those separately because I really liked the coin purse.
I’m a little disappointed that I missed out on that, but the Life Planner is what I really care about. And I’ll be able to get that all year long.
For everyone else, the new planners are released on Wednesday, April 29th. If you are making your first Erin Condren purchase, be sure to create an account through my link for $10 off your order!
Because they moved this launch forward, you should be able to use your 20% off coupon that came with last year’s planners. The coupon is good through 4/30, so definitely take advantage.
