How I Plan: Current planning tools & systems (& Discount Code!)

I constantly tell people that I’m a Planner Addict and live by my planner. It doesn’t make me any less spontaneous as I am constantly jiggling things around to fit any last minute plans or will happily go do something out of the ordinary if I have no other pressing plans. But it does help me to see what is important to do and to remind me of the things I need to do but have simply forgotten about. (Surprisingly, the latter happens a lot). The problem is that people tell me about an event or deadline weeks – if not even months – in advance so I always end up forgetting the exact details by the time it comes around unless it’s in my schedule. Being a “Planner Addict” also does not mean I own millions of Filofax planners – in fact, I currently own 0 (perhaps something to change one day). So I wanted to introduce the different planning tools that I currently use and the system I enjoy. Mostly, it’s things that I’ve acquired on a small budget as I got most of them whilst I was a student / before I had a full-time job so it’s great for a cheap alternative to some of the other planning tools available.

First up is the Organiser or Planner. Here I take any nice ring-bound organiser than I wanted to use (for example, a Filofax) and use this to plan my events, appointments and general important things for me to note. It’s what will give me the overview of my month or week without too much hassle or too much detail that I get lost in it. I can quickly see what time I need to be where and what’s most important. The Organiser I love and swear by a personal organiser by Paperchase. 

The condition of this planner is pretty excellent, given that I’ve had it for around 4 years now and it does hold up to getting battered around my bag or getting lost in the piles of mess in my room. It’s not real leather but I don’t need or want it to be and am very happy with the faux material. Personally, I chose this organiser because of the patterned cover that I am in love with – as I didn’t want something boring if I was going to be using it daily. They are also a lot cheaper than some other brands out there, which was another reason I got it as I was a student then with very limited funds. So it’s definitely one to keep an eye out for if you like organisers and want something cheaper. I have a super awesome refill inside it that it also decorated and therefore, I don’t need to spend ages decorating my planner but it still looks pretty!

The Second in the game is my Bullet Journal. This is a system I love to bits. You could use it solely and not use an organiser – the whole point of a bullet journal is to compress everything into one notebook, after all. However, I personally prefer to not to use it to plan my events but rather use it for two main purposes: 1. to show me a quick overview of the most important events or memories that month (this is something I fill out after the events) and 2. to help me plan my spare time with the smaller tasks that I might forget. These tasks are things I need to do that day or week and it allows me to quickly prioritise what tasks are important to do that day and what can wait for a while. My Bullet Journal of choice is the Leuchtturm 1917 A5 notebooks.

I purchased my Leuchtturm notebook from Ryman in a gorgeous Lavender colour but you can get so many other colours and sizes that it is flexible to your own needs. I really love how many choices there are with these notebooks, from the variety of colours to the lines on your paper. I went with a lined notebook and that works brilliantly for me. However, I have seen that some people prefer the dotted version for their bullet journals. I’ve been using this notebook since the start of 2015 and have not even gotten half way into it! This notebook has held up really well in my bag and after being tossed around my room and is an essential part of my days. Glancing at me regularly reminds me of all of those mini tasks that I need to be working on when I get a free moment. For example, I would write about any chores that I have to do that weekend or jot down gift ideas for friends so I’m not sitting there all confused when their birthday rolls around. It gives me a place to do something I love doing: making lists! And it gives me the satisfaction of doing something else that I love doing: checking off the tasks I’ve done on my To Do lists!

And Thirdly, there’s my travel sized Pocket Notebook. More often than not, I leave my other planners and notebooks at home – where I’ll use them most. I don’t need them very often whilst out and about so do not carry it with me at all times. However, I’m a strong believer that you always need a notebook to hand and therefore, carry around a little pocket notebook. This notebook takes the brunt of my pen as I jot down things quickly on them, leaning against my lap or the just holding it in the air on my hand. It needs to be strong – but also light enough to carry and durable enough to last. My pocket notebook of choice is the Ryman Pocket Notebooks.

This beautiful Teal notebook has been thrown about so much that I’m surprised it’s not torn in two. This notebook holds all of the notes that I take whilst travelling around the country (mostly, though, from my commute to & from work). I have To Do list pages for any tasks that I remember but can’t do at that current time. This allows me to go home and write those tasks into my Bullet Journal, if I still need to do them at a later date. I also use this notebook for quick sketches or ideas – such as card designs or blog posts. It pretty much gets used as a notepad or as a stack of post it notes (that don’t fall off and get lost everywhere). I love the Ivory coloured paper inside the notebook, which makes a pleasant change from the usual white paper.

You certainly don’t need all three of these notebooks or planners but for me, they really help me out. I am loving this system of mine and probably will continue to use 3 different planners or notebooks in this way for the rest of the year, at the very least. Should anything change, I’ll be sure to let you know! If you would like close up, a look inside or a more detailed review of any of these products then please do let me know and I’ll be happy to do that for you.

Want this Paperchase Organiser? I brought mine years ago so it’s no longer available in stores or online, unfortunately. So you might not be able to find the exact same organiser around (unless someone’s selling one on eBay or something) but fear not, Paperchase have lots of different ones (and sizes!) and they come up with new designs every year! The price of the personal organisers vary by their size and the material but I believe mine was between £15-20 when I brought it.

Want this Leuchtturm 1917? I brought mine from Ryman, which makes it really easy to get a hold of one as there’s quite a few stores and it’s also available online. They offer a range of different colours & different paper types (i.e. lined or blank pages), as well as different sizes. The one I use for my Bullet Journalling is the A5 Lavender Lined version. Current Offer: Some of the colours are currently on sale for only £8 for the A5 size (including the one pictured)!! Definitely recommend checking them out as you can grab a bargain with the Ryman sale (I’m pretty jealous as I paid more when I got mine!).

Want this Ryman Pocket Notebook? The pocket notebook is available from Ryman as well. They retail at £5.99 and come in several colours (as well as sizes, if you don’t want yours to be a pocket sized notebook). The one pictured is the A6 Teal Notebook. I personally am also in love with the newer range of pocket notebooks from Ryman, which are a combination of black and another bright & bold colour. You can check them out here. I have not got one of them yet but it definitely looks like a purchase I’ll be making once this one is finished up.

Discount Code:

Good news, I have a code for you to use over at Ryman! So if you are interested in getting the Leuchtturm 1917 notebook or the Pocket Notebook displayed in this post then head on over there and use this code to get a discount today! (Don’t forget, the Leuchtturm 1917 is also on sale in certain colours!) You can now get 15% off if you spend £40, using the code “JY99”.

Code: JY99
Discount: 15% off £40 Spend
Valid: Now – Sunday 12st July

Enjoy! And don’t forget the Leuchtturm 1917 is also on sale in several colours so you can get a double bonus right now! (I have no idea how long it will last so make sure you take advantage of it whilst it’s available).