My Planning Tools for 2016

Some of you may or may not be aware of my addiction of using planners... I do I am a self confessed #PlannerAddict and I simply can't go out shopping without popping into local stores to see if they have anything worthy of my planner.

I remember having a homework diary in Primary school... and I would colour the pages in, use stickers and make it look adorably pretty - I am sure I still have it somewhere in storage and if I come across it next year I will definitely blog and show you all (or maybe I'll Vlog?). Anyway, I was over the moon when in high school we were given a thicker, more informative planner that we had to ensure we stayed on top of things - I mean... we're high school kids... like we're going to stay on top of things... well actually I did but I was a total nerd... ANYWAY.... off track here.

I wanted to share with you my Planner Addiction and throughout 2016 I'm going to share with you more of my planner obsessions which help me stay on top of my book reviewing, blogging, studying at Uni and studying to be an accountant. I seriously RELY on my planner to help me through my day. As my Mom says, I plan to use my planner... and I actually do! Sundays are marked out for Planning & Reviewing.

So, firstly the planner I use is a filofax - personal size. I didn't fancy a bigger one because I wanted one that I could actually realistically carry around in my handbag - and one that wouldn't look unprofessional - as a student accountant I have to have some amount of seriousness in my head (my tutor would disagree over our funny conversations we share full of emoticons).

As you can see, I opted for the teal Filofax Domino Patent with the elastic strap - which I think it utterly brilliant. Everyone I know was shocked I opted for the teal when I'm such a PINK fan... not that you can tell by the folder underneath my filofax hey? ;) But I love the teal colour, it's grown up and I can easily accessorise with Pink and Gold.

I have a thaaang for Washi Tape. Seriously. I have over 30 rolls of tape and have asked for more... I know that's a tad greedy but I love it and use it every week in my planner (as you'll soon see). But my favourite washi tapes right now have to be the 3 shown below.

I got these three adorable washi tapes from.... drum roll.... Sainsburys! I know! I couldn't believe that my local supermarket were stocking such glorious and delicious washi tapes... so I snapped them up... or rather they just fell into my trolley as I was shopping.. I was surprised when I got home. .... OK... we know that's bull but hey I tried! 

So I typically plan my week on a Sunday and fill my planner with all my weekly "To Do" items and decorate with washi tape. By the end of a week my planner pages look something like this... 

As you can see, I use washi tape, stickers (flat and 3d), paperclips that are pretty and even.... Gift Tags. Yep, these simple all year round, easy to pick up items aren't just for christmas people... they are for PLANNERS....

I use the gift tags on a super selective basis... For example when something HUGE, or IMPORTANT or... ROMANTIC or ... something i'm GRATEFUL for in that week happens. I simply attach the tag through the top 3 ring binds, and write on the tag... that secures it and leaves it to dangle prettily in place. The important thing is it looks pretty and makes me happy.

Ok so that's a quick intro to my Filofax. I'll be doing more on my filofax next year. Now for the other planners i'm going to be using in 2016. They are all in the pink and gold folder you saw earlier.. and first up is something I RAVE about. The Self Love Planner.

The Self Love Planner is something I've used last year and it helped me LOADS. So much I decided to become an affiliate so you can click on the tab at the top of my blog in the sidebar and get your Self Love Planner through my link for $10.

Anyway, my Self Love Planner is something I use in conjunction with my filofax because I use the self love planner to identify what acts of self love I want to make time for in my day, week and month. Then I take out my filofax and allocate the time and act of self love in the diary. It's even got it's own colour (Red) in the filofax so I can clearly identify my SELF LOVE moments.

I've started working through this planner over the weekend because there is quite a bit of closing down 2015, reviewing what worked, what didn't, how you showed yourself love and respect and how you can improve on that in 2016.

The planner shows the opening pages with a declaration of Self Love which I signed;

So that's another planner I use. But still.. being a total planner addict and utterly obsessed, I want more. So I have the Leonie Dawson Life & Biz planners which I've not begun working through yet, but you can see them below;

This is the Life Planner which I have in the folder with my Self Love Planner because I want the focus for 2016 for me is really centred around me. When I've worked through it a little more I'll show you, and share some of my goals with you, so you can help keep me accountable.









Now to your right, there is my Biz planner. As you can see I have created my own back cover for it based on an affirmation by Louise Hay. For me, this inspires me and makes me excited to actually use it throughout the year to help me. Not focused on this yet as for me it's really important that I get my Self Love sorted for 2016.

I really appreciate you sticking with me here and if you're still reading - THANK YOU - and I promise this is the last thing I want to say. In an upcoming post i'm going to share with you more about the accessories I use in planning. So there will be more info on the gift tags, and the stickers I use (maybe with links), and a set of stickers I had for my 27th Birthday to use in my planner. I can't wait to use them throughout 2016 and it's beyond understanding how I've managed to keep my mitts off them so far. So i'll hopefully be sharing that with you soon.

I would LOVE to hear about your planners that you use? Do you have specific planners like mine that you use? Or do you use a diary? Do you have a stationery addiction like me? Let me hear all the details below in the comments, I can't wait to hear from you!