It’s no surprise to anyone that planners hold a special place in my heart. When you are 100% Type A, planners are like the BFF you always dreamed of. Every year, I purchased my teacher planner from Erin Condren. They have the best quality paper, the layout is beautiful and organized, and well…I could go on for hours. I’ve tried them all, and EC is just the way to go. In January, I got an itch. I wanted to find a planner that I could use for setting goals, prayer needs, Bible Study notes, business ideas, and just overall a personal journal/planner just for my eyes only. My first stop was, of course, Erin Condren for their Life Planner. It just so happened that there were lots of other goodies that arrived as well. Then, I happened to scroll on Instagram and notice that Rachel Hollis had a Priority Planner that was launching at Target as well. So what is a Type A girl supposed to do? Get them both and compare right? That’s what I did, and I can’t wait to share with you all the juicy details, along with which one that I picked as this year’s “Get My Life Together” journal or my GMLT for short.
Overall Look and Design
I love that the Life Planner now comes in a soft cover design. No more spiral! It is just a beautiful option. The marble Priority Planner is equally well made and really pleasing to the eye as well. One of the main differences between the two is that Rachel Hollis designed her planner to be for goals, running a business, or bettering yourself.
Nearly every page you turn in the Life Planner has space to jot your thoughts or goals. I love that the calendar now has extra lines on the side as well as monthly spaces to write and reflect. I also love the bright colors. The Priority Planner does give you a little “kick in the rear” with Rachel’s amazing inspirational writing, but being a busy mom/teacher/business owner, I just don’t have time to read and reflect on every page.
Calendar
The biggest difference between the calendars is that you have to write in the dates for the Priority Planner. I personally don’t like having to do that each month, but I understand the reasoning. If you pick up this planner in June, you can still use it for a full year. I just don’t like having to write in the dates each month. Both calendars though have space for you to write goals, plans, important events, etc.
Weekly Layout
Here’s the deal, are you looking for a planner that can keep you organized, or are you looking for a planner to grow yourself or your business? While both planners can do both, it is very obvious that they were designed for two very different and specific focuses.
The weekly spreads show you exactly what they were designed to do. The Erin Condren (top) has boxes that could easily be transformed into goals, prayers for the day, business “to dos”, family events, meal planning, etc. While the Priority Planner has specific tasks for you to work through each week.
Which is best for you?
I’m going to go ahead and say that I chose to keep both. I am currently not using the Priority Planner because it is too much for me right now in the middle of the school year. I do think though that this summer, I might be able to focus more on self reflection and business building so it might be handy then. For now though, I am sticking with my Teacher Planner and Life Planner from EC simply because it is straight forward and a system that I am used to. I did order some personalized stickers from EC that haven’t arrived yet that I can use for the weekly calendars to label: meal planning, family events/appointments, business tasks, and goals.
Let’s pause just a sec though and look at some other amazing planner accessories. These pens are the BEST! I bought packs of them at Christmas for all the members of my grade level, and they love them as much as I do. They are dual tip markers that don’t bleed through the pages. I use them for everything.
Reminder about Teacher Planner
If you plan on ordering a Teacher Planner, please use my referral link to get a $10 off coupon, BUT please note that depending on when you order, your calendar dates might be January – December or July – June. This is important if you want to order for next school year. The Life Planner also adjusts depending on when you place your order.
$10 off Coupon
Ready for the link? Click here for $10 off your purchase!
