A Beginners Guide to Planners and Planning

​This is a guest post for the lovely Jo-Elle from The Yorkshire Pudding Blog. Please go and check out her pages and fabulous blog.

​Disclaimer: ​This post contains affiliate links in Partnership with Etsy UK, which means I may receive a small commission if you purchase through my links.

Starting out in the 'Planner Community' can be very daunting; which planner should you choose? What does all the planner jargon actually mean? Which groups on Facebook should you join? Complete overwhelm! I started planning properly around January 2016 and have learnt so much about planners and planning since then, so thought I would share some simple tips as a beginners guide for people start out in planning.

​View my planner posts here

Wow, so much choice and really the choice has to be yours. No doubt there will be some trial and error, I bought two planners before I realised that I wanted to be in a Travelers Notebook. The trick is to go with your instinct. What grabs your attention? Ringed planners like Carpe Diem, Webster Pages, Kikki K and Filofax are all very popular, but can be quite expensive. Have a look around the web for UK stockists and have a browse. Paperchase do some cheaper ones and even Wilko now stock some lovely ringed planners. Have a look on www.mrsbrimbles.com and www.paperchase.co.uk to see if there are any that grab your attention.

What Planner to Choose?

​You may decide to go straight for a Travelers Notebook (more on these here). A TN is basically a notebook cover usually in leather that houses up to 6 notebooks (also known as inserts) in one place through them sliding in to elastics down the centre of the cover. I absolutely love the versatility of mine and I now have a total of 6. My favourite being from Ugly Bug Plans. You can search for these on Etsy or you could choose a larger companies brand by going with the original make The Midori. You can totally customise it to your liking and add cute paper clips and tabs, just as you can in a ringed planner.

Jargon Explained

​Ok, so you have chosen your planner - now on to the jargon (and believe me there is a lot of jargon and abbreviations within the planner community). Below is a short list to help you understand some of the concepts and terminology.

Weekly Layout in a Travelers Notebook

​​Weekly Inserts - The planner pages themselves, most planners come with weekly pages.
Monthly Overview or inserts/pages - A monthly overview page like the one below to plan out your month (Carpe Diem come with these, with a travelers notebook you can buy these as an insert book).
WO2P/WO4P - Week on 2/4 pages (relating to weekly pages, you can have the whole week on two pages so you can see it all, or for more space to write spread it over 4 pages)
TN / Travelers Notebook (such as Uglydori, Foxy Fix, Bevdori, Lyradori, Midori).
TN Inserts - These could be plain notebooks, lined, dot grid, grid paper, watercolour or have diaries on them. You will need to buy inserts if you have a travelers notebook.
EC - Erin Condren Planner (more expensive if in the UK as you have to import from America and can get customs charges).
HP - Happy Planner - Again mainly available in America, but you can sometimes find this on UK sites, it is a ringbound disc system.
ARC - Another ringbound disc system style planner.
LT1917 - A Leuchtturm notebook often used in bullet journals
Moleskine - This could either be cahier sized notebooks for use in travelers notebooks or a standalone notebook again used in bullet journals.
Bullet Journals - A system using bullet points and codes mainly used in a notebook or travelers notebook. 
BUJO - Another term for a bullet journal.
EDC - Everyday carry (pertaining to the planner you carry around with you.
PWM / Plan With Me (often used on You Tube or blogs when people are sharing their planning video).
Functional - Functional stickers, such as work, home, dinner, activities, weight loss, fitness.
Decorative - Decorative stickers like sticker kits with boxes and pretty sheets
Deco sheets - Purely decoration stickers (say of fairies etc)

Travelers Notebook Set Up and Dashboard

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Planner Group Jargon

​ISO - In search of, used when people are looking for a particular planner to buy.
DISO - Desperately in search of.
Unicorn - A planner that is rare or expensive and one they would love to have/own.
RAK - A random act of kindness usually a giveaway someone is running.
UKPA - A fantastic secret group on Facebook which stands for UK Planner Addicts.
BST - Buy, sell, trade posts.
OT - Off topic.
F - Following (the post).
Planner Meet - A chance to meet up with other planners at an organised event - they are great fun.

Which Planner Groups Should I Join?

​The planner group jargon leads me nicely on to the next section. There are hundreds of planner groups on Facebook and it took me a while to find the ones I loved. Special mentions of my favourites below.
 
UK Planner Addicts (this is a secret group, so you would need to be invited to it) - not to be confused with Planner Addicts UK, which is also a good group).
Mrs Brimbles Happy Place - I love Mrs Brimbles page, this was my first planner group and I am now proud to be on her Arty Creative Team.
Ugly Bug Plans - Planners and Papercrafts - The home of the Uglydori travelers notebook, Michelle is a lovely person with lots of activity going on in the group.
Planners With Manners - A lovely US planner group without any drama.

A bargain Travelers Notebook I found on Ebay for work

​Which Inserts Should I Use?

​Again this is free choice to you, many diaries and planners come with inserts already, but if you search Etsy you can find printables and inserts to purchase. Do check the region as getting them overseas can work out more expensive. For printables Annie Plans Printables do great ones. For physical inserts you can buy in the UK I use Queen Mabel and Doris on Etsy. The quality is amazing and you can get 10% off if you use the code KERRY10.
So there you go, planners fully explained, you are now ready to make your purchase and go grab some decorative or functional stickers. Have a look at this post for my favourite places
to buy them. My 5 Favourite Stationery Shops.

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Thank you for reading and do pop any comments or questions below, don't forget to give me a pin on Pinterest too.

Take Care,
Kerry xx

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I have really enjoyed my first ever guest post for the lovely Jo-Elle from The Yorkshire Pudding Blog. Here is a bit about Jo and her site.

About Jo and The Yorkshire Pudding Blog:

Jo-Elle and her lovely family

My people are my world! My family, extended and close, and my amazing network of unbelievable friends! I am a self-confessed Planner Addict - don't judge me, it's a thing! Who knew?!
As well as being an epic stationary geek, I am an avid reader and hoarder of all things literary.
I love to save money (to spend on stationary and books!) and will always check to make sure I'm getting the best price on everything! I'm a sucker for very cool storage and safety hacks and making my house pweeettttyyyy..... ​Now go visit The Yorkshire Pudding