I looked into several planners for 2018 to see whether I wanted to make the switch to a different planner. I didn’t realize how difficult this decision would turn out to be! Options for gorgeous, functional planners are plentiful, and at various times I wanted each of the planners I list below.
Before I share which planner I chose for the new year, I’ll start with my 2017 pick: The Erin Condren vertical Life Planner. In the beginning of the year I would simply use different color pens to mark to-dos and events, without any other decoration. By summer I was purchasing planner sticker kits on Etsy to mark things, but I didn’t go overboard. I like a lot of white space in my planner because I find it to be calming. I discovered through the course of the year that I don’t enjoy having lines that go unfilled — is that weird? Maybe, but that’s just how my brain works. If I have lined pages, it’s my instinct to want to fill them, which can cause anxiety in me. Now, I organize my life in my planner using mini kits I buy on Etsy. I find that having a pleasant-looking planner made me more motivated to use it. I was also more organized in my planning. I typically make a mini kit last three to four weeks, so I don’t feel like it’s expensive or wasteful. You might be able to guess based on this what planner I picked for next year, but many other options appealed to me.
Planners I considered for 2018:
Plum Paper: I liked that you had several layouts to choose from. The layout I liked best is M-A-E (Morning, Afternoon, Evening) which is how I set up my planner now. I didn’t like that all the sections had lines, though. I liked the cover prints but not as much as the Erin Condren options I saw online. Plum Paper lets you customize headers inside the planner and add home and business sections, both of which I liked. If you don’t add on much the planner is more affordable than EC.
The Content Planner: I considered this for almost a month and still may get it. It would be great to have a planner strictly for blog work, but I am not sure if I need two planners (one for personal and one for blog). I liked that you can use social media icons to plan when to post on social media (though you can do that in other planners, too). I also liked that it comes with a list of holidays (from what I can see) and marketing ideas for content generation. I don’t like having to fill in dates and months, though. I liked that the monthly spread had a tracker space for social media growth; I already do that in my current planner but I write it in myself. I also liked having space to write and track goals throughout the year. I also liked the space for filling out hashtags and potential collaboration ideas. The cover isn’t customizable from what I can see but it’s still really nice.
Day Designer: I used the Day Designer in 2016 and I liked it. The covers are lovely, but the options are a bit more limited than other planners. I liked that I had so much space for each day’s schedule and to-dos. I also liked writing down a daily gratitude and seeing a quote. I often tracked dinner plans and bills that were due. I didn’t get much use out of the day’s top three, though. I feel like it’s redundant because I would fill that out but also have the items in my to-do list. I almost tried this again but then I realized that the lines filling every page make me feel like I need to FILL all those lines. It also didn’t inspire much creativity for me regarding making the planner look pretty when filled out. I realize this isn’t important to everyone, though.
Purposeful Planner: This reminds me a lot of the Day Designer but with more helpful pages and sections, such as a daily water tracker. I also like the monthly pages for goals, budget and menu ideas, too. I didn’t like the section on every page titled “Retail therapy” because it encourages me to want to buy things and view purchases as therapy, which they aren’t (for me). I liked the brain dump section, but I realized I wanted pages with fewer lines. The covers were limited but lovely.
Simplified Planner: I liked that each page has white space at the bottom for meals and notes. I didn’t like that Saturday and Sunday share pages, because weekends are often busy for me. I found the cover options to be limited, though also adorable.
LiveWell Planner: I really liked that sections separate immediate vs. insignificant tasks for the day. I also liked the space for the day’s accomplishment. The goals pages have a nicely designed layout. I also like the mission board page. I think this is a lovely planner!
Planner I chose:
Erin Condren Vertical (Neutral): I kept the same planner in 2018 as I had in 2017. This may seem like a boring choice, but I like being able to customize the space how I want. I use either colored pens or stickers to mark things to do, and I separate each section into morning, afternoon and evening. I sometimes also experiment with using a section each for to-dos, schedule and fitness/life. I like being able to have a cover with my name on it and I enjoy the quotes throughout the planner. I also like the redesigned monthly notes pages, which I am excited to experiment with for goal setting and tracking.
I know there are many other options out there, but these are the planners I considered purchasing for the new year. I am excited to switch to my new Erin Condren planner and can’t wait to see what the new year brings!
Which planner did you pick for 2018?

Marette Flora is the founder of Floradise blog and personalized gift shop. Marette is a passionate storyteller and creator. She attended the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State University and obtained a bachelor’s degree in journalism and mass communication.
She is passionate about creating helpful and meaningful things.
Great choice for a planner! I used the Erin Condren vertical planner for a number of years, but this past year didn’t use it as much. for 2018 I decided to go with the Passion Planner. I like that it walks you through year-long and quarterly goal planning, and has a reflection at the end of each month, which I think will be beneficial as I work on growing my business next year.
But whenever I see the EC LifePlanner I’m always like, “I need it!”
That sounds like such a good planner! I would get them all if I could. haha Thanks for your comment!
I got the 2018 Erin Condren life planner myself to plan for next year! Absolutely love it!
It’s so pretty!!
I always get so excited to pick out my planner for the new year – it has become something of a tradition for me come November hehe. I always pick my planner up for Kikki.K, although I’m not sure where else in the world they have stores haha. Sounds like you’ve made a good choice for your 2018 planner. 🙂 xx
I love planners! I’ve used Moleskine weekly planners for the longest time before switching to a bullet journal. I’ve looked into the Erin Condren life planner too for 2018, but it seemed like I had to invest a lot of money/time on stickers and decorating, so I decided to do another minimalistic bullet journal for next year too.
I know that this sounds ridiculous but picking a planner is SUCH a personal choice. I’m that nerd that love to shop for office supplies but a planner is like the holy grail.
I have the EC Life Planner and I like using it but just wish they would add lines to their vertical layouts.
I could see that! I would like some lines in like one section and then some white space, but that’s just my own preference.
Like you I’m also a planner lover, I want everything organized and scheduled. I also want a simplified and purposeful one. I wish to have one this holidays!