My Honest Review of the Happy Planner

One day when I came downstairs, I found my friend Stephanie working on her budget in this awesome planner. I inquired about it, because the ones I had ordered for 2020 just weren’t what I was thinking and weren’t fulfilling my needs. She told me it was the Happy Planner, and she explained how they were set up to be fully customizable and convenient for all users who have different needs. I really loved her layout and how it functioned so well for her appointments, important dates, and budget/financial tracking. I knew I needed a planner that fit my needs and helped me stick to my goals too.

I thought it over for a couple of weeks while trying to use a new system in the planner I had just bought. But I didn’t grab for it often and it just sat in my drawer, completely useless. I wasn’t enthusiastic to use it or utilize it for all of my needs. I kept seeing the Happy Planners on sale and figured it was a sign that maybe this would solve my problems in planning. I scoured the website for the size and design I liked best. I ended up choosing this one. It says Stay Color Full Babe, which made me feel motivated and encouraged. I also ordered a few other lists and project sorting sheets, some extra notepaper and two packs of stickers for reminders, convenience and to decorate.

I could hardly wait for it to be mailed. Shipping had slowed down at this point, so I had to be patient. Thankfully, it came pretty quickly, arriving in about two weeks. When it came in the mail, I was so ecstatic, I couldn’t contain myself! The planner was beautiful and packed so nicely, the stickers were in a larger pack, and the extra sheets I got were exactly what I wanted for my to do lists and notes. I wanted to get started right away, but I was nervous about using a pen, and a pencil seemed more flexible for writing my plans. Mechanical pencils and highlighters were ordered, and so was a dry erase pen for my magnetic weekly plan. Once those came, I knew I would be ready to begin and start planning out my days and weeks as far as I could.

As you can see, this is for this current week. I haven’t added quite everything yet, but we have a couple appointments, a day to clean, some reading time and all my blog HW/work assignments to get done and when they are “due.” I’m grateful for this system that Pam helped me begin and I transferred it into my Happy Planner to keep me accountable on paper and help with building a strong memory.

This page is really useful and helps me leave small notes and important dates as well as using my monthly goals center. I love each and every one of the monthly front tabs. These quotes are adorable and very motivating!

My monthly spread has a few things on it with bill pay, birthdays and appointments. It also has a weekly look for the start of August, which I have yet to fill out, but I have a spot for reading 2-4 nights a week, at least.

My purpose for getting a Happy Planner to begin with was to take my blog planning from digital to paper to be more accountable and keep track of my goals. I filled in the important dates, birthdays and our wedding anniversary that I knew I could easily fill in. A few appointments I had already scheduled and wrote in there to remember the exact times and who we were seeing. You see, I had just set up a flow chart using Trello and I loved it. It was functional and helpful and made transferring this information to my Happy Planner easier.

What I like about my Happy Planner

-The highlighted section at the top of the week that I can use to layout my Top three for the day, which is usually my blog work, social media posts and whatever other task I choose to get done that day.

-The notes and end sections of the month/preview for next month. Great for tracking my ongoing habits and important dates. I can also choose a focus on an item and what I need to remember.

-It’s just basically so colorful and happy, it makes me want to use it every day and definitely every week.

-Writing is proven to be better for memory retention and I find it’s helping me to stay on top of things.

What I would do differently

-Go to a physical store to pick one and see them instead of online. There are still great previews and more online to help you pick yours though if that’s your only choice.

-I might have chosen a different layout (I’m still going to experiment with it) but I like the use of it regardless.

-You need to know what kind of planner you are and exactly what you plan on using it for because that really helps when selecting a style and layout.

-I might have even chosen a larger size so I can have more space. I’m not worried about mine being portable (mini, classic and large sizes available- in different formats for each use).

All the rest…

I was able to get a few add on items- a couple of sticker books, a dry erase magnetic weekly planner, notebook pages, to do list pages (which I LOVE) and some prints/postcards with inspirational quotes. Each page of the add on items are themed in the same style and colorway that matches my planner, which if you know me at all, is so my jam. If I had to choose a favorite, I would definitely pick the stickers and the to do list half sheets, since they have helped me focus so well lately. I have been achieving a lot by breaking down my tasks and finishing them in small ordered pieces. My strategy was to place a page of each of these at the beginning of each month to keep track of my main goals and side things I want to achieve for that month.

Needless to say, I am thoroughly enjoying discovering the uses and intricacies of my Happy Planner and what works for me, as well as which of the systems and devices will fit into my weekly schedule to make this blog and life planner successful. I hope that if you have any questions, you’ll leave me a comment down below and follow me for more coming soon.

What type of planner do you use? Is it working well for you?