To switch things up a little for 2022, I will be using the Erin Condren A5 Life Planner. This is my first time trying an A5 size planner, but my 9th year using a Life Planner. Keep reading for why I use a paper planner, why I keep using Erin Condren planners, and my 2022 A5 Life Planner Review:
This will be my 9th year using an Erin Condren Life Planner. Each year the planners get little upgrades and design changes so that it still feels familiar, but better than the year before.
I usually love the design changes and different themes, but I struggled to pick a planner that I liked enough to commit to using for the entire year. Little things were bothering me and I considered looking for another planner brand entirely. Ultimately, I decided to choose the Erin Condren A5 life planner in the mid-century circles theme.
The A5 size was enough of a change for me to ignore those design elements I didn’t care for and to feel inspired to use Erin Condren for another year.
Why I Use a Paper Planner
I have always just really liked paper planners, stationary, pens, and stickers. I love all of the potential of a blank notebook, or writing with a new pen, or marking a big check on a to-do list. A paper planner makes it easy for me to see what my plans/goals are, so I can follow up and manage everything easier.
With a paper planner, you are physically writing everything down which helps you remember your thoughts better. I find that I am more likely to complete a task when I’ve written it in my planner. I’m sure it’s partially that I am remembering it throughout the day, and partially because I don’t want to leave that check box unchecked.
Using a paper planner allows me to be a little creative with the photos I paste in, the pens I write with, and the stickers I use to organize each week. It’s almost like a scrap book for each day of the year. I enjoy looking back to see what we were doing on a certain day however many years ago. It’s even come in handy when I’ve needed to look up specific details for work things/money things.
Why I Use an Erin Condren Planner
You have seen why I prefer a paper planner to help me organize my life, but why do I keep using an Erin Condren Life Planner after 8 years?
Like I mentioned before, Erin Condren planners keep improving each year — from the design to the paper quality. At this point, the Life Planner is so familiar to me and it works for my needs. I like how it’s really clean and simple without extra, forced pages — like structured goal-setting or color-coded headings that may not apply to my situation.
I always choose a colorful version of the life planner, and I love how each month has its own color/look/feel. I am not in love with the color assignments or even all the color shades in the Erin Condren planners, but I appreciate having a “fresh start” each month. It helps me to feel motivated to move on to the next month and continue keeping up with my tasks/goals. Your planner can’t work for you unless you use it.
There are a lot of stickers and accessories compatible with Erin Condren planners. So if you love decorating your planner, you can pretty much find anything you could need when you use a life planner — like these planner covers I’ve been looking at. I don’t use a ton of stickers but I can find stickers that work for my planner without issue.
A5 Life Planner
Like I mentioned, I chose to get a new, coiled A5 life planner this year. I am excited for the change from the normal, classic version I usually get. Read my post comparing the classic and A5 life planners.
As with all Erin Condren life planners, you can customize the coil, cover, and some elements of the interior of the A5 Life Planner. All A5 life planners have the horizontal layout that I prefer, and you can choose either Mid Century Circles or Flora for the 2022 interior design.
I chose my A5 Life Planner to be Mid Century Circles (MCC) with a gold coil, and I personalized the cover to say MuffinChanel.
A5 Life Planner Review
Mid-Century Circles
The MCC rainbow looks really nice on the front cover, and in the design details sprinkled throughout the planner.
I am still not a fan of the rainbow lettering that’s mostly on the quote pages, but I’m choosing to ignore it.
Calendar + Goals
Like all life planners, the A5 has a two-page mini calendar view in the front for the entire year at a glance. I would probably use my phone to see what day of the week a specific date falls on, but it’s nice to have it included.
The next section has 12 lined boxes that I usually use to write out my larger goals for the year. I liked how the page heading was more generic last year, but this year it basically titles it as a goals page (also in the multi-color RaInBoW font…)
Monthly View
The monthly calendar view looks really clean and crisp. The weight of the lines appears to be lighter, and the side edges of the boxes is removed. I think that really helps, especially in the smaller A5, to make it not feel so cluttered. I like the font for the lettering, but I wish the month text was also in gray, not the monthly color.
The tabs are still strong and laminated which I really appreciate. They take to you the monthly view and are color coded with the month’s theme.
The monthly dashboard is really clean in this year’s A5 also. I really have enjoyed using this space to document highlights of the month, track my progress on my knitting projects, and the distance I ran on my treadmill in my current planner. I think I’ll continue to do the same in my A5 life planner.
Weekly View
I love the size and feel of my A5 planner. It’s compact and efficient while still having space in the areas I need. In the weekly view, the layout is exactly the same as my classic horizontal planner, but the proportions are slightly more compact. Read my classic vs A5 comparison post for more pictures and details.
Since the A5 planner is a newer size, there are fewer sticker options to accommodate the box sizes. At least I haven’t been able to find as many as I could with my classic size planner. This Etsy shop has specific A5 stickers with foil, and this one has a variety of weekly kits for the life planner so I may get a few kits from those shops to use throughout the months.
Extras
There is a 2023 yearly calendar in the back with little lines underneath. I actually have used this section in my current planner a lot as I am planning things and wanting to remind myself of tasks/events that are coming up. It makes it easy to see what big things I want to transfer into my new 2022 A5 life planner right away.
There are some gold foil stickers in the back of the planner, along with a pocket folder page. I won’t probably use the stickers ever, but the pocket is nice to put a few things in.
Overall Thoughts
I’m really looking forward to starting 2022 with my A5 life planner and switching things up a bit with its smaller size. I’ve been using a life planner for years and it’s been great for me, but I am looking forward to a little change.
The Erin Condren Life Planners can be expensive, even the smaller A5 version. I use mine practically every day and it helps me to keep on track with the goals I’ve set. I think of it as an investment into myself because when I have a planner I enjoy using, I am more likely to use it consistently and therefore be successful in achieving my goals.
If you are interested in making your first Erin Condren purchase, use my link to create an account and you’ll get $10 off your first order and I’ll earn rewards points too.
I hope this review was helpful for you if you’re making a decision to invest in a planner. Thanks so much for reading; Happy Planning!
