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Here it is!  If you have wanted to know what my very own personal planner looks like, now you can read all about it here in this post!

Let me take you through all of the pieces of my planner just in case you're interested in building a similar kind of planner for yourself!

// Covers & Discs

These are the covers that I use.  They come in a 3-pack with the discs included.  As you can see in the main photo for this blog post, I use the blue one.

Do I like these covers?  Well-enough.  Sometimes I contemplate getting a rigid cover, as these covers are flexible.  However, even with their flexibility, they seem to hold up well and get the job done!

Then the discs...do I like the discs?  Yes!  Originally, I went all "fancy" and bought some pretty, metal discs.  However, I found that the metal discs made a nails-on-the-chalkboard-ish sound every time I set my planner down on a hard surface or picked it back up from a hard surface because of the slight movement/scraping that was occurring.

So, unfortunately, the pretty, metal discs got the boot, and now I use the plastic discs that came in the 3-pack, and they work great for me and my ears!

// Paper 

So, just to state it clearly -- my planner is one that I bought all of the components for and put together at home.  I also print my own planning pages. 

As such, I use printer paper to make my planner.  So, with this being the case, I decided that I wanted to print my planner on a nicer, higher quality paper than I do other stuff in my life (like Amazon return labels and such) because it’s a more enjoyable planning and writing experience for me. 

Usually, I opt for some sort of recycled printer paper, but for my paper planner, I go for a more premium paper. 

Currently, I use Hammermill printer paper.  It’s 100 bright, 32 pound paper.  It’s smooth, thicker than what I’m used to with thinner recycled printer paper, there’s no bleeding through with my writing, and it’s not particularly see-through (unless you hold it up to the light, or something, but for planning purposes of being flat in my planner book, it does a great job).   

I quite like this paper.  It's one of those "little things" in life that brings me happiness.

// Pens

And, speaking of little things.....these Pilot FriXion erasable pens also qualify as another "little thing" in my life that I really enjoy.

In fact, I previously did a "Things I'm Loving" post about these pens.  Read all about it here -- you can even see a little demo video that I did! -- and get all the details about what I like (and a few things I don't like) about these pens!   

The Pilot FriXion pens are my go-to pens that I use all the time in my planning.  However, there's another pen that I also enjoy quite a lot....  

Sometimes I want to write with a regular (non-erasable) pen.  In those cases, my favorite pens are the Pilot G-2 pens, specifically in the 0.38mm, ultra fine size!

I think they write nicely, and I love the precision that I have in my writing from the ultra fine point.

// Pen Holder

An accessory that I wanted to have as part of my planner was a place to store my pen quickly and easily.  So, I found these adhesive pen holders!

They come in a 5-pack.  I use a total of 3 in my planner, in various spots, so that I always have a place to stash my pen.  I think they're great!

// Poly Binder Pocket

Another accessory that I wanted to have as part of my planner was a pouch.  I use a clear, poly binder pocket.  Unfortunately, it seems that they stopped making the exact one that I have pictured here.  However, I have since bought a slightly different style.  It's nearly the same, but it has a Velcro closure instead of a snap closure.

I keep this binder pocket in the back of my planner, and find it helpful to have a place to keep a few things.  (Definitely something to note, though, is that my choice to have my planner set up in this way can tend to make my planner a little lumpy to write on.  So, I do need to make sure the items in the binder pouch are sitting as flat as possible in order to have a better writing experience).

// Highlighters

Since you now know how much I love my erasable pens, a while back I also thought I'd try the Pilot FriXion highlighters because I like to have a planning system that's fully erasable.

Well, these FriXion highlighters do the trick! 

I prefer the pastel set, but that’s just a personal color preference. 

For me, they really do erase cleanly and completely (99% of the time).  I go back and forth with how much I use highlighters in my planning, but when I do use highlighters, I grab these ones.

I use them as a way to maybe give a visual representation of what tasks in my planner I will accomplish during what part of the day or maybe indicate a particular set of tasks that I want to call my attention to. 

I’m not nearly as picky about highlighters as I am about pens.  So, these work great for me!  They highlight well, erase well, and come in different colors.  Check, check, check.  Done.  That’s all I need!

// Tabs

Repositional tabs are another accessory that I find to be useful in my planner.

I have two different types that I like.

I like these colorful tabs made by Avery.  I think they're fun and also super useful.  Of the two repositional tabs that I use, these ones are smaller in size.

Then, I also use these larger, white tabs -- also made my Avery.  I use one type of tabs or the other based on whatever look I am going for and/or whatever function I need it for.

The most frequent use I have for these tabs is making a "today" tab (as you can see pictured above) so that I can easily flip open to my planning page of the day.

// Discbound Hole Punch