How I got started with Planners / My first EVER planners!!

I'm often asked about when I bought my first planner or how I got into planning and planners. I have talked about this in many videos and blog posts but I thought I would go a bit more in depth about it with you today.


So I have school to thank for my love affair with planners and for starting me on my planning journey. Whilst I hated school, I loved my planner and to me it was just another way of keeping this little crazy head of mine on track, focussed (a little) and a form of creative outlet for me (although the teachers hated that part!).

In secondary school we had three terms a year: Autumn, Spring and Summer. Each term we were given a thin little paper journal by the school, free of charge to help us with our studies etc.

I used to doodle on the outside and on the inside, adding my own little marks, splashes of colour and anything that I wanted. This was a time, of the free, the time when I really didn't care what anyone thought of my art, I just wanted to use colour and use it I did. Anything went and it was a freedom of my expression. 

I used to add stickers (please forgive the 90210 ones there lol!) and random rubbish. Oh and tons of graffiti from both myself and my friends. We used to destroy each others but I am glad we did as they are lasting momentos from my school years.

My teachers were forever moaning about how my planner looked, it is no wonder that they didn't crush and stifle my artistic tendancies forever! I had to cover my journals with wrapping paper or posters and then when I wrote all over them I did it again and again. I think I was always covering my books!

On the inside the planner was really useful. We had space for our timetable so we knew what classes we had as well as a list of period and break times.

 In the centre of the planner was a yearly calendar. I have never really used one so I guess somethings never change. I just used to use mine for seeing how long it was until the next school holiday, marking the days off as I went like you would for a prison sentence. Oh I threw in the odd birthday too!

The main thing that the planner was used for was really useful, if I take the time now as an adult to think about it. We had a section for keeping tack of our attendance, a section for notes and reminders, to dos and the like. There was a section for parents to write letters to the school and for the school to comment to your parents on how you were getting on. They used to make us hand our books in all the time for signing and insisted that your parents signed your book every week. What a drag man! Luckily I don't think my parents were that bothered about the state of it, either that or I used to fold it over so they couldn't see what it looked like. On the right hand side we tracked what homework we had to do and when it was due in. As you can see I have always found it therapeutic to cross things off when they were done. Done and gone. Again this is something I was regularly told off for as apparantly teachers should be able to read it. Go figure!

So there we are, that is how I got into the World of planners and a rather cringeworthy look into some of my first ever planners. Oh by the way in case you were wondering, these planners are from 1993 - 1995. Eeeeek!!! I hope you enjoyed - I am off to go stop blushing now!