Taking control of my 2020 with Ella Iconic

How many planners do you have to go through before you find “the one?”

I’m not going to answer the above, because frankly its an embarrassing number. However, It’s finally been done. I truly believe I’ve finally found the planner that will help me take control of my 2020. All thanks to Ella Iconic.

I was browsing online before Christmas, present shopping – for other people of course! When I first came across Ella Iconic. My first impression is that the brand was very chic, minimal and totally not for me as I am neither of those things.

As I dived deeper and deeper into the detail of the Ella Iconic website, it became clear I had to have one. What got me? The detail. The amount of care and detail into each day.

I cannot Function without a schedule

That has always been a fact about me. Even from a really young age. I blame my teacher Mum and her down to a T planning methods. I like to know things in advance and I’ve always liked to record my day. Even if its not the most productive or even that interesting. I like to think ahead & also look back when possible.

I know I work best, when I’ve timed my day out. For me, it’s almost as though I’ve promised myself and signed it by marking it down on paper. I have to through with it and I have to be accountable if something isn’t completed fro any reason. I never want to put a cross on my to do list or write ‘reschedule’ unless I can legitimately say why.

To put it bluntly dear reader:

Planners stop me from bullshitting myself & keep my on the accountability path.

I hope that makes as much sense to you as it did to me.

What Ella Iconic is teaching me

So, as you may have seen, I’ve recently shared my New Years resolutions. I’ve also had some private ones, but have decided to shared one with you now. I pledged to myself that I wanted to be kinder to myself and also be more grateful for what each day brings.

Everyday, my new Ella Iconic planner gets me to write two things:

• Mantra for Today
• Today I am thankful for

I love this so very much as everyday I have a chance to pep myself up (sometimes, I’ll do it the night before) and then every evening I get to have a moment of reflection. i get to look for the good even if I felt the day was rubbish. Which i think is really important to do.

I’m also learning to split my daily goals & to dos into sections. Something which seems so obvious now yet I had never thought of it before. So i split daily goals into career, home, health & personal. Doing that simple, has literally made everything seem so much easier and no longer overwhelming, like before.

Other helpful features

As well as the daily pages, we also get some other really helpful features that I just have to give a little shout out about.

• A monthly financial outlook. A brilliant way of keeping track of bills etc & gives you the incentive on saving each month. You have a target & an actual section which again I love for staying accountable.
• Habits tracker. They say it take around 28 days to really get a habit in your system so this is a fabulous way of keeping track. Current good habits I’m trying to get: Skincare everyday, reading a little each day & a daily herbal tea.
• A mini bucket list & word of the year section: A space for me to write down those all important bucket list goals & share the word that I want this year to reflect. I actually am stuck between three words currently. Grow, Bloom or elevate. Although I feel that they have the meaning at their core.
• The master plan. A space where I’ve been able to record my top priority goals across career, home, health & personal but also write how I’m going to make it happen.