Simplified Planner Review

On January 1st, my mom surprised me with a last-minute Christmas present of a planner. She knew I was on the hunt for one similar to the one I used in 2018 but wasn’t having luck finding it or anything comparable. I also wasn’t looking to spend a lot of money, so my options weren’t that great.

Mom has been a fan and follower of the Simplified Planner’s founder, Emily Ley. She saw they were having a sale and surprised me with a super cute planner that was actually exactly what I needed. Apparently Emily Ley is all about living simply since she’s also written a book called A Simplified Life. My mom had that too and passed it along for me to read, but I haven’t gotten around to that. If I do and it’s life changing, I’ll report back.

First, we need to talk about the packaging. Obviously this is a very nice planner that you don’t want thrown willy nilly into one of those bubbly envelopes and thrown around in a mail bin. The planner itself was inside this adorable hot pink box. It’s the ten year anniversary of this brand, so I’m not sure if that’s the reason for the packaging or if it’s what she’s always done. Inside the actual planner was in protective plastic sleeve and bubble wrap. And once I unwrapped it all, I knew why.

Isn’t it beautiful? The gold hardware is basically perfection to me, and the quality and beauty of the cover is extraordinary. It’s got the metallic lettering and details all over the cover to tie in the gold spiral and gold corners.

On the back of the inside cover is a convenient little pocket, perfect for important receipts, notes, or grocery lists. There’s also a sweet sticker sheet. You can see I’ve used some of my stickers already.

Continuing to turn pages brings about the description and purpose behind this particular planner and why Emily designed it this way. There’s lots of helpful tips to living a simplified life, a yearly look at the calendar, a list of the holidays, a few prep-work pages (which I didn’t do yet), and the Simplicity Challenge. If you want to know more about that, go to the Instagram page for the company. It’s pretty interesting. I participated in a few days to bring some simplicity to my life.

Next you see the colorful, sturdy, monthly tabs. I love that they’re nice and thick and shiny. When you open to a month, you see the monthly layout, have an excellent space to write notes, and get a simplicity tip. These ideas are great and help to keep your life less cluttered and, you guessed it, simplified.

Okay, this is the reason I love this planner so much. The day is broken down into hourly time increments. I loved this about my last planner, but this one amps it up a notch by not only providing the times but by giving me a space to write my to-do list AND a space to write down notes for the day in case there’s something going on that day like a birthday or if it’s the day that report cards go home. Each day is granted an entire page except for the weekends. They share a page. Sundays are my favorite day in the planner because she prompts you to share a happy memory from the week. I’ve tried to write that down every week, and I’ve really enjoyed it.

I have only been using it for a month and certainly not to it’s fullest potential, but so far I love it! Here’s a few things about my particular planner in case you want one for yourself:

1. It’s the Daily Simplified Planner. There’s also a Weekly Simplified Planner for those who don’t need a daily breakdown. There’s only one style left in each of these, but they’re extremely cute!
2. It’s been very durable. A lot of people leave their planners on their desk at home, and I suppose if I were a person who didn’t work or who worked from home, that’s exactly where I’d leave it. However, mine gets thrown into my school bag or my purse and comes with me everywhere. It’s gotten a little dirty, but I am very careful with it, and it’s doing great. I also kind of want it to look well-used by the end of the year, you know? It will have served it’s purpose.
3. It’s a little pricey, but totally worth it if you use it. BUT if you use the code GETREADY at checkout, you’ll get 20% off! Get yours here.

I wanted to share this because I know I’m not the only one who still uses a paper planner. I love the digital convenience of the calendar on my phone, but sometimes I need to write it out and see it on paper. It just makes sense to me, and I enjoy the time I get to actually write it all down. Plus, it helps me to anticipate what’s coming up next, which I think is one of the ways she encourages you to live simply. Overall, it’s a home run for me, and I know you’ll love it, too.

Do you use a Simplified Planner? If so, tell me what your favorite thing about it is in the comments.