Review: The Simplified Planner by Emily Ley

Emily Ley specifically created this planner because she thought other planners were too complicated, so as the name implies, this planner is simple. She explains that it is “designed minimally on purpose” and I agree. The cover is simple, colorful and happy. The inside pages are streamlined and clean.

I am a fan of Emily Ley’s books and her general philosophy to “simplify, prioritize, and make time for joy,” so I was excited to check this one out! Plus, anything that is bright and colorful is worth a look in my book! Pretty design weighs heavily in my ratings.

I am reviewing the spiral bound version pictured here, which I purchased at Target for $10.99. There are hard bound versions sold on Emily Ley’s website for $48.

Recommended for:
Planning Personality “Laid Back Lucy” (If you have not taken my quiz to find out your Planning Personality, take 1 minute and do it now!)

Planning options:
Yearly: No (but it does include a full 2019 calendar on one page)
Monthly: Yes
Weekly: Yes
Daily Planning: No (although a daily version is available, the one I reviewed was weekly only).
Project Tracking: No
Monthly Review: No

Design:
I love the colorful cover, tabs and page headers. The amount of white space around the pages and the space between the lines makes it easy to look at. It never feels overwhelming to turn to a new page.

High Level Planning:
There is no yearly planning space, but it does include a page with a calendar for 2019 & 2020. It also includes a space to capture your bucket list and checklist for simplifying your life.

Extra Feature(s):
The monthly spread pages have Simplicity Tips such as “We spend so much time in our cars. Clean yours out, put a trash bag inside, and stock it with travel necessities (tissues, snacks, pens, etc)”. I love the simplicity of the tips, and since there is only one per month it’s not overwhelming.

It also includes a Future Planning page to jot down important dates in 2020. I like that feature, it would be easy to move those to next year’s planner.

Drawbacks/Cons: There is no designated space to track goals, or to put those goals on your monthly or weekly plans. You could use the To Do list to track that, if you choose to. I also think it’s missing a monthly review or summary to see how your year is progressing.

The version I reviewed felt a little flimsy, and the pages were thin. I assume the $44 hard bound version would be more substantial.

Summary:
This planner is basic and beautiful at the same time. If you are looking for a simple planner to keep your agenda and to do list, this is a great choice!

If this planner doesn’t feel like you, check out these instead:

If you’d like to plan by week, but want to do a monthly review to check in on your goals, check out both the Law of Attraction Planner and the Passion Planner.

If you want to make a detailed plan for every day, I’d suggest looking at the Day Designer.