If you have large hand writing and are struggling to find a planner that has enough room to write, here are some things to look out for!
Features to look for when buying a planner if you have large hand-writing
- Horizontal layout – horizontal allows more room to write each thing than narrow vertical columns. If you purchased a planner that was so big you still have the option to divide into 2
- Lined writing space – if your writing is prone to being crooked without lines
- Open ended sidebar – without categorised sections so you can choose how big to make them to suit your needs and so you don’t feel the need to cram things into a small space
- Physical large size
- Discbound not hole punch as takes up more room and requires larger margins
- Plenty of notes space – for each month and add extra pages
- Daily planners – if you have a lot to plan and have large hand writing then a daily planner may be a better fit
- Try bullet journalling – make your spreads as large or as small as you please!
- Landscape page orientation – this is hard to find but Blue Sky Planners do offer this
- Printables – most planners come in 7 x 9 size so if you need a bit of extra space try a printable – most are full page size giving you plenty of room to write!
Best planners if you have large hand-writing
- Open ended horizontal planners of which there are many!
- Limelife in large size (8.5 x 11″)
- Plum paper in large size (8.5 x 11″)
- Erin condren teacher planner (8.5 x 11″)
- Bloom teacher planner
- Mambi Happy Planner in large size / horizontal as it has lined writing space
- Uncalendar – warning it’s expensive!
- Non traditional layouts such as habit trackers which are great space savers
- Bullet journaling
- Blue Sky Planners (they have landscape page orientation planners which give you more room to write)
Related: Using the Erin Condren Teacher Planner for weekly planner
The bloom teacher planner would be a good option as there is plenty of open ended space per day. The week runs from Monday to Friday so if you wanted to plan weekends you may want to consider a day to a page planner or sticky notes.
Related: Bloom teacher planner review and flip through
Related Using Limelife Planners Weekly Layout C
Planner brands that probably won’t be a Good for for you:
- Passion planner – the lines are very narrow and there are lots of pre sized categorised planning spaces
- Planner pad (vertical, lots of sections and small line width)
- Ashley Shelley planner – not a lot of notes space, the task writing space is a bit small and there is no blank planning space in the daily planning spaces
- Mambi mini happy planner – too tiny to plan much of anything if you have big handwriting you will likely need to use 2 lines for each task
- Avoid whiteboard planners as they never have much room to write
If you have large handwriting, the Planner Pad probably won’t be a good fit for you
Types of planners to avoid
- Vertical – the columns are too narrow to write more than 2 words
- Unlined – your words will end up crooked and take up more space
- Those that don’t have much notes space
- Planners with lots of sections rather then a large open notes space you can adjust to your needs and create your own sections
Vertical planners may be popular but I wouldn’t recommend them if you have large handwriting
Hacks to create extra space in your planner
If you’ve found a planner you really like but it just doesn’t quite have enough space, here are some things you can to do!
1. Use Sticky notes
Related: Week 28: Planning the entire week using only sticky notes
2. Add a dry erase insert (or cut note paper in half to create list inserts)
Download the one below for free in the library!
3. Write categories in the margins instead of using header stickers
More planner roundups:
- Similar and Cheaper Alternatives to the Erin Condren Life Planner
- Best Weekly Planners For Under $50
- Planners you’ve probably never heard of (but will want to know about!)