After seeing too many vertical, horizontal and hourly planners it’s nice to see a different weekly spread – the Busy Lifestyle Planner has a cross between a vertical and horizontal weekly spread.

This post contains affiliate links. If you click one of the links and make a purchase I’ll receive a small commission in exchange for referring you (at no extra cost to you).

Quick facts

• Size: 7.25″ wide x 9.25″ high
• Wire binding
• Hardcover
• Colorful pages
• Goal pages
• 2 page weekly spread (starts on Monday)
• 2 Page monthly calendar (starts on Sunday)
• Monthly planning page
• 2 Monthly notes pages
• 2 Pocket folders

Price: $15 USD + shipping on Amazon

Let’s take a closer look!

To enlarge the screen of the video, click the square icon in the bottom right hand corner of the video (it will say ‘full screen’ when you hover your mouse over the icon).

Subscribe to my YouTube channel for more planner videos!

The Cover

Sturdy hardcover with gold edges should hold up well.

Just under 1.25″ thick (approx. 3cm thick) – feels heavy

At the front is the review section.. well a very basic review section. Good that they did something different but this page has a lot of dead space.

The line spacing is inconsistent throughout this planner from almost 0.5″ (about 1cm) high to only 3mm high on the monthly calendar.

I like the idea of these goal pages but there’s not enough room to write. 2 pages for each goal is needed and the line spacing doesn’t need to be so big.

There are 3 goal pages (for up to 6 goals) plus an unlined notes page.

Next the first monthly spreads start. Each month has:

• 1 Unlined notes page
• 1 Monthly planning
• 2 page monthly calendar
• 5 weekly spreads
• 1 Unlined notes page

Monthly Planning

Each month has an unlined notes page and a month at a glance.

The cursive font and the title box looks good but the other font is very plain and boring. The line spacing and font sizes vary for each box, some words are uppercase and some are sentence case and the spacing between the boxes is uneven. The sections are good (to do, appointments, do more, do less etc.) but the design of the page is messy & looks unfinished.

Monthly Calendar

Week starts on Sunday although you could use glitter washi tape to cover the days up and switch it to a Monday start.

The line spacing is way too close together on these pages (only 3mm in that top goals section which also has a lot of dead space). The line spacing in the monthly sidebar is different again at 5mm.

Weekly Planner

Starts on Monday (not consistent with the monthly calendar).

The weekly spread reminds me of a bullet journal layout and is a refreshing change from the usual horizontal, vertical and hourly weekly spread layouts.

Related: 26 Non-typical 2 page weekly spreads to try

After all of the weekly and monthly spreads are

• 2 Lined notes pages
• 8 Contacts pages
• 2 page dates to remember / annual planning
• 3 x double sided unlined notes pages
• 4 x double sided lined notes pages
• Double sided unlined year end review

Pros of the Planner

• Sturdy hardcover
• Different weekly spread to what you typically see
• 2 pocket folders (although they won’t fit much)
• Lay flat binding
• Bright white paper
• Monthly planning page
• Undated – start and stop using at any time
• Only minor ghosting of the pre-printed pages
• Plenty of notes pages
• Cheap ($15 for a hardbound planner with color printing and this many pages is very rare)

Cons of the Planner

• No tabs
• I don’t like the peach color used throughout (and it’s hard to match it with other colors)
• The design is busy – the fonts are very basic, there are too many different fonts & font sizes used throughout, the line spacing is inconsistent
• No cover personalisation
• Heavy and bulky

Would I use this planner?

This planner could’ve been better but the execution lets it down. It looks too homemade and there are elements of the pages which aren’t well thought out e.g. line spacing either way too small or way too big.

If you already use a layout similar to this for your bullet journal but you’re finding it takes too long to rule up, or the usual weekly spreads aren’t working for you then give this one a try.

If you like this planner, it’s available on Amazon.

More planner reviews:

• Cloudberry Journal (hybrid bullet journal / planner)
• NatureArt Termin Planner
• Thinkers notebook review (discbound notebook and app)

Planning Tips:

• 7 Reasons why I don’t use stitched notebooks for bullet journaling
• Week 11: How to plan your week using Trello
• How to make a printable chore chart using Microsoft Excel (including video tutorial)

Browse all posts

Found this post helpful? Pin it!