While Emily Ley’s Simplified Planner is pretty (and rainbow <3), the price tag plus shipping to Australia was always a turn off for me. So when they announced their collab with At A Glance with a much cheaper price tag, I snapped up the weekly edition!
Quick facts
- Size: 5.5″ wide x 8″ high
- Wire binding
- Softcover with plastic pocket (you could switch out the cover if you wanted to)
- This belongs to page in case your planner is lost
- Dates at a glance
- Future planning
- Bucket List
- Neutral or colorful inside pages (you pick)
- 2 page weekly spread (starts on Monday)
- 2 Page monthly calendar (starts on Sunday)
- Monthly Tabs
Let’s take a closer look!
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See my review of the original Simplified Weekly Planner in this post.
The Cover
The cover is a clear pocket so you can switch out the cover insert (or DIY your own) as often as you like. The cover feels like sturdy laminate.
Approx 0.5″ thick
This belongs to page
USA holidays list
Monthly Calendar
Week starts on a Sunday (not consistent with the weekly spread that starts on Monday).
USA national holidays are pre-printed on the monthly calendar.
Unfortunately the monthly calendar splits the box into 2 rather than re-starting the numbering on the top row. This makes no sense to me since those boxes are blank / wasted space.
The sidebar is very narrow (the lines to write on are only approx 1″ / 2.2cm long) – too small to fit more than 1 word per line.
Weekly Planner
Starts on a Monday with the weekend sharing the same amount of planning space as one day.
Each day has meal planning section, lined writing space and checklist. The checklist section could’ve been squeezed a bit closer with the line spacing to fit another line, or the meal planning section expanded as there’s a big gap.
<3 these rainbow colors!
Dates at a glance
Future Planning
Love this layout for monthly planning – similar to a future log for bullet journaling.
Tabs
Love the rainbow color scheme but not so much a fan of the tabs. They’re short with just 3 letters of each month and while they’re laminated, they still feel flimsy. They’re protected by the cover that extends beyond the page but they don’t feel like high quality tabs.
Pen Testing
With a cheaper price tag = lower paper quality. The paper of the planner feels like the At A Glance Planner paper which is prone to ghosting and bleed through. I ended up gifting this planner so didn’t do a pen test. However I did do a pen test for the At A Glance Teacher Planner.
Pros of the Planner
- Portable size
- Pretty color scheme
- Very light (feels like it weights about the same as my Kindle)
- Cheaper than the Simplified Planner available on the Emily Ley website
- Pocket cover means you can switch out the cover insert as often as you like
Cons of the Planner
- The weekly layout proportions (meal planning space is too small)
- Tabs feel flimsy
- No notes pages at the back
- Sidebar on the monthly calendar is too narrow
- The paper is prone to ghosting & bleed through
- The paper has ghosting of the design (e.g. can see the outline of the weekly pages on the monthly calendar)
Would I use this planner?
Maybe. This planner comes in a larger page size which I didn’t get as I thought it would be too big. However this smaller size I chose might be a bit squeezed for space. Something in between (7 x 9″ high) would be ideal.
More planner reviews:
- Using the Emily Ley Weekly Plannner
- 50 Bullet journal Instagram accounts you should be following
- The Process Behind Making a Printable Planner
Planning Tips:
- 5 Planner supplies you never knew you needed
- Favorite Twin Tip Markers for Planning (Roundup)
- 6 Ways to color code your planner to increase productivity
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