I previously reviewed the LH Agenda back in 2022 (see this post) but the biggest con for me was the page size – it was just too small. LH Agenda recently reached out to me letting me know there were new versions of their planner so I decided to take a look.
There are now multiple daily and weekly versions of the planners, as well as a handy comparison page on their site. The version I chose to review (and which we’ll be taking a look at in this post), is the LH Planner – Weekly Large – Black Diamond-Quilted.
Disclaimer: I received this planner for free in exchange for doing this review. As always, all opinions are my own.
Quick facts
- Size: 7.8″ wide x 8.7″ high (19.8cm wide x 22cm high)
- The cover is slightly wider than the inside pages which are 7.5″ wide x just under 8.5″ high (19cm wide x 21.5cm high)
- 288 pages
- Most of them numbered or have printed on tabs
- Quilted vegan leather cover with gold foil
- Option to add a monogram for additional cost
- Sewn bound (with lay flat binding)
- 100GSM FSC-certified paper
- 3 ribbon bookmarks (each in a different color)
- Pocket folder
- 12-month undated planner
- Planner is divided into 3 sections
- Dream
- Define
- Do
- So many goal planning pages (too many to list here, read on to see pictures of them all)
- Plenty of list, project planning and dot grid pages
- Comes with 1 sheet of label tickers
Price: $82.95 AUD + $17.95 AUD for monogramming + shipping.
The original planner version (smaller page size) is $55.95 AUD + shipping.
Because I switch between planners often, I prefer when they’re undated (the planner in this review is undated).
Shipping
- Australia, New Zealand, United States, Canada, Singapore, Japan, Hong Kong: Flat Standard Shipping $9.95 or free on orders $90 or more
- Other countries: Flat Standard Shipping $19.95
Let’s take a closer look!
This video is quite long as there’s a lot of pages to show you!
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).
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The Cover
The cover is what I’d consider ‘luxurious’ especially for a softbound notebook which usually have linen covers. This one has a quilted / stitched design and there is also the option to have your monogram added. I opted for the black cover but there’s also a mocha version.
Here’s a comparison against the original LH Agenda which is on the right (that version was 5.75″ wide x 7.75″ high / 14.6cm x 19.6cm).
Approx 1″ / 2.6cm thick
There are 288 pages in this planner (i.e. a lot!), the planner weighs 750 grams.
Goal setting
The intentions and goals summary plus the ‘personal message to myself’ are the very first pages you see when you open the planner – a good reminder of what you’re planning for.
There’s a brief guide explaining how to use the planner, followed by the contents page.
Sewn bound planners pretty much never have tabs so at least the LH Agenda planner has thought ahead by adding page numbers and there’s printed on tabs on some of the pages (which I’ll show you later in this review).
The planner is broken down into 3 sections:
- Dream
- Define
- Do
Section 1: Dream
The first section is the ‘Dream’ section. There are pages for:
- Self discovery
- My environment
- Ideal day
- What truly matters / my legacy
- Life review
- My ultimate dream
- Letting go of the past / theme word
- Dream list
- Vision board
Most of these pages are 2 page spreads providing you with plenty of space to write.
The categories on the life review page are:
- Health
- Family
- Career
- Personal Development
- Love
- Friendships & Social
- Business
- New Experiences & Creativity
- Finances
- Work-Life Balance
- Fun & Happiness
- Confidence
- Productivity
- Personal Time & Self-Care
- Home & Surroundings
- Giving Back
Questions on the ‘My Ultimate Dream’ page include
- If I knew I could not fail, I would:
- What is holding me back?
- What resources and support do I need? Who can I reach out?
- I will stretch myself / play bigger by
- If I get stuck I will remember
The line spacing between the lists is 7mm.
Section 2: Define
The second section is the ‘Define’ section. There are pages for:
- My goals (summary page)
- Goal 1, Goal 2, Goal 3 (each of these has a 2 page spread)
- 6 Dot grid pages for more goals, projects and ideas
- Yearly planner (2 pages)
- My self-care plan (2 pages)
- Success routines (2 pages)
- Doodle, mind map, dream
After the structured goal pages there are 6 dot grid pages you can use if you need more space to map out those goals.
Next is a yearly overview planner.
Followed by a self-care plan (I haven’t seen pages that address this in a planner before!)
Tip! If you right click an image on my website then click ‘open image in new tab’ you’ll be able to zoom in and take a closer look.
Lastly there is a success routines planner where you can map out your ideal week, monthly routines, quarterly routines, half-year routines and yearly routines.
Section 3: Do
The third section is the ‘Do’ section. This is where you’ll find all of the monthly planning, weekly planners as well the projects list and dot grid pages.
The year is broken down into quarters with a black cover page separating each quarter to help you find things more easily.
Monthly Planning
Something I found interesting and unique about this planner – no monthly calendars! I rarely use monthly calendars anymore and instead prefer a list layout with a summary / overview page – so basically exactly what this planner has 🙂
The dashed lines make the page a bit ‘busy’ – it would be better if this was just lined writing space.
Weekly Planning
The weekly planner (in addition to the larger page size) is the main reason I wanted this planner. My favorite type of weekly spread is a 1 page summary / overview with the second page for lots of list making.
Read more: Why horizontal is my favorite weekly planner layout
The weekly spread has space for a top 3 for each day and then an open ended box. But there are little marker lines on the page if you want to divide this big box up to create more sections (up to 4, each would be approx 1.77 inches / 4.5cm wide). The boxes for each day are about 1.18 inches/ 3cm high.
This layout also has a week in review section with boxes for:
- Highlights & wins
- Challenges & lessons
- I am grateful for
The planner is undated so you can start / stop using it whenever you please.
Month in Review
After every 5 weekly spreads there is a 2 page month in review with prompts including:
- Highlights of the month
- My other wins & achievements
- Challenges during this month
- How can I grow from them
- Activities I did
- People I connected with
- Things I’m obsessed with right now
- Things I felt truly grateful for this month
- One word on how I felt this month
With additional lined writing space underneath all of these prompts.
Quarterly Review
The quarterly check-in has 4 pages:
- Goals check in
- Rate your goal categories out of 10
- Personal growth plan
- Innovation
Here’s a closer look – it’s those same goal categories from the start of the planner:
After the 2 reflection pages, there are 2 looking forward pages.
The personal growth plan has these questions:
- What new knowledge do I need to gain?
- Am I results-oriented? How can I measure my or my business’ progress?
- What areas or my work create 80% of my results? How can I scale up in those areas?
- How am I using my time? How can I be more organized and prioritize my tasks and time better?
- What systems and processes can I introduced to my life and work to improve efficiency?
The innovation section has these questions:
- What can I remove from my work/business or life to simplify?
- Am I a creative thinker who looks outside the box? How can I bring more creativity to my life?
- How well do i delegate or ask for help? What tasks could I delegate to others, or who can I ask for help so I ca free up my time and focus on the activities that product the greatest results?
- Am I resilient? What can i do to improve my resilience? (for example: build a network, find a mentor)
- What can I do different or better in my work / business, and /or my life?
Most planners don’t include a quarterly goals check in, so this is extra motivation / accountability for your goals.
Planning for next year
I find it a bit odd that pages for planning the following year, are included prior to the year end review. Also, there is only 1 monthly calendar (the boxes layout suddenly appears – yet has not appeared anywhere else in the planner).
There is a 6 month look ahead page, but only one of these (not sure why there aren’t 2). I think it would make more sense if these pages were re-ordered to go after the year end review, and replace the monthly calendar with a second 6 month look ahead page.
Year end review
The year end review questions are:
- Highlights of the year
- Goals I achieved
- My other wins & achievements
- Challenges during the year
- How can I grow from them?
- Goals I didn’t achieve and reasons why
There are also 5 pages to do a detailed review of your goal categories and rate each of them out of 10.
Lists
The second part of the Do section are the list pages:
- 10 x 1 page project planners
- 10 x 2 page master to do list
- Birthdays, special days & gifts
- Achievements and wins
- Lessons I’ve learned
- Gratitude list
- Ideas
- 6 blank checklists
- 20 dot grid pages (5mm grid)
There are 10 x one page project planners with columns for milestones, tasks / actions and priority / when.
There are also 10 x one page master to do list pages if you need extra space for planning your projects. The line spacing is 0.19inches / 5mm.
Next are the birthdays, special days & gifts. I generally prefer when this is clustered with the yearly overview pages as events influence how I plan each month.
After that is the rest of the list pages:
- Achievements and wins
- Lessons I’ve learned
- Gratitude list
- Ideas
- 6 blank checklists
All of these pages have the same page layout with different titles and tips for what to put on each list.
There are 20 dot grid pages (with a 5mm grid), to use however you like.
Pocket folder
At the back of the planner is a pocket folder. Although due to the compact sewn binding I’m not sure how much you’ll be able to fit in the pocket folder.
Ribbon bookmarks
There are 3 ribbon bookmarks – all in different colors.
Accessories
The planner came with a lists and to do labels sticker sheet. As well as an intention & goals reminder card and LH Agenda Manifesto – both could be used for bookmarks in your planner.
There are various other accessories you can also purchase from LH Agenda including pens, pen loops and more stickers (including month of the year tabs).
Pen Testing
There is ghosting of the text printed on the pages so I knew there would be ghosting of pens, highlighters and stamps. Let see how much…
The paper is very smooth and easy to write on. The Frixion erasable pens, highlighters and stamps erased easily too. However there was a lot of ghosting. Definitely avoid using stamps in this planner as they bled right through the page.
Pros of the Planner
- Large page size (hard to find sewn bound planners in this size)
- Flexible and functional weekly spread that you can easily customise
- Option to monogram the cover
- Unique cover design that is rare to find in sewn bound planners
- Multiple cover designs to choose from
- Printed on tabs for the various sections (and pages within the sections)
- Numbered pages
- 5mm grid on the dot grid pages
- Most comprehensive goal planning and check in and review pages I’ve seen in a printed planner
- There are a lot of goal planning, lists, dot grid and other pages that most companies would split into an entirely separate planner
- Good prompts / questions on the goal planning pages (and plenty of goal planning pages)
- Includes 1 sheet of tab label stickers
- Undated – start planning anytime
- The planner is well organized into different categories
- Smooth paper (the Frixion erasable pens, highlighters and stamps erased easily too)
- Lay flat binding
There are multiple planner layouts to choose from (there are other options if you don’t like the weekly spread layout in this planner, including daily planner options).
Cons of the Planner
- Expensive – at this price point I expect paper that does not have ghosting or bleed through
- The horizontal dashed lines on some of the pages. These pages would be less ‘busy’ if these were solid lines
- With so many sections and pages within each section, more ribbon bookmarks would be great or monthly tab labels (monthly tab labels are available for purchase separately from LH Agenda)
- Ivory paper (my personal preference is bright white)
No monthly calendar in a format with boxes for each day might be a con for some people (but is a pro for me!).
Would I use the LH Agenda planner?
Yes. I like the weekly spread and all the goal planning pages, however the biggest con for me is the paper. At this price point, I expect paper that doesn’t have ghosting, so hopefully this is something LH Agenda consider upgrading for future editions. I wish this planner came in a discbound format because with so many extra pages than just a weekly / monthly spread, I can see myself flicking back and forth a lot.
I think this planner is aimed at an entrepreneur or someone that is juggling a full time job with other commitments (e.g. family life). However, people who are starting their first job, trying to get a promotion, have lots of hobbies / side hustles to juggle, or are aiming for a better work/life balance – could all benefit from this planner.
More goal / career planner reviews:
- Clever Fox Pro Weekly Planner
- Mi Goals ‘Goal Digger’ Weekly Planner
- Mi Goals Progress Planner
- 90X Goal Planner
Planning Tips:
- Pens & Highlighters Smear Testing: Which ones don’t smear
- Color coding your planner: how to choose which colors to use
- MAMBI Happy Planner Discbound Punch versus the ARC (are they compatible?)
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