When I came across the Lucky Life Tools Planner it quickly went near the top of the list of my favorite goal setting planners. Very functional and well thought out pages, lined writing space and one of the most comprehensive collections of goal setting / life planning pages I’ve seen in a planner.
I previously did a review of the 2018 version. Lucky Life Tools, the creators of the planner saw that review and sent me the 2019 planner to review so let’s take a look at the updates!
Quick facts
- Size: approx 7.5″ wide x 9.25″ high
- Wire binding
- Hardcover
- Dates at a glance
- Neutral inside pages
- 2 page weekly spread (starts on Monday)
- 1 Page monthly calendar (starts on Monday)
- 1 page monthly planning page
- Plenty of extra pages including: quarterly check in, monthly planning, goals and life tools section (too many to include on this list!)
- Pocket folder
- Tabs
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).
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Lucky Life Tools also sent me their monthly calendar booklet and daily wellness journal. Subscribe to be notified when the review of those is published.
The Cover
There are 2 cover options: black or pink. Since I chose pink for the 2018 version, I opted for the black this time.
For the 2019 version, the hardcover has rounded corners to protect from damage – small well thought out features like this = <3
Approx 0.75cm thick
The planner starts with some preliminary planning & goal setting overview pages including:
- Dates at a glance (for current year, last year and next year)
- Life map (personal goals & growth areas)
- Long term goals
- Prioritiser for your goals / projects
- Goal planning pages (break them down into steps)
- 6 month planner (on 2 pages)
- Timeline
For a look at all of the inside pages, watch the video at the start of this post.
Goal Planning
At the start of the planner are goal planning pages for small goals…
New in the 2019 edition, is a flap / pull out version of the goals list. I’m not a fan of the flap thing. I can see how it could be handy to have it open at the same time as the monthly and weekly spreads so you keep the goals in mind when planning things, however having 3 pages open takes up too much space.
Followed by graph paper
The prioritiser
I haven’t seen a page like this in any other planner. I really like this page as I tend to categorise goals into similar categories (travel, blog, business, career, money etc.)
After you’ve chosen your goals you can start mapping them out in detail with the goal worksheet.
There’s this 2 page one for big goals
And a 1 page version for smaller goals which is like the pages above, but with a smaller steps / milestones section.
Next is the routines tracker
Followed by the timeline.
At first I wasn’t sure about the small boxes for each month and then I realised it would be a good way to time block i.e. assign each goal a color (or pattern) and color in (or draw the pattern) in boxes when you plan to work on them, deadlines etc. There are 7 boxes vertical and 4 columns so you can roughly use 1 column per week. I’m not sure if that was the intention of this page but that’s how I’d use it!
The dates overview page is next. If you have a lot going on you could use the timeline page (above) for one area of your life, and these pages for other areas e.g. Timeline page for work and the dates overview for birthday’s. Since the boxes are small I’d use a dot sticker to color code and signify events. There’s enough room to write 1 (maximum 2) words for each date.
And if those 2 overview pages aren’t to your liking… there’s a third!
After the annual overview pages the monthly & weekly pages start.
Each month has a 1 page overview plus 1 page calendar. At the start of the month is a graph page plus the divider page is graph paper too!
Monthly Calendar
One of my favorite monthly planning page layouts of all the planners I’ve reviewed!
The timeline would be ideal for tracking 2 big projects or 1 project and appointments / general life. There’s also a top 3 and blank lists for you to use however you want.
The start date is consistent between the monthly calendar and weekly spread (both start on Monday) and there’s lined writing space for each day.
One con: the calendar switches to 6 rows per month i.e. shrinks the first and last row. At least they didn’t squeeze 2 days into 1 box, but it seems odd that you’d keep the days of the previous month… when you would’ve planned those days in the previous month’s calendar (i.e. including them here is dead space):
Weekly Planner
This would have to be my favorite vertical hourly scheduling weekly planner layout. Yes it’s vertical + hourly (which, if you’re a regular reader, will know I normally avoid), however it’s very functional. The times are printed in small font and go to 11pm (perfect for night owl’s like myself). The shaded box at the top of each day would be ideal for priorities, meal planning etc. plus there’s more sections underneath the schedule. So many different ways to cluster your daily plans.
And best of all, almost everything in this planner has lined writing space.
USA holidays are pre-printed on the weekly spread in small font at the right end of the focus boxes. Good that they’re pre-printed (if you live in the US) but it doesn’t leave much room to write. I’d probably use this as a pomodoro tracker with tally marks.
This planner has lots of open-ended space you can use however you like including a blank list in the sidebar of the weekly spread.
Each quarter has a detailed review:
Annual Review
At the end of the months is the annual review. There are 6 pages including:
- General overview questionnaire for the year
- Annual overview with space to jot down significant things that happened each month (major events, goals achieved etc.) for personal, social and professional
- Detailed questionnaire for each of those areas (personal, social and professional)
- Master plan for the following year
The planner keeps the life sections consistent from the starting pages all the way through the weekly and monthly spreads to the back of the planner in the annual review section. Family, community, work, money etc.
This planner has one of the most comprehensive goal setting / planning pages of the 80 + planners I’ve reviewed!
Life Tools Pages
There are tons of life planning / self review / reflection pages behind the life tools tab. Here are photos of a few (full details in the video at the top of this post).
- Self inventory
- Life satisfaction
- Decision maker
- Belief changer
- Habit builder / breaker
- Creativity booster
- Mood booster
- Internal resources
- Want lists
- Reflection lists
- Track lists
- Things I love
Notes pages
At the back of the planner is more graph paper notes pages instead of lined or dot grid.
Graph paper is ideal for habit tracking, year in pixels, savings graphs etc.
I was a bit disappointed they removed the open-ended list pages from the 2018 version.
Tabs
1 tab for each month and another tab for all of the extra life / goals pages.
Pocket Folder
A handy clear plastic folder for storing bills, notes etc.
Pen Testing
The paper feels the same as the 2018 version, so here are the results of that pen test:
I tried various ballpoint, gel, fine tip, marker tip pens, highlighters and stamps.
Overall I was impressed. There was very light ghosting from the marker pens, MAMBI stamps and my cheap purple highlighter but otherwise no ghosting or bleed through (even the marker pens!)
Pros of the Planner
- Minimalist color scheme
- Long schedule – starts 6am and ends at 11pm
- Lined writing space throughout (monthly + weekly + extra pages)
- Plenty of goal setting pages
- Tabs
- Sturdy hardcover
- Ample extra pages that most planners don’t include (which are detailed and have plenty of space to write on too)
- Annual review
- Quarterly goals check in
- Consistent month and week start date
- Paper feels thick, smooth and nice to write on (and doesn’t bleed through)
Cons of the Planner
- 1 Page monthly calendar – will likely be squished for space
- The pull out flap style goal setting page is annoying
- No cover personalisation
- Limited cover options
Changes to the 2018 Planner
I previously did a review of the 2018 version. These are the main changes:
- Rounded corners on the cover
- Additional goal setting pages
- Pull out flap page for goal setting
- Graph pages instead of lined
- Addition of a pocket folder at the back
Would I use this planner?
Yes. The planner is functional + simple, has a lined monthly calendar and more goal pages and monthly planning space than most planners.
More planner reviews:
- Bullet Journal Planner by Letter Love Designs
- Studio Stationery Planner Review (Horizontal Weekly and Notes Page Layout, Undated)
- Amy Knapp’s Family Organizer Planner Review
Planning Tips:
- Planner Inspiration: 10 Rainbow Weekly Spread Ideas
- Arcing my Plum Paper Planner – everything you need to know if you’d like to try it yourself!
- 7 Planner supplies I don’t regret splurging on
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