The MakseLife Planner has been on my radar for a while since I saw the comprehensive goal planning pages. In addition to those goal planning pages that come with each planner, there’s multiple layouts to choose from:
- Daily
- Quarterly
- Vertical weekly
- Horizontal Weekly
- Dated & undated versions
- Bound planners or inserts you can bind yourself
Quick facts
Shipping was very expensive to get the planner, a dot journal and a sticker book to Australia. So I ordered the cheapest inserts which were the quarterly undated inserts with a 1 page weekly overview and a day to a page layout (however I’m going to use the day to a page layout for weekly planning).
Maskelife Inserts
- $44 USD + shipping
- A5 page size (5.75″ wide by 8.25″x high / 14.6cm wide by 21cm high)
- Color printing
- Quarterly (3 months)
- Undated
- Unpunched (can punch yourself for use with disc binding or ring binders)
- Goal setting pages
- 2 page monthly calendar
- 2 page monthly goals
- 1 page monthly reflections
- 1 dot grid page for each month
- 1 page weekly actions
- 1 page weekly planner (starts Monday)
- 1 page per day daily layout
- 1 page per day
- Each month has 4 weeks worth of planning
If you buy the 12 month Maskelife planner, here are the details:
- $76 USD + shipping
- 7″ wide x 9″ high
- Comes in 4 cover designs
- Hardcover
- Coil bound
- Color printing
- 12 month dated
- Dated version is for the calendar year only (no July start version)
- Undated version – quarterly, 6 month or 12 month duration
- Horizontal or vertical weekly spreads
- 2-Page Monthly Calendar (starts Sunday)
- Goal setting section
- 9 Notes Pages
- Pocket Folder
- Goal-Setting Sticker Sheet
There’s also a digital version of the planner (12 month dated horizontal or vertical). There is an undated digital version but it’s just the weekly pages, all of the other pages in the planner aren’t included.
You can also get A5 lined and dot grid inserts if you need some extra pages.
My reviews of the reflections notebook (was free), dotted notebook and the functional sticker book are towards the end of this post.
Let’s take a closer look!
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Mentioned in the video
- Correction: in the video I said I used 1.5″ discs which was a mistake, I used 1.25″ discs. The discs I used are from my sister’s store, Carefully Crafted
- The dot grid is 6mm
- I used the ARC punch (I did a review and comparison with the MAMBI and Levenger Circa punches in this post)
- Aluminum versus plastic discs
- Why I prefer to use disc binding
The Cover
Because I purchased inserts there isn’t the pretty cover you’ll get with the pre-bound version of the planner. Instead, a frosted cover is included. (I moved it to the back of the planner as it was showing reflection in the photo but it’s similar to Plum Paper’s cover just a frosted version).
Because I used disc binding, the pages lay flat on their own.
I used black plastic 1.25″ diameter discs from my sister’s shop, Carefully Crafted.
The quarterly inserts are approx. 0.75″ thick.
Goal Setting
This planner is much more focused on goal setting than other planners and has a different approach / page layout.
There are pages for:
- Guide to setting goals
- Compass assessment
- Assessment scoring of different categories (to guide the goals you choose)
- Intentions
I’d prefer to see the guide for goal setting as a separate card with a URL I can go online to refer to if I need it, or a separate guide book, rather than pages within the planner. If you purchased this each quarter there will be a lot of duplication of pages.
If you right click the image > open in new tab then click on the image you can enlarge it to read the text.
I like that each category has a different color.. and rainbow colors of course 🙂
In addition to those pages there are more generic annual goal pages. These have the same categories as the compass.
The planner is arranged in this order:
- 2 Page monthly calendar
- 2 Page monthly goals
- 1 Dot grid page
- 1 page Weekly actions (that tie back to your goals compass)
- 1 page Weekly overview
- 7 Daily spreads
- Then the next dot grid / weekly overview / daily spreads (enough for an entire month)
- 1 page monthly reflections
- Then the tab for the next month starts
Monthly Calendar
Starts Sunday (which is not consistent with the weekly spread). But since these inserts are undated, you could always use days of the week stickers to convert this into a Monday start calendar.
There are 5 rows of boxes. Each box is 3.1cm / just under 1.25″ wide x 3.4cm / 1.33″ high.
Related post: 10 Brands that have date dot stickers for your planner or bullet journal
Monthly Goals
2 pages with the same goal categories as the compass at the start of the planner.
Weekly Actions
At the start of each week is a 1 page ‘weekly actions’ – the categories tie back to the compass in the goal setting section. There’s also 1 dot grid page you can use for whatever you like. Tip: graph paper is great for making habit trackers.
Related post: 100 things to put in your habit tracker of your planner or bullet journal (plus free printable habit tracker)
Weekly Overview & Day to a page
The 1 page weekly overview starts on Monday (not consistent with the monthly calendar). Each day has an equal amount of writing space and an open ended box you can do whatever you like with.
The day to a page layout can be customised to suit your needs. The only pre-printed text is ‘date’ and ‘focus’ and because it’s light grey you could easily just write over the top of it in black pen.
There are no times on the scheduling section so you could use this for more checklist space if you wanted to. The 3 boxes at the bottom could be used for things like hydrate tracking, pomodoro, reminders, weight loss tracking, income expenses and savings, meal planning etc.
When I try out this planner, I’m thinking about converting the daily page into either a weekly planner or more weekly planning space (to create a 2 page weekly spread).
Monthly Reflections
After all of the monthly calendar / weekly / daily pages is 1 page for monthly reflection questions:
- My biggest wins this month were:
- Things that are currently working in my life
- Things that are currently not working in my life
- What I learned this month
- What improvements or adjustments do I need to make going into next month?
- What am I most grateful for right now?
- Habits I want to nurture next month?
- Area I want to focus on next month
I think the proportion of lined writing space to question on this page is enough as they’re quick questions to just jot a few notes against. There is a partly blank page which is the cover for the next month but you could use this if you need more space.
Tabs
There are blank tabs for each of the 3 month sections included so you could start using the planner in any month you like. There are also tabs for ‘goal setting’, ‘assessment’ and ‘extras’.
Pocket Folder
There is a very thin pocket folder at the back of the planner. You probably won’t be able to fit more than a few pieces of paper or sticker sheets.
Quarterly Assessment
There is a 2 page spread where you can reflect on the progress of your goals during that quarter.
There is a section for your rating of the current and previous quarter. I think it’d be good to use that wasted space on the page to add extra columns so you can do this rating for each month of the quarter as well as the quarter as a whole.
Future Plans
Within the extras section / tab there are 3 of these open-ended future plans pages plus 8 double sided (so 16 useable) dot grid pages.
Pen Testing
I also purchased the MaskeLife dot grid notebook at the same time as these inserts. Here is the results of the pen test (the paper appears to be the same for all Maskelife products).
Planner Stickers
1 sheet of rainbow planner stickers come with the planner. There is also 1 sheet of month stickers to attach to the tabs.
The rainbow colors are a more muted tone than I normally prefer but I quite like them! And the best part, they’re all functional stickers.
Pros of the Planner Inserts
- Choose between A5 or 7 x 9″ page size
- Color printing
- Inserts can be used however you like e.g. disc punched, hole punched, turned into a notepad (use modge podge)
- Comes with a rainbow sticker sheet and month stickers so you can label the tabs
- Weekly and daily inserts
- Layout can be customised to suit you
Cons of the Planner Inserts
- No cover personalisation
- Very expensive (and expensive international shipping)
- Pocket folder is very thin and can’t hold much in it
- Monthly calendar and weekly planner day of the week is not consistent
Would I use this planner?
I’ll use the planner, but I won’t be repurchasing. The cost is just too expensive for me. Admittedly there are more pages (especially goals and reflections) than you’d get in a typical planner, but the layout is very simple and something I’m more likely to create myself in my bullet journal.
This planner would suit someone who wants a planner with colour printing and doesn’t mind paying a higher price than most 12 month planners to get that color printing plus the goal setting pages.
If you want to try this planner they discount the dated versions a few months into the year. There is also the digital version which is cheaper but you won’t get all the pages so to me, it isn’t worth purchasing (especially not at the price they charge for it).
Other maskelife products
Reflections book
The planner came with a free 2022 reflections book that includes pages similar to the goal setting pages that came with the inserts.
I also purchased a dot journal and their functional sticker book.
Dot grid notebook
The dot journal is more of a booklet. It’s 5.75″ / 14.5cm wide x 8.25″ / 21cm high and is just over 0.25″ / 0.8cm thick.
The pages are not numbered but they do lay flat on their own.
Functional sticker book
The sticker book is 5″ / 12.7cm wide x 7″ / 17.8cm high and has a variety of 15 rainbow colored functional sheets.
- Dot stickers
- Rectangles (small and medium)
- Tiny flags
- Mini icons
These sticker sheets would be ideal for smaller page size planners or bullet journaling.
The stickers are much smaller than they appear in the photos but would be a good size for bullet journaling in a 5mm dot grid.
These dot stickers should be a staple for all sticker books! They’re perfect for checklists and flagging things on a monthly calendar. They’re 0.2″ / 0.5cm diameter.
Related post: Planner Newbies: The 7 Planner Stickers you need to stock up on
There are 4 sheets of these stickers – 2 in the darker rainbow shades and 2 in the lighter rainbow shades (to match the gradients on the life compass on the goal pages – love the coordination 🙂
I hope you found this detailed review helpful! If you still have questions, please comment below.
More planner reviews:
- Full Focus Planner Review (Michael Hyatt’s 90 Day Undated Goal Planner)
- My 4th Plum Paper haul (weekly, daily, financial, goals planner)
- Golden Coil Planner Review
Planning Tips:
- How to make printable graph paper in Photoshop (perfect for habit tracking and bullet journalling!)
- Planner Newbies: The 7 Planner Stickers you need to stock up on
- 10 Functional Ways to Use Washi Tape in your Planner
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