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All About Planners

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June 6, 2018

Moleskine Weekly Planner Review (pros, cons and a video walkthough)

While on my recent trip to Europe, I kept seeing Moleskine planners everywhere which was awesome as they’re hard to find here in Australia! In the Moleskine shop in Rome airport I could resist no more and purchased the weekly notebook planner.

I purchased the larger size then later saw the smaller size on clearance so purchased that too!

moleskin weekly planner review academic year horizontal simple minimalist book bound bullet journal week start monday a5 medium size notebook

Moleskine Planners

  • Size: various sizes available
  • Week on 2 pages, week starts Monday (days of the week on the left and lined page on the right)
  • Variety of cover colors to choose from
  • Hardcover or softcover
  • Rounded corners to prevent wear and tear
  • Elastic closure
  • 70 GSM paper weight
  • Ivory-colored paper
  • Annual dates at a glance page
  • Pocket folder at the back
  • 3 mini sheets of icon stickers
  • Extras pages
    • Time zones
    • International measurements
    • dialing codes
    • Flight duration

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

There are soft and hardcover versions. I opted for the softcover for the large and hardcover for the small – the hardcover is definitely better.

The softcover reminds me of the Passion Planner in terms of quality.

moleskin weekly planner review academic year horizontal simple minimalist book bound bullet journal week start monday a5 medium size notebook binding

Both have equally boring plain covers – they’d look nicer if the year was printed in gold foil on the cover and spine, a subtle pattern or something to make them less boring and plain.

moleskin a5 weekly planner review minimalist gender neutral small size horizontal week on 2 pages monday start comparison to medium size

moleskin weekly planner review alternative to bullet journalling gender neutral

First impression is not a good one.. some serious ink ghosting on the very first page

moleskin weekly planner review alternative to bullet journalling gender neutral personal info page

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Dates at a Glance

Week starts Monday which is consistent with the monthly calendar and weekly spreads.

moleskin annual dates at a glance calendar minimalist simple gender neutral lightweight week start monday horizontal 2 page weekly spread

Weekly Planner

Moleskine notebooks come in a few different weekly planning layouts as well as grid, lined and blank pages for bullet journalling. I’ve come to the conclusion that 2 page weekly spreads with days of the week on the left and list / note space on the right page is the ideal planner layout for me, so opted for this layout:

moleskin weekly planner review academic year horizontal simple minimalist book bound bullet journal week start monday a5 medium size notebook week on 2 pages list making

The space at the start of the page for general brain dumping, bills due etc. is a good idea but it comes at the expense of a full width of the page planning space for Saturday and Sunday. I really like the lined right side of the page though – perfect for list making!

The weekly spread starts on Monday.

moleskin weekly planner review horizontal lined simple minimalist cheap alternative to bullet journal academic year week starts monday on 2 pages

Monthly Calendar

Aside from the paper quality (more on that later), this is the biggest con of the planner (and any planner that has this, in my opinion) – 1 page monthly calendars. The boxes are too small to write anything in and not only that, the numbers are in the centre of the box wasting space.. just no.

moleskin annual dates at a glance calendar minimalist simple gender neutral lightweight week start monday horizontal 2 page weekly spread day to a page monthly calendar ideas

moleskin annual dates at a glance calendar minimalist simple gender neutral lightweight week start monday horizontal 2 page weekly spread professional men planner

Extra Pages

Time Zones

moleskin weekly planner review notebook medium size bullet journal alternative minimalist planning for men gender neutral professional classy timezones

metric conversions and international sizes

moleskin weekly planner review notebook medium size bullet journal alternative minimalist planning for men gender neutral professional classy kitchen conversions

Dialling codes (not sure how much use that page would get) and travel planning

moleskin weekly planner review notebook medium size bullet journal alternative minimalist planning for men gender neutral professional classy

International holidays chart.

I haven’t seen a planner lay out the page like this – it’s different, but a bit ‘busy’ to look at

moleskin weekly planner review notebook medium size bullet journal alternative minimalist planning for men gender neutral professional classy international holidays list

Lots of lined notes pages at the back

moleskin weekly planner pen testing notebook horizontal week on 2 pages monday start european holidays calendar diary agenda academic year

Folder

The folder is quite roomy and comes with icon stickers!

moleskin weekly planner review academic year horizontal simple minimalist book bound bullet journal week start monday a5 medium size notebook planner stickers functional icon

moleskin weekly planner review monthly 1 page how to use ideas inspiration honest review pros and cons pocket folder functional work planner professional

The A5 size is exactly the same layout as the larger size

moleskin a5 weekly planner review minimalist gender neutral small size horizontal week on 2 pages monday start

The boxes are so small if you want to use the calendar I recommend tiny icon stickers. You’ll only be able to fit a few words combined with the book-binding of the planner and small page size that won’t stay open = annoying to write in.

moleskin weekly planner review monthly 1 page how to use ideas inspiration honest review pros and cons

moleskin weekly planner review monthly 1 page how to use ideas inspiration honest review pros and cons 2 page weekly view lined unlined blogging planner

moleskin weekly planner review monthly 1 page how to use ideas inspiration honest review pros and cons minimalist simple gender neutral color scheme

Pen Testing

The paper of the Moleskine planners is very thin – you can see the printing on the back side of the pages so I knew pens would show through.

moleskin pen testing planner review highlighers stamps no bleed through ghosting organization bullet journal notebook all about planners

… Which they do. Big time. Even ballpoint pens that don’t normally show through on planners. Highlighters had really bad bleed through and the MAMBI stamps bled through the page (as always).

moleskin pen testing planner review highlighers stamps no bleed through ghosting organization bullet journal notebook honest opinion pros and cons

Pros of Moleskine Weekly Planners

  • Thin
  • Lightweight
  • Multiple sizes to choose from
  • Week numbers printed on the weekly spread
  • Gender neutral
  • Minimalist so you can use as many colored pens, highlighters and washi as you like without worrying about the colors clashing with the planner
  • Choose between softcover or hardcover
  • Useful add on pages most planners don’t include such as timezone difference, metric conversions and international holidays
  • Monthly calendar and weekly planner both start on a Monday
  • Functional stickers
  • Elastic band to keep everything enclosed

Cons of Moleskine Weekly Planners

  • Saturday and Sunday share the same amount of space as 1 weekday
  • Very thin paper that shadows the printing on the back
  • Most pens had severe ghosting or bleed through
  • Boring covers – they don’t even print the year on the cover or the spine
  • 1 page monthly calendar – the boxes are too small to write in
  • Book-bound style – the binding doesn’t want to lay flat unless you hold it open with one hand and write with the other

Would I use this planner?

Yes! I really love weekly planners with this layout so am keen to try it out in 2018. As for whether I could use it long term? I definitely couldn’t use the smaller size as the pages kept wanting to close on their own and the writing space was a bit too small for me.

Udpate! See how I tried the larger size version here.


While planner shopping in Europe I found this digital + paper version of Moleskine. So if you’re someone that can’t quite commit to a paper planner but can’t commit to going full digital either, this could be a good in between.

paperterie zumstein stationery shopping haul switzerland recommendation planner supplies pen notebook agenda diary best moleskin digital-min

More planner reviews

  • Bloom teacher planner review and flip through 
  • Kikki K Student Weekly Planner Review  
  • 5 Planner supplies you should never skimp on
  • 7 Planner supplies I don’t regret splurging on

Browse all posts on the blog.

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moleskine weekly planner review pros and cons pen testing sewn bound paper quality good or bad honest review video flipthrough

moleskine weekly planner review horizontal simple minimalist gender neutral monday week start pen test bleed through ghosting

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Posted In: Bullet Journal, Horizontal 1 Page Weekly + Notes, Planner Reviews · Tagged: academic planner, alternative to passion planner, alternatives to bullet journalling, bookbound planner, bullet journal alternative, bullet journal planner, europe planner, european planner, gender neutral planner, gender neutral weekly planner, horizontal weekly planner, how to use a moleskin planner, minimalist planner, moleskin planner, moleskin planner review, moleskin review, moleskin weekly planner, moleskin weekly planner review, moleskine planner, moleskine planner review, moleskine weekly planner, moleskine weekly planner review, monday start planner, monday week start planner, planner review, planners for guys, planners for men, review of moleskin planner, review of the moleskin planner

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