After many requests from you guys for me to do a review of the Passion Planner, I finally caved and bought it!

Disclaimer: this post contains affiliate links. If you purchase this planner using my affiliate link I’ll receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.

Let’s take a closer look!

I purchased 2 planners that were on clearance – the compact (A5) size and the classic (US letter size 8.5 x 11″).

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Quick Facts

• 2 sizes
  • Compact  -A5 (5.83”x8.27”)
  • Classic – A4 (8.27”x11.69”)
• Minimalist design – black and white
• 2 Page weekly spread (starting on Monday or Sunday  – you choose)
• 2 Page monthly spread (starting on Monday or Sunday  – you choose)
• Academic and calendar year start versions
• Dates at a glance
• Monthly and yearly reflection questions with lines note space to write your answers
• Ample goal setting pages
• 20 blank pages
• 20 graph paper pages
• Elastic band to keep it all together
• Gender neutral
• Faux leather cover

They also do undated versions and limited edition covers (e.g. blue)

Price:

• Classic (large) $35USD
• Compact (small) $30USD

Prices current as of 2018.

Tip: If you sign up for Passion Planner’s mailing list they have frequent sales. They also give you a free printable PDF version of the planner if you help them spread the word on social media. They’ve also done annual Kickstarter launches with a reduced price on the planner (around October each year). I originally purchased the PDF file via their Kickstarter compaign (was only a couple of dollars!) then ended up purchasing the actual physical copies of the planners during their Boxing Day sale. International shipping is reasonably priced.

Compact Passion Planner

The planner is about 1cm thick (the large size is about the same thickness)

Dates at a Glance Pages

You have the option of Sunday or Monday week start versions. The day of the week you choose is consistent between the dates at a glance calendar, monthly calendar and the weekly spread <3

Passion Planning

Monthly calendar

2 Pages per month.

National holidays are pre-printed.

The sidebar includes sections for:

• This month’s focus (work and personal) – these sections are a good idea but they’re so small you won’t be able to fit much in them
• People to see
• Places to go
• Not to do list (love this!)

At the bottom of the page are work and personal to do lists <3 and an open-ended space on the right.

Instead of re-starting the numbers on the top row, an extra row is added making all of the boxes on the calendar smaller than the other months 🙁

Compact size monthly calendar boxes = 1.25″ wide x just over 1″ high. When the extra row is added the boxes become 1.25″ wide x just under 1″ high.

Monthly Reflection

Lots of questions and plenty of lined writing space

Weekly Spread

2 pages per week. The starting day of the week is consistent with the monthly calendar. The planner comes in both Sunday and Monday week start versions.

The schedule runs from 6am to 10:30pm (including the time labels section)

The weekly spread features vertical columns for each day divided into timeslots. There’s also a large notes section. The Passion Planner website has a few different templates you can print and stick into this space if you don’t want to manually rule it up every week. My favorite is the habit tracker. You could also stick these in on one side only and use it like a flap and still plan underneath if you needed just that little bit of extra space.

The week number, month and dates are printed in the top left hand corner of the left page making it easier to find the week you’re looking for (since there’s no tabs and only 1 ribbon bookmark)

3mm line spacing height in the weekly spread – very small!

End of Year Reflection

Detailed yearly reflection with plenty of lined writing space

Blank Notes Pages

Blank notes pages at the back of the planner – would’ve been better if these were lined.

The pocket folder is made from a smooth velvety material and is very roomy!

Classic (Large) Passion Planner

The classic size has the same layout as the compact size. except each section on the page is enlarged so there’s more room to write.

If you have large hand-writing definitely go with the classic size. Although the lines are still super close together you may need to write your list of tasks and give each a number then put the number in the daily columns as only 2 – 3 words will probably fit.

5mm line spacing height in the weekly spread (slightly bigger than the 3mm in the compact size)

The daily columns are 2″ wide (including the time labels section)

Monthly Calendar

Instead of re-starting the numbers on the top row, an extra row is added making all of the boxes on the calendar smaller than the other months 🙁

The daily calendar boxes are 2″ wide x 1.5″ high.

When the extra row is added the boxes become 2″ wide x 1.25″ high.

Large pocket folder

… With some random stickers

Pen Testing

The paper of the planners is a really smooth bright white <3

I tried various gel pens, ballpoint, needle tip, marker style, highlighters, stamps etc.

There was shadowing on the highlighters and the MAMBI stamps bled through the page (as always – I’m yet to find a planner they don’t bleed through!)

For the pens, there was minor ghosting and indenting on the back of the paper but not too bad.

Overall, the pen test turned out better than most planners!

Pros of the Passion Planner

• Bright white paper that is so smooth to write on
• Affordable
• Comes in small and large size
• Functional weekly layout
• Timeslots are longer than most planners
• Half hourly timeslots which most planners rarely have
• Gender neutral – the planner is printed entirely in black/white/grey (also ideal for color coding as no color clashes)

Cons of the Passion Planner

• The covers are boring – just a plain solid color
• The faux leather cover material seems to attract dust
• The line spacing in the weekly spread is too small
• Book bound / sewn bound – the pages don’t lay flat unless you hold one side with your hand while you write with your other hand
• No tabs
• The quotes on the weekly spread take up a fair bit of functional planning space – much prefer when companies out these at the bottom of the page in the footer
• Only 1 ribbon bookmark – there really needs to be 2.1 for the monthly calendar and 1 for the weekly spread

Which size is right for you?

If you write big, you’ll need the large size as the line spacing is very small (one of the smallest I’ve ever seen in a planner).

Both the large and small size planners are lightweight due to the book/sewn style binding.

Monthly calendar boxes sizing:

• Compact size = 1.25″ wide x just over 1″ high. When the extra row is added the boxes become 1.25″ wide x just under 1″ high.
• Very generous in the classic (large) size (2″ wide x 1.5″ high). When the extra row is added the boxes become 2″ wide x 1.25″ high.

If you need something that’s portable, the large size is quite bulky (8.5 x 11″ / USA letter size). If you need a little bit of extra space you could download and print one of their add ins e.g. habit tracker and use washi tape to fix one side of the print out to the page. That way you can still write underneath – you could do this with any planner to create a bit of extra space!

Related: Ultimate planner page size guide (with printable reference cheat sheet) 

Would I use this planner?

I’ll be trying this planner in 2018. To be honest, I purchased the planner as so many of you readers emailed me requesting I do a review! I don’t really like vertical planners – especially not those with hours pre-scheduled.

I do still want to try it out and make a few hacks / modifications. I can see how this planner would be a really good fit for someone looking for a planner with half hour timeslots and plenty of goal setting space.

This planner would be ideal for a student, someone that gets distracted and needs a planner with lots of goal setting space to keep them on track, or if you need an hourly planner with more timeslots than most planners usually have (the schedule runs from 6am to 10:30pm)

If you like this notebook, it’s available on Amazon (affiliate link)

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More Planner Reviews

Check out some of my other hourly planner reviews

• Week 9: Customising the Erin Condren hourly planner for task based planning 
• Joyful Heart Planner Review (Pros, Cons & Video Flip Through)
• Lorna Leigh Lane Weekly Planner Review (Pros, Cons & a Video Flip through) 

Related: Choosing a planner: Horizontal versus Vertical versus Hourly planners (which is right for you?)

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• How to get rid of a white border when printing printable (borderless, no bleed, no scaling step by step video tutorial)
• How I plan my week: my 6 step process 
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