Most horizontal weekly planners don’t include sidebars in the weekly spread. One exception to this is the American Crafts Planner so I was keen to try it out!

Before the Pen

The American Crafts Planner has a simple 2 page weekly spread…

After the Pen

So I opted to keep it simple with just black pen:

I wrote too big and ran out of space so abbreviated ‘development’ into dev. #recoveringperfectionist

The sidebar columns are too narrow :/

I used the ‘notes’ sidebar for routine / quick tasks

And the to do list sidebar for Europe trip planning

Used a butterfly clip to hold my place in the planner since there’s no built in page marker

…But then I thought just the black pen was boring so used highlighters to quickly add some color to the page.

I don’t know what it is but whenever I write using a cheap pen my writing ends up even more messy than usual. The black Bic pen I used was in a pack of 10 for a couple of dollars (i.e. very cheap). Surprisingly, most of the cheap ballpoint pens I’ve tried write really smoothly and don’t smear when I highlight over the top. This pen also wrote over the top of correction tape really well – just like I was writing on normal paper.

Related: What type of pens write best on correction tape? (gel pens vs. ballpoint vs. marker pens)

I covered up the word ‘inspiration’ with whiteout correction tape and turned this into meal planning space instead:

I highlighted the text and color coded but it still looked a bit dull so I added a border to each section as well:

There wasn’t much of a color code. I used blue for business, pink for blog and mint for personal.

Related: Best highlighters for planning 

I don’t like planners that have the dates at a glance monthly calendar (bit of a waste of space when you can just refer to the monthly calendar), but at least this one shades the days of the current week.

Supplies Used

• Bic black pen
• Daiso soft marking pen in pastel (they look similar to Zebra Midliners)

Would I use this planner again?

Probably not. I thought I’d like this planner more. While I liked the idea of having the two sidebars in the weekly spread, the sidebar columns columns were too narrow for list making – even with the planner being letter size 8.5 x 11″

Past weekly spread

• Week 27: Using the Frank Horizontal Weekly Planner
• Week 28: Planning the entire week using only sticky notes
• Week 29: Plum Paper Me Planner 

Planner reviews

• Review of the Ultimate Weekly Planner by Studio 331
• Penny Paperoni Weekly Planner Review 
• Dabney Lee for Blue Sky Weekly Planner Review (Pros, cons and a video walkthrough)

Planning tips

• Custom Erin Condren Planner Cover versus DIY planner cover: which is better?
• Planner Hack: Using binder covers to create a reusable checklist (plus free printable binder covers) 
• Planner companies that will let you download, print and try their planner layout for free 

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