The Unbound Planner is a relatively unknown hidden gem. Super functional pages throughout, 4 days to plan each week (which is a struggle to find in planners), goal setting pages, project plans – my very critical self found it hard to find fault with this planner!

Disclaimer: I was sent a copy of the planner in exchange for this review. I was going to purchase the planner anyway. As always, all opinions are my own! If you like this planner and decide to purchase using my affiliate link I’ll receive a small commission as a thank you for referring you.

Quick facts

• Size: 6″ wide x 8.5″ high x 0.9″ thick
• Book / sewn binding
• Hardcover
• Dates at a glance
• Neutral inside pages
• Weekly overview + notes page before each weekly spread
• 2 page vertical weekly spread (starts on Monday)
• 2 Page monthly calendar (starts on Sunday)
• 12 month planner
• Goal setting pages
• 13 Project planning pages

Price: $40 USD + free shipping to the USA

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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Mentioned in the video: How (and why) I pre-plan the week using the Plum Paper horizontal lined with notes layout

The Cover

The cover is a cloth feel hardcover. It’s rather plain 🙁

Approx 1″ thick.

Dates at a Glance

Yearly Planning

I really like this yearly goals overview page. I use a similar system (based on 2 week chunks rather than an entire month). It’s compact, you can see everything on the one page and use different colors to separate goals for different areas of your life (work, personal etc.).

Monthly Calendar

The week starts on a Sunday (not consistent with the weekly spread that starts on Monday)

Love this sidebar. It’s wider than most so you don’t have to do ant size writing. I wouldn’t use the gifts / cards section though. I’ll probably turn this into a project planning section.

USA holidays are pre-printed on the calendar.

This planner does that annoying thing where they combine 2 days into the space of one rather than re-starting the numbering on the top row 🙁

Weekly Overview

This page is my favorite of the entire planner! With the exception of the morning routine section this page is basically exactly how I pre-plan my week.

Lots of to do list space, a habit tracker, lined and unlined notes space. This weekly spread = <3

Weekly Planner

While I tend to avoid vertical planners this one has a layout that I could adapt to suit my needs. Not too open ended with just a blank column for each day, but also not so structured that it couldn’t be used in a number of ways.

Here’s how I’m intending on using this layout:

• Focus box for the most important thing ‘eat that frog’
• Instead of ‘daily’ turn this into blog post planning (if I end up with excess space I might rule a line and create another section for ‘little things’ that pop up throughout the week that I usually end up putting on a sticky note)
• Bottom box for reminders / little things instead of gratitude

Project Planner

Love these project planning pages. So simple – not too much structure but also not too little structure (anyone else get annoyed when planners just include a blank page with a title like ‘project’ or ‘vision’ instead of any actual worksheet?)

Each project gets 2 pages to plan with.

End of Year reflection

Simple and to the point questions

Extras pages

There are dot grid pages at the back of the planner which are numbered to help find things easier.

The dots are space approx 0.5cm apart.

Tabs

There are no tabs in this planner although there are 2 ribbon bookmarks.

Pen Testing

I tried various ballpoint, gel, fine tip and marker tip pens – there was some ghosting on the back side of the page. I also did some highlighter and stamp swatches. The highlighters also had some ghosting and, as always, the MAMBI stamps bled through the page ?

Pros of the Planner

• Portable size
• Minimalist color scheme
• Numbered notes pages
• Love the functional layouts throughout
• Project planning pages
• 4 pages to plan each week
• 2 page monthly calendar

Cons of the Planner

• Pens had bad ghosting / bleed through
• Bookbound binding
• The start days for the monthly calendar and weekly spread are not consistent
• In some instances, the monthly calendar combines 2 days into the space of 1, rather than re-starting the numbering on the top row

Would I use this planner?

Yes, while I tend to avoid vertical planners this one has a layout that I could adapt to suit my needs. Plus, it’s not very often that a planner includes 4 pages to plan each week so it wouldn’t matter as much that you can’t fit many things into a vertical layout. I really really like the weekly overview section and notes page. If a horizontal version of this planner is ever released the weekly layout would basically be planner peace for me!

Disclaimer: I was sent a copy of the planner in exchange for this review. I was going to purchase the planner anyway. As always, all opinions are my own! If you like this planner and decide to purchase using my affiliate link I’ll receive a small commission as a thank you for referring you.

More planner reviews:

• Life Organized Weekly Planner by Paper House (similar to the Erin Condren Life Planner)
• Lorna Leigh Lane Weekly Planner Review (Pros, Cons & a Video Flip through) 
• Passion Planner Review – Compact and Classic Sizes (Pros, cons and video walkthrough) 

Planning Tips:

• What to do if your planner isn’t working
• Choosing a planner: Horizontal versus Vertical versus Hourly planners (which is right for you?)
• Which is Cheaper: DIY Printable Planners or Pre-Printed & Assembled Planners?

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