Using the Emily Ley Weekly Plannner (Week 43 of the 52 Planners in 52 Weeks Challenge)
Emily Ley’s Simplified Life Planner seems to make it to everyone’s top 10 favorite planners list so I thought I better try it and see what the fuss is about! The planner + shipping to Australia was too expensive for me to justify – especially when their website offers a free printable version of the daily and weekly spread! I opted to try the weekly spread.
I like when planner companies offer a free printable of their planner so I can try it out and see if it’s a planner I’d use again i.e. whether I want to buy it or not – especially since most planner companies are located in the USA and shipping is super expensive here to Australia 🙁
Related: Planner companies that will let you download, print and try their planner layout for free
My printer was running very low on ink so the print quality wasn’t the greatest 🙁
Related: How to Choose a Printer (Including the best printer for printing printables and planner stickers)
I considered using the daily planner.. maybe another time.
A similar daily planner is the Day Designer. See how I tried it here.
Setting up the week
I printed the pages at full page size and added them to my ARC discbound notebook. If you buy the physical planner the pages are a bit smaller at 6 x 8″.
Related: Planner Organization: Why I use the Arc Planner instead of binders
Rainbow weekly spread <3
I liked the colors used for the flag banner for each day, so color coded by day. I color matched as closely as I could using the the craft stall fine line markers from the Reject Shop here in Australia. They’re like a cheap knock off of the Triplus Color Fineliner 0.3mm. They write ok and have a good range of color options.
Because the weekly spread combines Saturdays and Sundays i.e. the weekend shares the same amount of space as 1 weekday, I used a sticky note for the rest of the tasks that wouldn’t fit (I ended up needing another sticky note as well as this one filled up). The sticky note is from Officeworks. I also like the Post it Note 3M super sticky large post it notes.
I used the same code I’ve been using for a few months now when it comes to blogging (as it’s been working well) with different letters for each part of the blogging workflow. D = draft etc.
I split the meal planning box into 2 – it was a good amount of space to plan lunch and dinner
Related: Minimalist Planner Decorating: Title Ideas for your Bullet Journal
Pens Used
I used ‘the craft stall fine line markers from the Reject Shop here in Australia. They’re like a cheap knock off of the Triplus Color Fineliner 0.3mm. They write ok and have a good range of color options.
Related: Ultimate list of the best planner pen brands and how to choose colors for color coding
Pros of the Emily Ley Weekly Planner
- I printed the pages at full page size (the actual planner is only 6 x 8″). Full page was a good size but if you purchased the actual physical planner, things might be a bit squished
- The company does rainbow washi tape and stickers that match the color of the planner. Rainbow + Coordinated = <3
- Lined & list making space for each day
- Multiple covers to choose from including rainbow stripe and pineapples!
Cons of the Emily Ley Weekly Planner
- If you buy the actual planner (i.e. already printed and bound), it’s really expensive
- Not many coordinating accessories – only the rainbow stickers and washi
- Sunday has weekly prep tasks filled in – if these tasks don’t suit you then you’ll need to white them out every week which could get annoying
- Saturdays and Sundays share the same amount of space as 1 weekday I.e. you get half the amount of planning space for each day
Would I use this planner again?
The weekly spread was ok, but it’s quite generic and just like most other horizontal weekly planners. Given there’s so many planners to choose from these days, I probably wouldn’t use it again.
Like the idea of using a printable to plan your week? Click here to learn how to make your own weekly planner!
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Catch up on past week’s of the challenge:
- Week 10: Minimalist 1 page planning using washi tape
- Week 21: Using Microsoft Word to plan your week
- Week 34: Review of the Planner Pad Weekly Planner
- Week 36 (part 2): Trying out the Day Designer Daily Planner by Whitney English (Review)
