I much prefer horizontal weekly planners to vertical and hourly weekly spreads. If you’ve been thinking about making the switch to a horizontal planner but aren’t quite sure if you’re ready yet, here are a few reasons why you should make the switch!

Why I prefer to use horizontal weekly planners

1. Lined

I’ve found that horizontal planners are more likely to have a lined writing space for each day, as opposed to blank columns which are typical for vertical planner layouts.

Erin Condren Hardbound Life Planner Review 

And if both pages aren’t lined, then almost always there is one page of the spread that is – which is ideal for list making, notes etc.

2. No sidebar

Horizontal planners tend to have more useable, wider writing space for each day with each day’s writing space extending the full width of a page.

Ashley Shelly Planner Review – Weekly Planner (pros, cons and a walkthrough)

Review of the Ultimate Weekly Planner by Studio 331

3. Useable notes section

Vertical planners almost always include a sidebar so there are 4 columns for each page (e.g. mon – thurs on 1 page and fri – sun + sidebar on the other page). However, it means the columns for each day and the sidebar end up being narrow. Most planners are 7 x 9″ which means each column tends to only be 1.5″ wide.

Vertical planners are prone to dividing the sidebar into small sections which might not be in sync with how you want to use the sidebar.

Moreover, vertical planners seem to include a dates at a glance calendar in the sidebar of the weekly spread which to me, is just dead space.

The notes section of horizontal weekly planners can usually be converted into a habit tracker since it’s wider giving more room to write your habits.

Using the MAMBI Happy Planner Horizontal

4. Wide writing space

Because of these narrow columns in vertical planners, you’ll probably need multiple lines of text for tasks. I’ve found I can only fit 2 to 3 words in the width of a vertical column.

Using the Plum Paper Vertical Weekly Planner

Because tasks don’t need to waste multiple lines, I find I can write more on the weekly spread:

With horizontal planners you can draw a line to divide the writing space into 2, and still have enough room for tasks. Or some horizontal planners come already divided into 2 such as Whistle and Birch and the Emily Ley Simplified Planner.

Whistle and Birch Horizontal Weekly Spread (Pastel Theme)

5. More control over the size of each section

Because the majority of horizontal planners don’t tend to be divided – are just one big open space – you can choose how much room you need. When I used the Dabney Lee for Blue Sky planner I divided each day into thirds, but made the blog section slightly narrower than the other 2. Most vertical planners divide each day into equal thirds, or into 2 sections and a checklist which can be restrictive.

Using the Dabney Lee for Blue Sky Weekly Planner 

6. Neater

I find that whenever I use a horizontal planner it ends up being neater. I don’t have to write in the margin because I’ve run out of room in the columns, or add as many sticky notes for overflow tasks etc.

Messy spread in a the Plum Paper Vertical Weekly Planner

…As opposed to a neater spread in the Moleskine Planner

Minimalist black and white weekly spread in the Moleskine Weekly Planner

Recommend Horizontal Weekly Planners

Some of my favorite horizontal planner layouts

• Agendio (custom planner, you build your own the layout)
• Pretty Simple Planners
• Plum Paper
• Posy Paper
• Ashley Shelley (if you want an hourly planner)
• Whistle and Birch
• Day Designer for Blue Sky Horizontal
• Recollections
• Amelia Lane
• MAMBI Happy Planner
• Etc.!

Planning tips

• Setting up a new planner: 70 Tasks to add
• Why I don’t use ring bound planners (and what I use instead) 
• 6 Useful ways to efficiently plan your week using highlighters 

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