Whitney English Day Designer Review
I discussed my love for paper planners here and here. 2015 is imminent and coming fast. For me, it’s down to the wire to decide which planner I’m going to use. Though I found that there are many planner alternatives, I decided to try the Simplified Planner or the Day Designer for this year. The one that I find to suit me less will be for sale (both are sold out). Here are my thoughts on Whitney English’s Day Designer.
The Day Designer has a very clear purpose and helps direct the user in the same way. On the title page is says, “The Strategic Planner and Daily Agenda for Living a Well-Designed Life.” More about the purpose is explained here.
Here’s how the Day Designer did with my agenda criteria::
- Cover:: Strong and durable. It feels like the same compressed card board. The great thing that really gives the day designer a strong “plus” here is the cover is wipeable. There are also several pattern choices. The pocket on the inside of the front cover is also the wipeable material.
- Binding:: Once again, spirals, which no matter how durable, I consider a minus. Spirals just don’t last the rough and tumble of my purse for a full year.
- Tabs:: Day Designer tabs are a heavy weight card stock and the month part is laminated. There is room and lines for notes on both sides of the divider. I consider these a minus. I want my note space on the daily page, not my monthly tab. Also the tab opens to the first day view of the month, instead of the monthly view and, as a personal preference, I like to see the month at the tab.
- Paper:: Of course this is my opinion, but this paper is on the thin side. My regular pens would bleed right though this. No question. Minus.
- Page layout:: These daily pages are full of ways to have a “well-designed” day. Spots on the page include a daily quote, hourly schedule, top three to-dos, an other to-dos space as big at the daily schedule, “due,” dinner, download. If you forget something with a day designer, it would only be because you didn’t write it down! Plus plus plus for this page organization.
Besides the judging criteria above, the Day Designer has clear bonuses for the entrepreneur. The first several pages are all about being goal oriented for the year. There are pages for missions and why, values and how, strengths and skills, developing a brand plan, yearly goals and measuring them. While all of these are fantastic tools, these are the reasons I feel the day designer is not for me this year. It does give me some fantastic ideas though.
What do you think about the day designer? What planner do you use?
This planner looks fantastic and will definitely help keep you organized!
~Sara
Thanks Sara, but I actually decided to pass on the day designer for this year. It was just a little too much for my needs. It is a fantastic planner though. Top notch.
I thought about both this and the Emily Ley planners, but I just can't justify the price. The size is also a little too big for me to want to carry it around, though I love the space you have to write and, yknow, plan.
I use the Lilly Pulitzer planner, and am totally in love! It's been the best one I've used by far. Bonus: It covers 18 months, so no need to buy one each year.
Morgan
http://www.yellowdoordiaries.blogspot.com
I'm annoying and have to print and make my own. I don't carry it in my purse though…so it's large and in charge and holds plans for the three of us. I always swoon over planners in stores but can never find something that suits my needs.
Great looking planner! I've been looking for a new one for the new year. I haven't found one that I am absolutely sold on yet tho.
I love your planner reviews! I'm still on the fence about my planner for 2015, but this helps. š
What a pretty planner! I like the wipeable aspect, as I'm often snacking when I fill in my planner, haha! The thin pages might be a problem for me though. Thanks for the review!
My sister swears by the Lilly planners. She's been using those for the past six years and will never use anything else.
I wish I had time to design my own like you did. Your pages are perfect for many reasons. It never looks that big in pictures.
The price was very steep for a planner, but I do believe that you get what you pay for. As many planners as I switch to during the year, I've probably spent more on multiples than I did on this one. As for the size, I carry huge totes all the time, so there's always room for a massive planner. lol. My true desire is to have the time to design and make my own pages to just fill in, but I haven't had the time to do so and when you think about cost per hour, it would probably come out cheaper for me to just buy something.
I'm so happy I'm not the only planner geek! I love the printables I've found but I don't want to spend money on printing and binding when I can find something pre-made. That said, I made my own this year and I liked it. It's simple but slim – just what I need!
Did you do a post on it? I would love to see what you did!
I'm such a nerd about my planners, haha! Because I work in a school and a "new year" begins in August/September for me, I need to use a planner that goes by school year instead of calendar year, which kind of sucks because most planners that go by school year are for students and are pretty plain. Oh well!!