This is part 3 of my For Planning Purposes series. Check out part 1 and part 2. 

Because of the challenges with the Erin Condren Life Planner (see review post here), I decided to try a new planner for this year. I recently purchased the Emily Ley Simplified Life Planner and I am loving it so far!

I was drawn to the Simplified Life Planner initially because of the creator Emily Ley. Ley has a wonderful blog about her journey to simplify her life and focus on what matters most. I have followed her planner development journey for the past few years and when she announced a weekly academic edition for this year I knew it was the right time to try it out.

I purchased the 2016 WEEKLY Simplified Planner – Mint Dot as soon as it went on sale and I was glad that I did — some of the editions sold out within the hour! There is a huge following for Ley’s planers but unlike with the EC Life Planner obsession, there doesn’t seem to be the same pressure to scrapbook/decorate the planners.

Since the planner starts in August 2015, I haven’t had the opportunity to use it “daily” yet but I have some initial pro/con thoughts. Keep in mind that these are things that I consider pros and cons, you may love some of the things I think are drawbacks and vice versa.

Pros:

Light. The Simplified Life Planner is much lighter than the planner was using before (the EC Planner). This is due to thinner pages, smaller size, and lack of “extras” like pockets with calendars and stickers. I imagine the Simplified Life Planner  will be much more portable.

Tipped Corners. The corners on the front and back covers are tipped with a metal corner. This protects the edges from getting torn up during normal use.

Standardized Covers. The choices given by some planner companies can be overwhelming, not to mention time-consuming. The Simplified Life planners come in 3 patterns this year, all of which are adorable!

Supporting a great company. As I said above, one of the things that drew me to the SP was Emily Ley herself. I love supporting businesses owned by awesome women!

Day Colors. Each day has a consistent color which I love! It is a subtle way of injecting color without it being overwhelming.

Cons:

Non-laminated cover. The cover is not laminated, meaning that it might stain or get soggy if you manage to spill something on it.

Two launches a year. Because there are only two launches a year, if you don’t get your hands on one when they launch you may be waiting a long time! I managed to snag my first choice planner but I know a lot of people were disappointed.

Thinner Pages. While the thinner pages mean that the planner is lighter, they also mean that you might get some bleed through. I have tested a few different pens and found that a few of my “usual planning pens” bleed. For me, it’s more important that a planner be light so I am not too worried. For others, this might be a deal breaker.