8.5” x 11” undated 6-month planner.
Available at pandaplanner.com and Amazon.
What Panda Planner says*:
“Panda Planner is a scientifically-designed daily planner that will empower you to take back control, reclaim your happiness and flourish in every way.”
My experience with the Panda Planner Pro:
When I first unboxed my Panda Planner Pro, I was so excited. It was securely and attractively packaged. It was beautifully bound and printed. The paper was thick, the printing crisp and clear, and the edges rounded. It was magnificent. It was luscious to write in. It was organized: a monthly section, a weekly section, and a daily section. Now I was going to be supremely organized!
And I was. For the first week or so.
Then I timed how long it was taking me to fill out a daily page. Thirty minutes. Hmm. More than I wanted to spend scheduling my day. And it was starting to feel tedious.
Then there were all those boxes and prompts that are intended to improve mindfulness, productivity, and happiness. A monthly review. A weekly review. A morning review. An end of day review. Goals for the month. Goals for the week. Goals for the day. A gratitude box. A focus box. An affirmation box. And more. Most of the time, half of those boxes were left blank.
If I wasn’t using all the features of the Panda Planner, then what did I buy it for?
After 6 months, I ran out of monthly pages but still had tons of weekly and daily pages. What to do? Get another monthly planner and have two planners? Yep, that’s what I did. For a while. Gradually, my Panda Planner sat unused on the corner of my desk. Every now and then I’ll fill out a page, but I suspect it’s out of guilt. A beautiful planner I don’t want to waste.
Using the Panda Planner Pro, I discovered that I prefer a simple, straightforward planner. Well, it wasn’t so much of a discovery (I know I’m a simple girl who likes simple things) as much as it was a realization that trying to fit myself into an uber-organized mold doesn’t work for me. All the unused pages in my Panda Planner attest to that.
Pros:
- Great size. More than enough room to write. It never felt cramped for space.
- Flexible, durable vegan leather cover. Comes in 5 colors, so you have choices.
- Lay-flat binding. Makes it easy to write in, from the first page to the last.
- Thick paper. Even marker doesn’t bleed through. (Unless you use Copic markers—those might bleed through. My felt tip Staedtlers didn’t.)
- Three ribbons – if you’ve used a planner without one, you know how important that is!
Cons:
- Lots of boxes. It’s a complicated layout.
- It takes a lot of time. Filling out a page can take 30 minutes or more.
- It’s easy to run out of pages. If you religiously use your Panda Planner every day, there are just enough pages for 6 months. But if you’re like me and skip a day or two (or more), all the monthly pages are used up and you’re left with a bunch of weekly and daily pages.
- Price. It sells on PandaPlanner.com for $37 and it only lasts 6 months. A full year of Panda Planning will cost over $70.
Conclusion:
While there are some features of the Panda Planner Pro that I love, there are too many drawbacks for me to purchase it again. The design and layout don’t fit how I prefer to plan. The limited benefit, for me, doesn’t outweigh the price. My search for the perfect planner continues. However, if you’re looking for a goal-tracking or mindfulness planner, this is probably the perfect planner for you.
*Taken directly from Panda Planner’s website. The description is theirs.
Leave a Reply