After a few months of using the Erin Condren Life Planner I realized it just wasn’t working for me. I searched around, looking for a day planner that would meet all of my needs, and stumbled upon the Simplified Planner by Emily Ley. Comparing my Erin Condren and Simplified Planner, I thought it’d be helpful to show y’all the differences between the two planners.
Erin Condren Life Planner
What originally drew me to the Life Planner were the colors, monthly calendar views, and all of the rave reviews I had read online. The planner, which has a laminated cover, is really durable. The pages are bound well, and although it’s a little bulky, the size worked well day to day. It’s definitely not a planner you can carry in your small purse, but it works around the house and at work.
The monthly view with tabs worked really well for me. It was helpful being able to flip between months and to see an overview of what was coming up. On the other hand, the weekly view did not work for me at all.
On the far left side of each week was a place for notes, but it really wasn’t enough space to write down what I needed to accomplish that week. The days were split into morning, day, and night, but again, it just didn’t work for my schedule. I really needed something that broke down the days by hours. At the bottoms of each day was a place to write down meal plans, exercise, daily dos, thoughts, and inspiration, but seriously? Who can write all that down in 5 lines?
The Life Planner does have a lot of organizational additions in the back, which I really liked. I appreciated having two pockets to place documents and to have a zipper pouch to store various stickers, coupons, etc.. Overall, the planner is bright and easy to use, but it just didn’t work for my schedule. Having the days broken down into morning, day, and night didn’t allow me to see how much time I was working with and all of the little things I needed to get down within a 24 hour period.
Simplified Planner by Emily Ley
When I first received the Simplified Planner in the mail I was really surprised by how large it was. This is one bulky and heavy planner! This planner lost points because the cover is not laminated, which scares me because of my amazing ability to spill coffee on my day planners. My hope is that the cover and the spiral binding lasts thoughout the year, but it doesn’t seem as durable as the Erin Condren Life Planner.
Much like the Life Planner, the Simplified Planner has a monthly calendar view with colorful tabs to give you an overview of what’s to come. On the left hand side of the calendar view is a place to note important dates, and each day gives you plenty of room to write in events.
What really sold me on this planner though was the daily calendar view! Each day has it’s own full page spread, with Saturdays and Sundays sharing a spread.
On each single day you’ll find an hourly breakdown from 7:00AM to 7:00PM on the left hand side. This allows you to write down the things you need to accomplish at specific times within elongated business hours. On the right hand side of the single day page you’ll find a 12 line To Do list, a place for notes, and a place to plan dinner. It’s really everything I need and gives me plenty of space to organize a full day.
The weekends are broken down by AM, Lunch, and PM and only has room for 3 To Dos and notes. That’s probably the only thing I’d change about the calendar itself is to give Saturday and Sunday its own page. I have so many things to get done on the weekends and I wish the planner provided a place to plan for that.
Overall, I’m extremely happy with the Simplified Planner. I wouldn’t personally recommend the Erin Condren Life Planner, but that’s because it just didn’t work for me. I know plenty of people that love it, but as time goes on and life gets busier, I really believe the Simplified Planner will give you the space you need to plan out your days.
