A daily planner that promised positivity, but delivered disappointment

I'd heard of this planner before, and its whole concept is to take just 6 minutes a day (split between morning and evening) to set a positive tone for the day, and then at night, review what you've accomplished. It's definitely an investment, but I was lucky enough to receive this planner as a gift, which I was thrilled about.

Design

This planner is super thick, like a full-sized book. Initially, it comes wrapped in plastic. Once you unwrap it, there's a layer of paper around the cover that you can toss right away.

<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/a><\/div><\/div> And finally, here it is: a beige-colored fabric cover with a hard binding. It's not very pleasant to hold, with the fabric feeling stiff and rough to the touch. Plus, I've had to constantly clean off cat hair and other debris from the cover. The fabric will collect dust quickly, so I store it in a closed drawer.<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/a><\/div><\/div>OpeningThe pages are thick – that's a big plus. I hate when notebooks have thin pages and you can see what's written on the other side. There are two ribbon bookmarks.

<\/p>

<\/a><\/div><\/div>There's a table of contents. I mean, it's not just a planner – it's a book. Whatever. This planner has over 280 pages. Of those, 90 pages are the author's text. Maybe some people will like that it's not just blank pages with questions, but also includes advice and instructions. But for me, it was a bit too much. It feels like they're just padding the page count. You could have gotten by with one or two pages explaining how to use the planner. Especially since the text doesn't really add anything important.<\/a><\/div><\/div>There are various tips and quotes. Sometimes the quotes take up a whole page – I guess that's just to add more thickness to the planner.<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/a><\/div><\/div> I flipped through the text quickly, eager to start filling it out.Filling out the planner

One thing I really love about this planner is the daily format – one page per day. The questions are pretty repetitive, but that's kind of the point. The beginning of the week has a 'Questions of the Week' page, which are just for self-reflection.

On the first day of the week, there's a new task: smile at a stranger, feed a stray animal, watch a movie you've been meaning to see, take a phone-free walk, and so on. You get to decide whether or not to do these tasks. I have to say, I'm not a big fan of the daily questions, but I get the idea behind it. The morning and evening pages are separated by a quote from some famous philosopher, writer, or thinker. I've come across some familiar names, but there are also some new ones. The quotes are well-chosen and always relevant, no matter how happy or self-sufficient you feel.

The morning and evening questions are pretty similar: a list of things you're grateful for in the morning, and a list of your plans for the day in the evening. I have to admit, I don't always feel grateful in the morning, but the idea is to set a positive tone for the day. So, I'm trying to push myself to fill out the morning pages.

It's the same with the evening pages. I've seen an example in the author's notes (check out the screenshot below) of how to fill out these pages. They list completely different events, and the morning and evening pages don't repeat themselves. Unfortunately, it doesn't work that way for me, and my evening 'highlights' often mirror my morning 'what makes today great'.

I've been using this planner for a month so far, and I have four more months to go. At the end of each month, there's a 'monthly review' page where you can rate your satisfaction with different areas of your life. There's also a habit tracker. Maybe one of the bookmarks is for this page, so you can come back to it and check off another day. Cons

Aside from what I've already mentioned, there's one more thing that's bugging me. The planner is just too thick to take with me on trips. If you're going on vacation or a business trip, you'll have to either carry a heavy book with thick paper and a hardcover, or leave it behind and break your streak.

I've got to say, I'm really disappointed with the layout of this planner. They've wasted so much space on quotes and left tons of room for the actual fields. Why couldn't they have made the lines wider? I mean, I have to write in tiny handwriting and squeeze everything in just to fit. It's like they expect you to fill it out on a napkin – a few words per line.

My ThoughtsHonestly, I don't think this planner has helped me become a more positive thinker or rid myself of negative emotions. I get the idea – start the day with a good attitude, notice the little pleasant moments throughout the day, and record them at night. But it just didn't work for me. Often, the 'great' events I was looking forward to in the morning ended up being a source of negativity. Some days were just lacking in pleasant events, so I had to duplicate the morning and night entries just to make it look like I'm doing something. It's like I'm just going through the motions, and it feels like I'm not really experiencing life.

This whole thing, along with the 90-page introduction, just makes me feel like this planner is a kitten trying to pass itself off as a tiger. None of the flimsy cover, thin paper, or two bookmarks can save it. The planner tries to look put-together, but it could easily be a 200-page notebook. I'm just glad it's only supposed to last for five months, not five years like this one.