Back when we started the planner test drive, we were asking our community for suggestions and one of our Society members introduced me to the liveWELL Planner.
I’m SO glad she did. This planner is rivalling my existing one and may be replacing it permanently.
The liveWELL Flex Planner from Inkwell Press is a weekly planner that’s beautifully designed. This was my first introduction to any of Inkwell’s planners and I quickly fell in love with both the style of the planner and the look of it.
I selected the Wood Chevron design, and put it to the test over the course of several weeks in March.
Planner Specs
This planner comes in two editions – the Flex Planner (which is the one I test drove) and then the Classic edition. The big difference between these is the layout of the planning pages. The Flex features a weekly horizontal layout while the Classic features a weekly vertical layout.
liveWELL Flex Planner is similar size-wise to both the Desire Map Planner and the Classic Day Designer. It’s 8 x 9.25 inches and the cover is hardbound with a coating. It’s definitely durable and it would be able to withstand my abuse for a full year. The planner is bound with a gold wire-o and the book lays flat.
The paper is thick and it doesn’t bleed through, which is something I appreciate as I use a lot of Sharpies. The pages inside the planner are 7 x 9 inches so they are a good size, but more on that in a minute.
My Test Drive
The weeks that I went full throttle on my test drive were some of the busiest weeks of my year. After traveling three times in March, I was finally back in the office for more than a week at a time and it was time to get things done!
I actually had a lot of meetings and calls that week, so the planner was really put to the test. The planner came with me to several meetings out of the house and was small enough to be portable. (I never take my regular planner out of the house so this was a plus, as I wanted to go to the coffee shop one day to do some planning.)
What I Loved About This Planner
There are a lot of things I loved about the liveWELL planner, but as silly as it is, I really liked the mylar ruler that came with it. It is a great touch that helped me keep track of where I was without always adding a post-it note.
One thing that really sets this planner apart is the use of color throughout the planner which makes it pleasing to use on a daily basis. It’s a small thing, but it makes your day-to-day planning a little more fun.
Finally, this planner is very much focused on your goals but does it in a way that’s helpful, not overwhelming. There are sections for yearly goals, as well as quarterly goals, to break them down into milestones.
It also includes a section called “The Monthly Mission Board” for your monthly goal planning. I wasn’t sure if I was going to actually use The Monthly Mission Boards but I found them super helpful. So much so that I may move to this planner on a full-time basis.
On a monthly basis, there are three habit trackers to keep you on track with whatever you’d like to keep an eye on. I used mine for my daily activity to keep me on track.
Fun Extras in this Planner
The liveWELL Flex planner is packed full of extras, but I had a few favorites.
Starting with the colored, coated tabs for each month. They are fun as they are colored, and very durable. It’s a small touch, but they add to the overall experience.
The planner includes a bill tracker, travel plans and gift lists which I love having in my planner.
Plus there’s an accordion pocket at the back to keep things like receipts together and there’s an elastic closure to keep everything all together. (This is super important to me as I don’t like things being loose if they escape!)
Most of all, I loved the experience Inkwell Press creates with their Video Setup Series. This series of emails and video goes above and beyond but is an amazing extra.
There’s a series of six setup videos designed to help you make the most of the planner and get started with a planning system that works for your life. The videos include topics such as organizational systems, monthly planning strategy, and weekly planning for success.
Finally, the packaging the planner arrived in was simple but cute – and it came with some fun cards to help you get started.
Items of Note
The planner includes the typical monthly calendar spread so you can take a look at the month all at once.
For daily planning, it’s a weekly spread, which means you don’t have a lot of space, so if you take a lot of notes on a daily basis, you may find it challenging to fit everything in. They do have a notes section at the bottom of the one-page spread, so that may work, and the planner includes blank notes pages at the end.
Also, while the planner is dated, it doesn’t include times for the day, so if you have a lot of appointments each day, you may not have enough room.
The quality of this planner far exceeds its price point at $54.00 for the liveWELL Flex version. The Flex version of the planner is available through Inkwell Press’ website and they have a full range of planners including a meal planner, a fitness planner and more.
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