Like a lot of us, I used a planner with large horizontal spaces to organize myself during the busy times of high school. She looked like this:
As you can see, I have been really bad at keeping up with this planner.
I brought this type of planner to college but I realized a few weeks in that this style wasn’t working for my new schedule.
I’d have gaps between classes and activities but I wasn’t sure what the best thing to do during these times. Do I go eat, do I read for this class or do I work on an assignment for another class? Or do I allow myself time to be a vegetable and scroll through Insta??
For the first few weeks of college, I felt like I was kind of floating around in a void doing whatever task felt right at the moment. I was definitely wasting hours that I could have dedicated to better things. It was time to get my stuff organized and structure my time in a smarter way.
So I went down an Internet rabbit hole of planner review videos and ranking listicles, looking for a new planner. I looked for something that was undated and displayed the days of the week vertically and in hourly increments.
The popular brand Passion Planner caught my eye, but honestly, the whole intensive life goal sections felt overwhelming and knowing myself, I wouldn’t have used them much. Plus, was I really about to drop $30 for a planner? No, ma’am.
Then I stumbled upon a YouTube video and the planner shown looked perfect: simple, with a bit of goal planning included but not too much, and a vertical week. It was the Weekly Vertical Planner by the brand Wordsworth Planner, which I personally think is like a Passion Planner but pared down and approachable. I bought it for $10.50 including shipping (the original sale price was $14.99 but the YouTuber had a 30% off code in her video’s description box and I got free shipping at checkout!) and have been using it for a few weeks now.
My glorious Wordsworth Planner ~ .
My thoughts on the planner:
1. Most of all I love the weekly layout.
Here’s what a chaotic weekly spread of mine looks like.
It’s so easy for me to block out times when I have classes or club activities. I like to fill up the weekly spread on Sunday so I can anticipate things coming up during the week and fit in study time to finish what I need to get done for certain days.
2. It makes you think about different goals you have for your year, month, week, and day.
This is the page before a monthly calendar spread.
This baby will help you feel a little more in control of your life and might even inspire you to set up big plans for yourself to achieve in small and consistent steps! In the beginning of the planner, there’s space to write out big goals you have for yourself, whether that be personal, relationship and professional goals. Before each month, you’re prompted to write a few goals you have plus why you want to reach them and how you’ll reach them. At the end of the month, you can do a quick reflection.
3. The tiny “I’m Grateful For” section at the top of each day of the week has been so effective in making me appreciate my days more.
These small but mighty squares are making me practice mindfulness.
I get to start my morning off in a positive mindset when I fill this part out and I’m reminded of how darn fortunate and privileged I am to have this life and get this higher education.
4. It comes with cute and useful features, too!
This nifty pocket is at the back of the planner.
There’s a pocket in the back that comes with a couple sheets of stickers, an elastic loop to hold a pen in and an elastic band to keep your Wordsworth closed and 3 ribbon bookmarks to use within the planner.
Wordsworth Planner, ily.
In conclusion, if you like vertical weekly planners and are looking for an affordable, undated, minimal and goal-oriented one, check this guy out!
All photos by the author unless otherwise noted.