I decided in 2018 to make this year my year of being on track. I purchased this planner after careful review of other planners and I was excited. But as I started marking out the dates, I realized, there was a problem. The monthly calendar goes for 6 months, the weekly for 3 months and the daily for three months. ERRR why??? Then I realized, to complete my year, I would have to purchase 3 more planner books for a total of $120. OMG this is nuts. So, before you purchase this, and don't get me wrong, it's great, i love the concept behind it, ask yourself, are you willing to spend $120 for a year planner? I'm not. Sorry Panda. Make a full year planner that doesn't cost $120 and I'll use it!

I bought this as a gift for a friend and I love it. I also got the Pro Planner version for myself which works well for my desk but I like this smaller version because: 1) the material is soft and flexible, 2) it's easy to throw into a bag, and 3) it's still large enough so I don't feel like I'd have to smush my notes on there. Even though I got this version for my friend, I might get one for myself for when I'm traveling. This would also make a great gift for anyone who uses a vision board and is keeping track of their goals and what not. Definitely would recommend this for you to use for yourself or for friends who like to keep their days organized but don't want a boring, regular planner.

I purchased this without reading reviews and if I would have read reviews maybe I wouldn't be disappointed. The concept is fantastic however, it only has room for 6 months (at a glance calendar) and 16 weeks for the weekly and 90 days for the daily. Do the math and if you wanted to use this often you wouldn't get the full 6 months out of it. I hope this planner comes out with a fuller version soon. Sadly, I won't be using this how I had planned.

I wanted to love this, but I think it's going to be a one-time purchase for me. I like the idea, but some of the prompts feel repetitive, even within a day, taking up room I could really use. The paper is fairly low quality for the price, too. The binding doesn't lay flat when opened and doesn't close all the way without the elastic closure. On the plus side: I like that it includes all the prompts I was hoping for. I wanted something with a clearly marked space for noting the day's distractions and triumphs while merging my personal and professional tasks and goals. I like that it reminds me to see the positives in each time period and not just dry to-dos that may or may not be accomplished. The three bookmark ribbons were a good choice. Thumbs up for those! But why is there zero color inside this thing? The pages have a Xeroxed look to them.

Ya got a lotta heart, kid, but for the price, I'd prefer smoother paper and some design cleanup. The weekly and daily pages look too similar"“I really wish the weekly date said "Week starting"“"“" instead of "Day and date" exactly like the daily pages. Other planners also mark the sections on the page edge with color blocks. Or at least on the section pages themselves, like on a top border or something. There needs to be more visual cues is what I'm saying.

So, in short, I'll use this but unless a new version is released that addresses, at the very least, paper and binding quality, I don't see myself replacing it with another when it's spent. Using a planner is already a chore I find hard to get excited about. My planner needs to feel nice in-hand and under my pen with minimal challenges (come on"“why no lay-flat binding?).

Updated to add: Wait, what?! I just realized there are six monthly pages but only enough weeks for four months, and only enough days for slightly over three months. This makes no sense whatsoever. I'm also finding that, in practice, having all the months together and then weeks together and then days together instead of weeks + days neighboring their corresponding monthly pages is tedious. Ugh. I'm so disappointed now. Dropping a star on my review because, while I still like the idea, this is SUCH a poorly-planned planner. (I'm also going to add that the email I received from Panda Planner about ebooks and videos and mini-courses is strangely spammy and kind of crazy-sounding. I did just buy a planner, right? Not a regimen of unproven weight loss supplements?)

I have both the Panda Planner and the Simple Elephant Planner. I like both, but I prefer the Simple Elephant planner.

The panda planner is really nice. It's got a nice hard cover that feels elegant and nice, heavy paper. It's somewhat like a journal and planner all in one. What I don't like about it, is that it is only 3 months, and for the price, I feel like it should be a full year. Also, there are parts of it that I'm not sure what to do with, so I just use those spaces to take notes, or I would end up wasting the space entirely. Additionally, it comes with videos and a lot of what I consider to be spam mail. I don't feel like I should have to watch videos or get spam mail to use a planner. The goal is to get organized, not waste time learning how to use the planner.

In the weekly section of the planner, I do like the project planning page sections and the goal sections. I can take or leave the last week review sections. I do not care for the planning upcoming week sections, because it is just too cumbersome to fill out every week. My family/work/personal/relationships all sort of overlap, and I don't have that much to say/do, really. Habits, learning, and passion projects are all incorporated into my weekly schedule, so I feel like those pages and sections are just kind of wasted space.

In the monthly section of the planner, again, I feel like there is just too much to write. I appreciate the planning section with the goals to accomplish and the distractions to avoid, but I don't care for the review section of wins and insights gained. In the daily section, I like being able to set priorities, having the schedule and task lists, and even the end of day review. I don't care for the morning review. I don't know what I'm supposed to do with the affirmation section or the exercise section, and again, I don't want to watch a video or read a mini-book to figure it out. A sample page filled out in the beginning of the planner would have been nice.

The Simple Elephant: The cover is not nearly as nice. It is still a hard cover, but it's kind of a soft hard cover and the planner overall feels cheaper in quality, and in fact, is lower in cost. The pages are about half the weight of the pages in the Panda Planner, and the overall feel is not as elegant. It has the same basic assembly as the Panda Planner with three ribbons to mark your place, and the elastic to hold it closed. It has one "Focus" section at the beginning of the planner, so instead of a daily or weekly focus, you set out yearly goals. Here is where they put their affirmation and "grateful for" sections. These still are not necessary to me, but at least they only take up one page, and I don't have to look at them everyday. Monthly sections are simple with just the month, goals, and space to write notes. Weekly sections consist of the week with goals for the week, successes and what can be done better. I like this a lot better than having an entire "weekly review." Also, the Simple Elephant has the entire week right in front of you, where the Panda Planner has one day per 2 pages. Which is kind of frustrating if you have an actual schedule you need to follow. Furthermore, in the Panda Planner, your weekly reviews are in a separate section from the daily views, so it's not very logically laid out. Had I designed the Panda Planner, I would have done the weekly view, with 7 daily views immediately following.

All in all, they are both great planners with great features. If you're looking for more of a journal, then you may want the Panda Planner. If you are looking for a planner to keep you on task, without all of the work and fluff, then I would go with the Simple Elephant.