My First Disc-bound - A Review of Happy Planner

 

[VIDEO TRANSCRIPT]

 

Hello, my friends, I hope you're doing well. I am so excited because in this video I will be reviewing for the first time on my channel, a Disc-bound Planner, I finally broke down and bought a Happy Planner and I'm so excited to be revealing it on this channel. 

 

So, in this video, you're going to hear my initial thoughts about a Disc-bound Planner. Since this is the first time I've owned one, you're going to hear about what I like and what I dislike about the planner. If you're new here, hello, my name is Tonya and I do videos on practical and functional planning. If that's something that sounds interesting to you, please be sure to hit the like and subscribe button. 

 

So, when I was preparing to do this video, I was thinking about Tonya, “Why did it take you so long to get a Disc-bound Planner and review it on the channel?” I've had this YouTube channel for five years, and I pretty much put out a video every week. But I'd never have done a review on a Disc-bound Planner. And I think the reason why I've refrained from buying a Disc-bound Planner is because when I looked at it, it didn't look like the professional image. I want it to project. I'm just going to be honest, okay. And I was really unsure about the disc. I wasn't sure if the disks were going to be secure enough to hold my planner pages. 

 

So, when I talk about that professional image that I'm trying to project, I'm an accountant by trade. So, I work in a professional environment and a lot of the people that watch my videos, they're doctors, they're lawyers, there are lots of professional people that watch my videos, then there are people that had a professional career but they're now retired but they still use planners to organize their life, all types of people. Some people are housewives and they want to run a very organized household. 

 

A lot of the people that watch my videos are similar to me and that they use the planner in a very functional way to get things done but I wasn't sure if the Happy Planner or any disk bound planner fit in with that persona. And I think now that I think about it, I probably was thinking about it a little off and wrong. 

 

2:09

If you own a disk bound planner, I really want to know what your thoughts are because some people are going to watch this video and not agree with the things that I am saying. Feel free to express yourself in the comments. These are just my opinions. I would love to know your opinion about Disc-bound Planners. 

 

So, if you're new to Disc-bound Planner like I am, Disc-bound Planners are held together by these discs. Now these discs are plastic but it is my understanding that you can replace these discs with bigger ones and with smaller ones. So that allows you to control how wide and how big of a footprint of planner pages that you carry. Also, from my understanding you can get these discs and different colors. These discs are like a dark gray. The planner pages are cut with like this tongue and groove shape here and that's how it's able to fit on the disc. 

 

Understanding these rings you can also get them in metal so it may look sturdier if you get metal rings as opposed to the plastic ones but this is everything that came with the Happy Planner that I purchased here. 

 

One thing I was worried about with Disc-bound Planner is the stability of the planner, I was afraid that it would like really bend so when I hold it this way, I said, “Man that's really going to....” like I was unsure about the structure of the disk so it is a little bit pliable, but it's not so bad where you're going to lose planner pages. 

 

I really initially thought when I looked at a Disc-bound Planner that I would put this in my tote bag and then I would pull it out and one of these would have fell off. Those were just my initial thoughts. It just didn't look like it was a sturdy way to hold paper. Now I think what's sturdy is now rings. This is an example of a ring bound planner. It is definitely sturdy. You can switch the pages in and out. You can also switch the pages in and out of a Disc-bound Planner if you have the proper hole punch. So as far as being able to add or remove pages, you can certainly do it with this type of disc planner system. 

 

So, I don't think I mentioned the name of this planner is the 2022 Plan on its Classic Hourly Vertical Student Happy Planner and it is for 12 months. Now I'm not a student, but I wanted to get to student one because it had an hourly format so this planner was actually made for people who are in school, who are in college who are in, some people call it university. So let me go ahead and flip through here. Now my initial thoughts on the cover. This cover is laminated as you can see here. So, the cover can be switched out and I've seen some people on social media with some really cute and nice disk bound covers. I even had someone message me and said, “Tonya, do you plan to offer Disc-bound covers in your shop?” I actually never thought about it but it's something that I may consider because if you didn't know I do sell planner covers in my shop. 

 

I'm honestly not really a fan of a laminated planter cover. So, it's my understanding that these can be switched out. So, let's move on from that. But this cover is laminated, it's flexible, you probably could make your own planner cover if you have a laminating machine and just laminate it, cut the holes in it and put it in your Happy Planner. 

 

One advantage to a disk bound planner I see right off the bat is that you can fold it back like a notebook. So, this will be very comfortable to write on because you can fold the planner pages back if you're writing on a desk and you don't have a whole lot of space to be able to just have it out like that you can use less desk space by bending it back like this and simply writing on your planner. That's a huge advantage to a planner like this just like coiled bound planners, you can bend them back just like a wire bound planner that's what I mean, you can bend them back just like this. 

 

So, let's flip through this planner. Here you have a cover page here says hello this planet belongs to and you can write your name here. 

 

Next you have an annual calendar. So, this is the 2022 annual calendars and 2023 annual calendars and there's a space over here where you can write in goals and notes on the side. 

 

Next you have your annual calendars at a glance, this is six months and the next two pages are six months. So, you have a column for each month. This is August, September, October, and so on and so forth. As you can see here, Saturdays and Sundays are shaded. Next you have a monthly overview. I like.grid. So that is a plus for me. I like the way this page is laid out. It tries to appeal to everyone. You have that grid here some people like dot grid like me, it has graph here, lines here, blank here, right here. It's like a monthly overview you can write here what you plan to do, or you can use this page creatively with stickers and whatnot. 

 

6:55

Now speaking of stickers, one great thing about Happy Planner is that you can buy their accessories. These are a couple of sticker books and I actually had purchased the sticker books years ago long before I actually ever purchased the planner. But I think that is a big lore to the Happy Planner brand because the stickers are made to go in their planner. So, you don't have to worry about cutting the stickers down or if it's going to match and all that kind of stuff with the Happy Planner stickers because these stickers were made for their planners, they also sell washi tape which I have purchased in the past. 

 

So, let's take a look at the tabs here. So, I like the font here on the tabs. They're easy to read the tabs are made with harder cardstock and the tab is laminated. As a person that sells planner accessories. I asked myself why is Happy Planner so popular? Okay, I asked myself that because it when you go on YouTube, almost all the videos are about Happy Planner. Okay, when you go on social media, they dominate. Happy Planner is certainly one of the most popular brands out there. Happy Planners are everywhere. And I think the reason for their success. And let me know what you think in the comments. I think the reason for their success is because they're so easy to get. There's a low barrier to entry. When you go to Walmart, they sell these planners in Walmart, they sell these planners and target they sell these planners in Michaels and Jo Ann. So, if I'm in a store picking up some groceries, and I happen to walk past this planner, I could just pick it up, put it in a cart and go on about my business. 

 

8:37

So I think because there's so widely available is part of the lore of the Happy Planner, whereas what I was doing is by my planners online because I was doing all this research about the format and I wanted to make sure it looked professional and I wanted to make sure it had all the things that I wanted and a planner, this doesn't take a lot of thought you're in the store, you see it you pick it up you go so then you know of course these will sometimes go on sale. And then it even makes it even easier for the average person to pick up. I think that is why Happy Planner is so big and huge. 

 

So here is your monthly spread. This is a month spread across two pages. I like how clean it is definitely for the creative person because a creative person can come out here and you can do whatever you want you to put your stickers here or if you don't want to put stickers in it, you don't have to. So, there's a section over here with notes. It starts with the Sunday date. There are no moon phases on the planner, but there are holidays like here's Women's Equality Day. Honestly, I didn't even know there was a Women's Equality Day but there is right here on the planner. So that is a nice clean format. You got lots of space here. 

 

I think I forgot to mention that this planter is seven inches by nine and a quarter inches. So that's the one that I picked up. I believe they come in different sizes if you're interested in that. So that's the monthly spread. 

 

After the monthly spread. You get a page here where you can plan, organize, initiate, put notes to yourself and track and evaluate what needed improvement for the month and what worked this month to help you succeed. 

 

10:05

Next you get a whole page of a to do list, you can prioritize it in this column and put due dates for your to do list right here. This is the reason why I got this format: this weekly spread. This was one of the only spreads I saw on the website where it included the hourly schedule. As you can see here, this is a weekly format, it starts with Monday, it goes from 7am to 9pm and you have blocks. So, if you are a student, this format is great for time blocking. You can block off the times that you have class pencil in times that you want to study pencil in your work schedule etc. So, if you're trying to make the most of your time and hourly format like this is the most productive format in my opinion. Over to the side here you have some space where you can write in quotes, put your stickers or put whatever you want to accomplish your goals for the week. You have a blank space here dot grid here and then here in the corner you have a small weekly tracker and if you're curious, the space here is one and a half inches. 

 

So, if you have stickers that are one and a half inches, they will fit in this Happy Planner format. So, each week looks the same like this. And then it starts over again you get your September overview of your cardstock for your tab for the new month and then you have your monthly spread. Next you have this page where you can plan and organize your to do list and then start your weekly spread. So, it's the same throughout the entire planner.

 

Now each tab is different. I like that there is some coiling on these tabs and it still leaves room for creativity. So let me quickly show you what's on each of the tabs. 

 

Now I do notice that when I'm turning the pages it is not that easy. You kind of have to lift up and go around when you turn the pages on the desk; I just wanted to mention it. So here in August there's some foiling here and it says, “Make today ridiculously awesome”. This one says, “Be kind to you”. This one is just a black and gray checker. This tab says. “Be bold, brave and brilliant”. “Believe you can”. Some spirals here. “Dream, believe, achieve”. “You got this.” “Become what inspires you.” Some more checkers here but in a different color. “The future begins now.” 

 

So, when you get to the end of the planner it is just a weekly page and we have one page for notes here at the end and at the end. Here's another laminated page cover and it says, “Plan a happy life”. So, what are my thoughts on this? Would I recommend this planner?” The answer is yes. I would recommend this planner. I like the format. I think it's a nice clean format. There's something to be said about just a simple planner format. People don't want complications, people want simplicity. I think the paper quality feels pretty good. It feels like there's two to paper; so that means that your pins should take to it pretty well. This is a five-millimeter pen and I consider it pretty inky. So, this pen is in my shop. I love it because it has the cushiony hold here and I wrote “Hello” here. You don't see it once the page is closed for the most part. I don't know what the weight is of this paper but I think it does pretty good with the bleed through and stuff like that. It's not a super cheap paper. I'll say that. 

 

So, I hope you found this video helpful. Please don't forget to like this video. This is Tonya helping you feel more organized, so this can be your best year yet.