Panda Planner Vs. The SELF Journal - Review and Comparison
If you're a freelancer, student, or someone who has some freedom to arrange your day, you need a planner system. Without one it's too easy to float along and forget about your priorities.
I'm a fan of analog. Digital todo-lists and calendars are convenient, but I can never stick with them. My brain gives more weight to things I've handwritten, and I'm more likely to follow through.
For years I used a blank notebook[1] and the Bullet Journal system. A blank notebook gives you plenty of freedom, but it can be annoying to fill in the same structure everyday. Nowadays there are tons of planner/journal options pre-filled with calendars, daily schedules, priority lists, and other interesting boxes.
Planning/Journaling everyday can also be a good place to anchor new habits. Gratitude practice, morning pages, and writing 10 ideas seem to be common activites amongst journalers.
I recently filled out two of these pre-filled planners, the Panda Planner and the SELF Journal. I bought them both at the same time to figure out which one I liked more. Here's my review:
Panda Planner Daily and Weekly Overview
- $25.97
- No use guide, but they direct you to video tutorials online
- Monthly, Weekly, and Daily pages
- 12 month pages, 16 week pages, ??? days
- 3 ribbon bookmarks
Here are some examples of what the weekly and daily pages look like:
You could download the Panda Planner PDF straight from their website. Print it out and you've got a free planner. I'd still prefer to buy the real thing for the nicer binding and ribbon bookmarks.
SELF Journal Overview
- $34.99
- Built in Use guide
- 13-Week Goals Planning, Monthly, Weekly, and Daily pages
- Enough pages for 3 months, 13 weeks of daily use.
- 1 Ribbon bookmark
Here's what the Self Journal weekly and daily pages look like:
Best Self has the entire journal available as a downloadable PDF if you want to check it out or print your own.
My Thoughts
Panda Planner
Pros
- 3 bookmarks for keeping track of month, week and day is nice, though I wish they were colored
- More boxes than the Self Journal
- Founders seem to iterate the journal quite frequently in response to customer reviews
Cons
- Blinding white paper and heavy lines make the page feel busy
- Too many boxes feel repetitive, the weekly planning feels like I write the same thing 3 times.
- Paper quality isn't great
SELF Journal
Pros
- Beautiful paper and layouts
- Wide schedule for reshuffling your day
- 13-week goal postmortem pages
Cons
- Use guide was kind of confusing
- Cloth cover attracts dust
- Expensive
Things neither get right
- The daily schedule in both journals starts at 6 and ends at 9, they really need a night-owl option
- I would love more blank freeform pages in both.
What planner should I pick next?
Both of these planners are great for everyday use. The cons I've listed are really just nitpicks, and I'd be happy using either one for a long time. Right now I'll probably get another SELF Journal, but maybe you have a better option.
Do you use a journal that you use everyday? Do you love it? Let me know which one.
Purchase a Panda Planner on Amazon
Purchase a SELF Journal on Amazon
[1] Moleskines are alright, but I really enjoy using Leuchtturm 1917 Dotted Notebooks. I'll just never be able to pronounce it.
Member discussion