Do you love the idea of bullet journals but still want a structured planner? No need to choose one; instead, check out the new Archer and Olive Planners! Today we are taking a closer look at the new Archer and Olive planners and professional line.
Let’s start with the planners!
That’s what you are most interested in, right? I ordered the A5 2024 Wellness Planner ($47) and the undated Art Deco planner ($41). First, the Wellness Planner.
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The Wellness planner is actually 14 months! You get November and December 2023 and all of 2024. The A5 size is cute, portable, and surprisingly not too thick (about 1″). It does have a wire-o binding, which is a letdown if you prefer a regular coil. The abstract design has gold foil accents. It comes with an elastic band in dark blue that doesn’t quite match the colors on the cover. There is one pen loop and a paper pocket on the inside back cover. You also get a plastic snap-in ruler since there are no ribbon bookmarks.
The paper is the usual Archer and Olive 160 gsm. When you open it up, you get a letter from Bonnie and information on how to use the planner. You get a spread of dot grid paper and 2024 mini months followed by your year-at-a-glance page. The year at a glance has six months per page, and since it’s blank, there are myriad ways you could use it besides future planning. Five more dot grid pages follow the year at a glance.
Each month starts with a tabbed divider with a quote, and on the back is a coloring page. The monthly dashboard is an excellent setup for reflecting on your previous month and working on yourself.
The monthly spread is two pages with a Sunday start. There is a notes column and a different affirmation each month. The box for each day is small, measuring 1.25″ tall by 1″ wide. There is also space along the bottom for notes, doodles, or whatever you need!
The weekly spreads are two pages with six columns across. Monday through Friday are 5″ tall by 1.5″ wide. Unfortunately, Saturday and Sunday are split, measuring only 2.25 tall. Some of us need full days for the weekend because that is when most of our tasks/errands get done! Each day has a sleep tracker at the bottom of the column.
You also have room for five habit trackers, notes, and five weekly priorities.
You can rate your month with a star rating out of five at the end of the month. There are journaling prompts, a space for affirmations, a creative space, and a notes section. You could use the notes section to journal about the prompt! I do wish there was an additional dot grid page here.
Overall, I really like this planner. It is a great personal planner, and the A5 size is great for taking with you on the go (or, if you are like me, carrying it from the office to the living room).
In addition, I grabbed the colorful monthly tabs ($9). They are vinyl and very thin, unlike the vegan leather ones from Erin Condren. The thicker the tab, the more your page will bump up. The only problem is you get 12, but the planner is 14 months. I would skip 2023 and put the tabs on the 2024 months.
The undated Art Deco planner is black vegan leather with a subtle design on the front. It has a black elastic band, a pen loop, two ribbon bookmarks, and a pocket.
As with the previous planner, you get a year-at-a-glance page, but it’s blank. You can start this planner at any time! Six dot grid pages follow the year at a glance.
We move into the monthly view, which has five rows for the weeks, which means you may have to double up the 30th and 31st for some months. I prefer when undated planners do six rows. There is a side column checklist and notes space on the bottom. It feels like a lot of wasted space, and the boxes and checklists could be larger. The boxes are 1″ by 1″, while the lines for the checklist are .75″ wide and .25″ tall.
Between each month are five weekly spreads. Each week is two pages, and there are six columns across. The columns are Monday through Friday and notes. Saturday and Sunday are in the space below the column, with one day on each page. I like this layout because you get a lot of room for the weekends! The columns are 1.5″ wide and 5″ tall, while Saturday/Sunday is 5″ wide and 2″ tall.
Finally, you get two dot grid pages after the five weekly spreads. Perfect for wrapping up the previous month and setting up the next! This is a great planner. I may use it for work!
Lastly, the new professional line notebooks. I ordered the A5 in warm gray florals and black plaid ($35 each). The gray looks more taupe, and I don’t love the floral design. I wish it was a little more gray and had the art deco design. The black plaid looks fantastic! It’s a subtle pattern. Both notebooks are Archer and Olive standard 160gsm with a matching elastic band, pen loop, two ribbon bookmarks, and a pocket in the back.
If you want a more professional look for your dot grid notebook, go with the black plaid or the brown art deco (not purchased). The warm gray floral just doesn’t hit the mark for me.
Shop Archer and Olive (don’t forget to use my code Runsonespresso to save 10%)
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What are your favorite and least favorite features of the new planners? What professional notebook would you choose?
Watch the video version of this review below:
