This summer was really… different. As we all know, many plans were cancelled. For me, my plans to work at a camp for most of the summer were completely wiped out. Instead, I used the sudden abundance of free time, and the new planner I bought, to take summer classes and document memories. And now, without further ado, here is my Faith and Focus planner review.
Christian Planner – An Introduction
a Bible verse in a neutral font.
Christian Planner is a relatively new company owned by a US veteran and his family. Their flagship product is a weekly-style planner, complete with a vision board and room at the end of each week for sermon notes and prayers. You can find out more on their website here. They even offer a free PDF when you subscribe to their email list!
For my summer break, I chose the new Faith and Focus planner, which is formatted differently from the original. I bought this planner with the intention of using it for daily tasks as a camp counselor, but ended up using it for class assignments and memory keeping.
Faith And Focus Planner – Features
I bought this planner for three reasons: the daily format, the three-month time frame, and the paper quality. Two out of three of these features were everything I hoped they would be; the third, not so much. Here are my thoughts on each one:
Daily Format
The Faith and Focus planner begins each week with a full-page Bible verse in a neutral font. One week, I used this page for some late-night doodling, which was very enjoyable. After this page, the planner allows two full pages for each day. Here are some of the features of each day:
- Top 3 priority list
- long running to-do list
- hourly schedule
- prayer prompts throughout the day (morning, noon and evening)
- Half-page of empty space for notes or artwork
I used the empty space on the right side for a daily Scripture writing, although this didn’t happen every day. The long to-do list I covered with photos and a blank box for a daily playlist, and the hourly schedule I used to document what happened and what I did throughout the day.
I appreciated the allowance of two full pages for each day, although I was glad the planner only allowed for three months. By the time I finished it, I was ready to go back to my own customized format in my bullet journal.
At the end of each week is another two-page spread, with Sunday rest/prayer prompts on the left side, and a blank page on the right for more notes and artwork. Sunday itself only has one page, with the next week’s verse page opposite.
I enjoyed using the end-of-week spreads for my weekly reflections, which I had already been doing in my bullet journal. You can also use these pages for prayer journaling, Scripture writing, hand lettering, or artwork.
Three-Month Timeframe
In addition to the weekly spreads, the Faith and Focus planner includes a goals and quarterly plan page, then a weekly focus list on the following page. The planner invites you to make wider goals for the quarter, then break the goals down by weeks. The fact that it only covers three months out of the year makes it easier to commit to this planner, and was especially appealing to me since I use a bullet journal for the school year.
I didn’t use these pages as much as I could have, though it was nice to make a plan at the beginning of the summer.
despite being curved from constant use.
The planner is undated, which made it perfect for the summer months. It includes three blank monthly calendars, with a monthly reflection spread between each month. I found that the reflection pages didn’t suit my particular planning style, but it was pretty easy to cover up the pre-established prompts. In the end, I only filled in one of the three reflection pages with writing, though I did decorate two of the three.
Durability Review
The Faith and Focus planner is hard-bound and closes with an elastic. By the end of the three months, mine was scuffed and worn, which is to be expected. I filled my planner with paper, photos, stickers and washi tape, and frequently used watercolor on its pages. The cover is a little misshapen now, but no more than might be expected. The spine is also round, though it has held together well overall. If used with pens only, this planner would last very well over time.
Paper Quality
The one thing that disappointed me about this planner was the quality of the paper. The Faith and Focus planner is advertised as “artist-friendly,” with heavier weight paper designed to handle various mediums. Although my pens stood up well, however, the watercolors I used bled through almost constantly. Over time, I noticed heavy shadowing even from my pens, which led me to cover each page with Mod Podge in hopes of fixing the problem. For reference, my Bible pages, which are much thinner, have almost never had this problem with watercolors, and certainly not to this extent.
In short, this planner would likely work well for someone who only wants to write with pens, but markers and watercolors don’t work so well unless you’re willing to tolerate a little bleed-through. This is still a high-quality planner, but it didn’t live up to my expectations based on their “artist-friendly” hype.
Final Thoughts
In conclusion, this planner served me well in the very weird summer that we all had this year. It allowed me to exercise my creativity while providing a greater level of structure, which I appreciated for a time. Pros and cons:
- two pages for each day
- roomy hourly schedule for events and memory keeping
- shorter time frame makes commitment easier
- two bookmarks make it easy to access both monthly overview and daily spreads
- durable cover will last well over three months
Cons:
- Page quality didn’t live up to my expectations
- Structure didn’t always fit my specific needs, but works well in general
Hope this Faith and Focus planner review was helpful, and do go check out Christian Planner if you’re interested. Happy faith planning!
