Moleskine Weekly Planner Review: Pocket vs. Large

Planners are a fantastic way to stay organized - whether it's electronic or paper, they keep you on track by making sure you've got a good list of everything you need to do and that you've budgeted the time to accomplish your goals.

I've bounced between electronic and paper planning over the years but I have to confess: I'm a paper girl at heart. There's just something about being able to write down my tasks that helps me remember everything I need to get done and when. It's the one area of my life where I just can't make the electronic switch.

There's a whole community of people who swear by paper planners who are members of the planning community. I've caught myself going down the YouTube wormhole and watching countless videos that review various planners and share how each planner sets up their weekly calendar or bullet journal. Those videos helped me figure out that paper was my best option and which planner would best fit my needs. As a longtime Moleskine fan, it made sense to pick up one of their agendas because they hold up so well and they make really functional journals.

I've used the Moleskine 18-month weekly agenda for about three years now and I just can't do without it. But I needed to figure out a way to downsize the amount of stuff I carry with me each day and decided to downsize my planner. That's when I switched from the 18-month weekly large planner to the pocket size.

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I thought I might have to sacrifice function for form but I haven't had that experience. Here's a sample of a page in both the pocket (3.5x5.5 inches) and the large sizes (5x8.25 inches):

Here's a sample page from each book (note: I pushed ahead to pages that didn't have appointments to maintain privacy.)

There's certainly a limit on how much writing space you have in the pocket (left) and the large (right) sizes, and every now and then I do miss having the extra real estate to jot down tasks, appointments, or lists in one large book. But having the portability of the pocket size is the hands-down winner. I carry a ton of stuff on a daily basis (lunch, tech, personal) that making things as small and compact as possible helps a ton. I can carry it wherever I go and I always have access to one of my most helpful organizing tools.

To make up for the lack of writing space, I take additional notes on Post-its and tuck them inside the book or I enter addresses for appointments in my phone so that I can have easier access to where I need to be when I'm out and about. My journals are a great way to keep track of the big picture of upcoming events or tasks to complete while my phone is a great way to store any specific information like addresses or phone numbers that I'd need an electronic way to access - which is the same way I used my large planner.

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I love both sizes of the Moleskine planner with the pocket gaining the edge for me. If you'd like to pick up this planner for yourself, consider how many appointments you have in a day or how much you'd like the planner to be a notebook as well as an agenda. The larger size makes sense if you need it to do more for you while the pocket size is more than fine for basic organizing needs. Whichever size you pick, I know you'll like Moleskine's journal range a lot!