Disclosure: Mod Mode Designs sent me a copy of their Mode Book Planner in exchange for writing a review on my blog. Opinions expressed here are my own.
I love hearing about new planners on the market, so when I was contacted by Inessa of Mod Mode Designs to do a review on their new planners, I, of course, said yes! I absolutely fell in love with her minimalist style inserts and planners. You can see her Instagram account here: @modmodedesigns to see how sleek her style is. Inessa creates luxurious planner inserts and accessories to help you plan functionally and beautifully. Along with the Mode Book, she also sent me some beautiful stationery accessories as well.
Table of Contents
COVER
The cover has a beautiful marble design which is classic and perfect for anyone.
The cover is a thick board which will last through daily use. It has high gloss marble print art-board covers. I love that the cover is flush with the rest of the planner. It makes it very simple, compact, and slim.
The corners aren’t covered or finished so it might be prone to damage.
The size is a standard A5 size 5.8″ by 8.3″ without the coil. With the coil, the width of the planner is about 6.2″ wide.
It has a white metal spiral wire-o binding similar to that of Day Designer’s.
The Inside Pages
As soon as you open up the planner you’ll see a title page where you can put your name & number or email in case your planner ever gets lost.
The pages are extremely high quality. They are so smooth. If you have ever owned a plum paper planner, the pages are similar to those. I can sit and run my hands over these pages all day haha!
The pages bleed through a little but not much, see the picture below:
After that, it goes straight into the monthly planner section.
The planner doesn’t have tabs but is separated by title pages with a marble print. I found it was pretty easy to find my different sections because of the marble printed pages!
Since it is an undated planner there is no annual calendar. It is instead separated into different categories similar to how a Filofax would be separated:
- Monthly Overview
- 12 undated monthly pages (great for the whole year!)
- Weekly Plan
- 52 undated weekly pages (perfect for a whole year!)
- Goal Mapping
- yearly goals, then divide those into monthly sections, finally divide each month into weekly points.
- Projects
- 12 budget planning sections (one for each month)
- 10 double-sided project planning pages
- Lists & Notes
- 10 2-column checklist pages
- 10 lined notes pages
- 10 brain dump dot grid pages
The Monthly View
The monthly overview pages have a monthly title page on the front followed by a month on two pages, and on the back is a master monthly list behind it split into 4 categories – Goals, Projects, To Do & To Buy.
The month on two pages overview is perfect for planning events and seeing at a glance the big projects you want to get done and when. These are undated so you write the month on top and fill the circles in with the date. The only thing I disliked about the monthly pages was that there are two title areas to write the month, a small pet peeve or preference of mine that can be easily solved though. I plan to just cover that side up with washi tape anyways.
My favorite part of the monthly pages are the lists in the back of each month. I love lists, and having a master list for the month makes it so easy to see what needs to get done. I think the categories for the lists are perfect for planning productively and keeping you on track, as well as keeping a running shopping list for our forgetful minds.
The Weekly View
The next section in the planner is the weekly plan. The weekly planner has a week on one-page layout. On the left side, you have the days of the week – perfect for writing your events/appointments and the right side has a narrow lined list section for top goals for the week, to do’s & notes.
Since it is an A5 planner a week on a page is plenty of space to write. I do think the list section could have been a bit wider for people who write big or a lot. I like to be descriptive when I write my to-do list.
This weekly planner is perfect for seeing at a glance your week and works well for anybody looking to be more productive.
I like to use the right side lists to list out my top 3 goals for the week, then my other to do’s for the week in the to-do section and I like to use the notes section for a quick little review or memory of the week.
For the left weekly side, I like to decorate with stickers and plan out the big events or appointments. Then throughout the week, I plug in my to do’s into these specific days of the week and try to spread them out throughout the week. Breaking it down makes the list seem much smaller and more doable.
I am in love with how productive I have become simply by writing lists in this simple and clean mode book!
The Goal Mapping Pages
This is the 3rd section in the Mode Book. This section helps turn your big lofty goals into manageable daily to-do’s! There are only a few pages of the Goal Mapping section, First, you start with your yearly goals, then divide those into monthly sections, and finally divide each month into weekly to do’s.
This section seemed out of place for me and think it should have been at the beginning of the book. The creator mentioned that she purposely put in the middle though because it isn’t as referenced as the Monthly and Weekly sections, but should still be filled out first as a guide for your planning.
I think this section should be still referenced a lot so you can constantly be reminded of what you are working towards and to see if you are still on track. Seeing your goals on a daily or weekly basis can help you be reminded of your goals and your why for working so hard every day.
The Project Planning Pages
The projects section includes budget pages first and then project planning pages. There is space to write your monthly goals, income, budgets and totals. The budget pages also have expense trackers. There are enough for 12 months.
After the budgeting pages then comes to the project planning pages. This section is combined because she believes “… that if you treat your finances as a project it is easier to achieve your financial goals”
The project planning pages has a section for the project name, budget, date started, date completed, a large dot grid section for notes or drawings, materials and steps. I am constantly starting new projects and can see this section getting lots of use!
The Lists & Notes Pages
The last section of the book is for lists, notes, and brain dumps. As I said earlier, I love lists! So I am so happy to see that are more lists in the back of the planner! You can use these as running to do lists for anything you’d like – a shopping list, a wish list, master to-do list, etc. I wrote on top of each list what I wanted to use each list for. There are lots of pages though so I left a lot blank still.
The lined notes section is perfect for taking down notes about something you learned, writing down addresses or numbers,
& the brain dump section is perfect for those days you are feeling overwhelmed and just want to get everything off of your mind. Of course, you don’t have to use it as a brain dump, you can simply put some washi tape over it and make it into a collection like in a bullet journal for anything you’d like. Maybe a TV show tracker, or a Books to Read list? Use it any way you want!
If you’d like to see how to use this mode book to be more productive you can also check out her blog here!
She also has a video here that goes into depth about how she plans for projects!
The Luxurious Planner Accessories
Along with the Mode Book, I was also sent several awesome planner accessories.
My favorite of the bunch was the luxurious journaling cards. They are very sturdy and are made of laminated photo cardstock. The quotes are perfect, simple and classic! They are perfect for decorating your planner pockets or just to hang up in your office for inspiration. They are 3.625″ x 4.625″
In their shop, there are also other agendas, minimalist style stickers, inserts, vellum dividers, paper clips, notepads, pens, pen holsters, custom stamps and more!
I loved the mini teardrop paper clips. I love how slim they were but were still able to find my spot in the planner. I like to use them for my monthly and weekly pages – I just attach the title page to the week I am on and now I can quickly find my spot!
The stickers are a minimalist style as well and are great icons! I received the fitness pack which is great since I am trying to work out more! They are super quality because they are made from glossy vinyl sticker paper!
The concrete sticky notes are also perfect for jotting notes or plans on the fly. The monthly sticky notes can be super useful for planning your month, I’ve never seen these and thought it was amazing! I was thinking maybe as a habit tracker or to track daily expenses? I still don’t know how to use it, I’m still thinking of how I can, so if you have any ideas please let me know!
Final Thoughts
Pros:
- High-quality covers
- Smooth thick paper
- Functional planning layouts
- Monthly lists section throughout
- Enough planning pages for a full year
- Simple & luxurious marble design
- Slim & Compact Size
- Goal Mapping to help you break down your big goals and projects
- Space for tracking in detail your projects and finances
- All kinds of notes pages and lists to empty your mind
- Lots of accessories and inserts in her shop if you want the Mode Book inside of a Filofax or another agenda!
Cons:
- No tabs – but sections are easily distinguishable by the marble title pages
- Sharp Corners
- Hard to find project section with the budget pages first – but can easily be fixed with a mini paper clip!
This planner is beautiful inside and out. I love how simple, functional and productive the planner as a whole is. You can easily break down your goals, track your spending, plan your projects, overcome overwhelm and always have a place to write. If you’re looking for a classic, simple but functional planner the ModeBook is just for you. It’s perfect for those with a lot of projects and ideas.
How I am Using the Planner
Here are some pictures of the planner in use. I feel like seeing it in action makes for such a better review. I received this planner about two weeks ago and have been using it for a week now. I thought it really improved my productivity and I loved having everything in one planner.
How to Shop
Inessa, the creator behind the ModeBook Planner have offered to give you all 15% off your purchase with the code WENDAFUL15
You can find the Mode Book here or you can purchase any of her other luxurious planner accessories at her shop: https://modmodedesigns.com/
The Mode Book is$ 54 CAD which comes out to about $41 USD & that’s before the 15% off coupon!
What do you think of this planner? Let me know your thoughts!
