Full Focus Planner Review of Classic, Bold, and Coil

I have to make a confession, and I feel like I’m in the minority on this. I love planning but I haven’t used a paper planner since college. Back in the day, I loved my At-A-Glance refillable planner and tracked everything there – upcoming papers, projects, exams and more. In college, I earned two degrees (Economics and Math) in four years so I was always busy with coursework.

As I transitioned into the professional world, my planning became totally focused on digital tools. Even when I went back to grad school, I only used paper planning tools for my dissertation project plan. For over a decade, I’ve been in consulting which means that I have a ton of meetings and they change often. I didn’t – and still don’t – see the point of writing down my meeting schedule every day on paper, only to have it change 10 times before noon.

Last January, I was trying to juggle a bunch of different things. I wanted to get back into Economics research (my PhD is in Macroeconomics). I was working on this platform helping parents plan. I had career and personal goals too. It was hard to keep track of it all! 

Fortunately I had started listening to the Lead to Win Podcast and was really impressed by Meghan Hyatt Miller’s description of the Full Focus Planner. She is the co-host of the Lead to Win podcast, daughter of company founder Michael Hyatt, and now CEO of Michael Hyatt & Co. I thought that if this busy parent liked the planner then I should give it a shot.

Common features of the Full Focus planners

The Full Focus Planner is a quarterly planner, which means you need 4 of them to cover the year. It’s still a fairly thick planner as well, but it is packed with good stuff and plenty of space for you to track the things that are important to you. Still, if cost is a concern this is important to know up front. 

The Full Focus Planner has a lot of space to help you with goals. I like that it aligns with my annual goal setting process. All Full Focus planners include space at the front to list your goals. Then you can devote a page to writing down more detail about each goal. 

The front end of the planner also includes monthly calendars you can fill in for the three months of the quarter and a rolling quarter page so you can track longer term items. 

Where the magic really happens, in my opinion, is the weekly and daily planning. Each week, you take your quarterly goals and break them down into manageable steps. The planner includes space for your weekly and daily big three – the most important three tasks for you to accomplish during that time period. There is also plenty of space for the rest of your to-do list but the daily big three concept is really helpful. Not only does it help you focus on what is most important, but it also helps you simplify your life. You feel like a success if you accomplish your big three and that’s a huge mental health win. 

One thing to note is that there are full page spreads for the weekend. I personally do NOT plan my weekend at all, so this is wasted space for me. Sometimes I use this space for notes but usually not. Overall, this is a minor annoyance for me but I thought it was worth mentioning. 

The Full Focus Planner Classic vs Bold

The Full Focus Planner Classic and Full Focus Planner Bold editions are pretty similar. They are both bound like hardcover books. Both have a nice, textured cover material. The Classic planner version that I have has a black cover and a cover material with a fabric feel. The Classic also comes in navy and oatmeal cover colors. The Bold planner comes in four different colors (red, blue, purple and gray) and has more of a smooth leather type cover material. 

Both planners have slightly textured, heavyweight paper. I really like the feel of this paper. Both also have two ribbons for placeholding, although the ribbon colors differ between the two versions.

The planners have the same page layouts, but different fonts. The Bold planner has a slightly more playful font, whereas the Classic planner’s font is simpler. Still, neither is too busy or cutesy for me. Finally, the Bold planner has a pretty inside cover liner. Each color has a different inner liner design. 

Because of the binding, both the Classic and Bold planner editions are a little hard to keep open. They do come with instructions for breaking the binding, which helps some. However, I usually put a weight of some sort on my planner to keep it open. 

I think the Classic planner is a great choice for anyone who wants a very simple, clean, professional design. The Bold planner is a little more fun, but still perfectly professional. I’m very sensitive to any details that are too feminine, and I’m fine with the Bold planner’s subtle but fun details. 

The Full Focus Planner Bold vs Bold Coil

I just purchased the new Full Focus Bold Coil and started using it for the New Year. Overall, I really like it. The page formats are the same as the Full Focus Bold planner. The fonts and ink colors are also the same. The Bold Coil planner also has the fun interior printed lining. 

The huge benefit of the Bold Coil planner is that it lays flat. You can also turn the pages over to have just one page visible if that helps. It’s great not to have to worry about keeping the planner open. 

There are a few differences between the Bold standard and Coil planners. First, the Coil paper is thinner and smoother than the Bold standard paper. I know that some people really prefer a smooth paper, so you might like this. I like a more textured paper and prefer the Bold standard paper. The Coil is also much thicker. I’m not sure why since the paper seems thinner, but it may have to do with the coil vs binding. 

The Bold Coil also lacks the two ribbon bookmarks, which can be challenging if you close up your planner and need to find your page again. I use the ribbons frequently so I do miss having those. 

Finally, not so much a drawback, but a difference, is that the Bold Coil only comes in Blue and Gray. The purple and red colors aren’t available. 

Which Full Focus planner should I buy?

Overall, the Full Focus planner style is great for people who:

• Want to focus on goals 
• Don’t need a lot of daily calendar planning
• Prefer a clean, simple planning page layout

As for choosing between the Classic, Bold and Bold Coil designs, there are a few things to consider!

Who should buy the Full Focus Planner Classic?

The Classic Full Focus planner is great for you if:

• You like a minimal, professional, gender-neutral style
• You prefer heavier weight paper
• You don’t mind a bound planner that may not lay flat

Who should buy the Full Focus Planner Bold?

The Bold Full Focus Planner is perfect for someone who:

• Wants a little bit more color in their planner – but not too much
• You like the heavier weight, textured paper
• You don’t mind a bound planner that may not lay flat
• You want the ribbon bookmarks so you can find your page

Who should buy the Full Focus Planner Coil?

I think the Full Focus Coil planner is a great choice if you:

• Really prefer a planner that lays flat
• Prefer thinner, smoother paper
• Don’t mind the missing ribbons bookmarks (post-it notes work too)

Overall Full Focus Planner Review 

Overall, the Full Focus Planner is a great choice for someone who wants to use a planner for goal setting and habit tracking. If you want a very time-based planner that tracks appointments and meetings, you may be better served with another choice. Although the Full Focus Planner does have calendar sections, the daily schedule portion is pretty small. I use it for time blocking but not to track my meetings. All three planners that I’ve tried – the Classic, Bold, and Bold Coil have been great because they share the same layout. It’s nice to be able to switch between designs and features while keeping the same overall planning structure! I highly recommend these planners to anyone who really wants to focus on goal setting this year.