Full Focus Planner Review: Kids & Student Editions
FTC Disclosure: Full Focus Planner provided me with copies of these three planners, for review. All opinions are mine, and my kids. As an affiliate I receive a commission if you purchase a Full Focus Planner through my link, at no additional cost to you.
Here is my kids' and my review of the Full Focus Planner, for the Kids and Student editions, that they've been using, as they work through their first semester of virtual school.
2020 has been a doozy of a year for my whole family, and I'm betting it has been for yours as well.
Let me start by giving you a virtual {{HUG}}, because, for all of us, this year is NOT what we had planned, and that is hard to deal with sometimes.
If you'd asked me at the beginning of 2020 whether I'd have my kids stay home from school, to do it virtually, I would have said "heck no," and they would have too.
It's not that there's anything wrong with homeschooling, or virtual school, but it certainly wasn't in our plans, and not what in an ideal world we would have chosen they'd do (and also not what they'd have chosen either).
But sometimes (often?) the world isn't ideal, and we make the best choices for our family, with the information we have available, and hope for the best. That meant for us, this fall, that after a lot of thought and indecision, we finally chose to have all three of our kids attend virtual school, at least during the fall semester, with the chance to re-evaluate for next semester a bit later in the year.
That means right now in my household of six people, we've got a college student, a high schooler, and a middle schooler, all doing school from home, and it has been quite a transition.
(There's also myself and my husband, and we both work from home, as well as my mother-in-law who is retired, and lives with us. It's a full house, and lots of Internet usage is happening just to make it through each day!)
As I write this school has been in session for a little over two weeks, and I still feel like we're learning the ropes, and getting used to this way of schooling, since this is different than the "crisis schooling" all the kids did to finish out last year's school year at home.
Fortunately though, my kids have all been using some version of the Full Focus Planner to start this school year, and I can honestly say the organization and clarity the planners are providing is helping my sanity as much as their own, in juggling these virtual classes.
What Is The Full Focus Planner?
I'm personally a long time user of the Full Focus Planner, and have been using my planner daily to plan both my personal and business life for almost two years now.
Each planner is designed to last for a quarter (90 days), which means you use four planners each year. I'll be starting my 9th planner in October 2020, at the beginning of quarter four, and I can honestly say that the Full Focus Planner is the best planning system I've ever used.
During the past two years, while I've used the Full Focus Planner, I've accomplished more than I dreamed possible, while also learning how to do a lot more resting and relaxing, which has greatly improved my overall work/life balance.
The secret of the Full Focus Planner is how you think big picture about your goals and vision for your life, and then you keep breaking those goals and vision down into smaller and smaller steps. These smaller steps include quarterly goals, big three weekly goals, and then your daily Big 3 tasks, all of which help you slowly, but surely, get yourself to your chosen destination, step by step.
It kind of sounds like my Declutter 365 daily missions, doesn't it? It should, because the Full Focus Planner planner and the daily missions are based on the same concept -- breaking down a big task into small daily actions. That's because the magic lies in those daily actions!
And just recently the planner line has expanded from planners only for adults, to also include versions for use by kids and students. These Kid and Student planner versions use the same basic principles of the Big 3 daily tasks, weekly review, and quarterly and annual goal planning, to help kids accomplish their goals, but in a more kid-friendly and digestible way.
I was excited these planners were introduced just in time for my family to give them a try with our virtual schooling endeavors, and with the age spans of my kids it worked out well to give several new versions a try.
My middle school aged daughter is using the Kids planner, my high school aged son is using the Student edition, and my oldest daughter, a college student, is using the Pocket version of the adult planner.
Below I've got a brief review of each of these planners from both my perspective, as a Mom supervising virtual school (at least for the middle and high schooler), as well as from the perspective of my kids, who are of course the ones actually using the planners.
You can also learn more about the Full Focus Planners here, including all the versions available.
Make Sure To Use This Exclusive Promo Code!
Also, I'll remind you again at the end of the article, but make sure to use promo code TAYLOR10 if you decide to purchase one of the Student or Kids version of the planners, to get 10% off your first planner!
Kids Full Focus Planner Review: Used By My Middle-Schooler
My middle-school aged daughter is using the Kids version of the Full Focus Planner, which is designed for ages 10-14.
Below I've shown some pictures of the planner in action, with her using it while working on virtual school, as well as some of the pages she has filled out, such as the daily pages of the planner and part of the weekly preview.
One of the things I've personally appreciated about both the Kids and Student version of the planner is the weekly preview section, which gives a page where you can summarize what is happening during the coming week. We've been using this page to write down the due dates for various assignments, as well as the upcoming test and quiz dates for their virtual school, for the upcoming week. This shows a big picture overview of what they've got to accomplish during the week.
On Friday afternoons, after school is done but before they close their computers for the school day, I have helped them fill out this weekly preview section, and then use those due dates and test dates to work backward, in their daily pages for the coming week, to write down when they'll start various assignments, or study for their tests and quizzes.
This means each school day they can look at the daily page and know exactly what assignments they need to start, continue, or study for each day, and have a ready made to do list. It has meant stuff hasn't fallen through the cracks, which has really reduced the overall stress level around virtual schooling, where it seems there are 80 million places you're supposed to click to do just about anything (I am exaggerating, of course, but only a little!).
Further, this weekly preview has only taken about 15 minutes to complete, but it has really helped with my sanity, because my husband and I have to supervise that the kids are getting their homework assignments done, and are "on pace." Having these deadlines all listed makes it easy to glance at the assignments, ask what has and hasn't been completed, and know they have more to do that day, or that they can call it quits until school time rolls around again the next day.
I've been observing my daughter's use of the planner, and while she's not always been thrilled to have to write down all of the assignments, I do see her consulting it during her virtual school time, to make sure she doesn't forget to do any tasks. I know she must be my kid when she told me she loves to make a big check when she has completed a task.
(And special thanks to my youngest child, who took several of the pictures you see in this review. She is especially proud of the picture of both of the planners together that she "styled" by herself.)
Student Full Focus Planner Review: Used By My High-Schooler
My high-school aged son is using the Student version of the Full Focus Planner, which is designed for high school and college students.
Below I've shown some pictures of the planner in action, with him using it while working on virtual school, as well as some of the pages he has filled out, such as the daily pages of the planner and part of the weekly preview.
While my youngest child was excited to give her planner a try, I'll be honest that my high-school aged son was not as thrilled to learn he'd be trying out a new planner.
I'm pretty sure he didn't think planning was necessary before he started virtual school, and while I can't say he "loves" to use it now, I believe he at least sees how it can be helpful to him. Just like his younger sister, I do see him consulting the planner during his virtual schooling to make sure he gets all the days tasks accomplished, and hasn't forgotten anything.
His Student planner is also certainly helpful to me, for all the reasons I've explained above about the Kids version, since it allows me to supervise easily, to make sure he's on track with his virtual school tasks. That's why I know we're going to keep using these planners all semester, I cannot keep track of what is happening in 5 different classes, per child, without it!
Along with virtual school, both my high schooler and middle schooler play tennis, which at least in its outdoor form we've been letting them continue to do, because it's a pretty socially distanced activity. As part of tennis they've both got matches, practices, and lessons, and the planner has also been really helpful in helping me, and them, keep track of these additional responsibilities.
As we've done the weekly review each Friday I've also been having them consider when they've got all these additional tennis activities, so they can make sure they've got all their virtual school done in plenty of time and aren't overloading or overscheduling themselves on match days, for example.
We've also been getting my son to take more responsibility for getting his rackets re-strung, and to track what uniforms he needs to wear (and have laundered) for various matches, so he's been using the planner to track those additional tasks as well.
I like that the planner is helping him take responsibility for his own tasks, and to see how just a little advanced planning makes it much easier to have clean uniforms on match day, or rackets without popped strings.
Pocket Full Focus Planner Review: Used By My College Student
My oldest daughter just started college, and she is using the pocket version of the Full Focus Planner, which is a smaller version of the adult version of this planner.
Below are some photos of her planner, that she filled out.
I have to say that the apple didn't fall too far from the tree for my oldest child. She's a planner, like me, and she has taken to the pocket planner like a duck to water, just like I've loved the full-sized version.
She wanted to try the smaller pocket sized version because she wanted to be able to carry the planner around a bit more easily.
My two younger kids have really only used the daily pages, and parts of the weekly preview within their planner, but my oldest has explored more portions of her planner.
With my encouragement she filled out her ideal week, which she explained has really helped her plan when she'll get all her college classwork done.
All her classes this semester are virtual, and asynchronous, meaning there is no set time to meet, and she had to take the initiative to plan when she'll watch various lectures, and do the class assignments. I was worried she'd get behind, without class meeting times to keep her on track, but fortunately her professors are requiring certain assignments be turned in by the end of the week, to keep people on pace, at least somewhat. But that is still a lot of time she has to set her own pace during the week, or risk having to do marathon work and study sessions right before the deadlines, and she explained that using her ideal week helped her map out a way to get all her class work done without excessive procrastination.
Her one slight complaint about the planner (and it's one I'd also have for the Kids and Student version) is that it's set up as a quarterly planner, meaning it is for use for 90 days. For students that means you need two planners for a full semester, and that makes it a bit more difficult to plan for final exams, and big projects due at the end of the term, when you're first setting up the planner at the beginning of the semester when looking at your syllabus.
I really appreciate the quarterly nature of the planner as an adult, but I do see her point as it relates to school -- a whole semester's worth of daily and weekly pages could make planning a bit easier for students, instead of having it broken up into quarters as it is now.
This might be something Full Focus Planner considers changing for future editions, but I don't think it's a deal breaker for these planners.
That's because the benefits of using the Full Focus system for students to meet their semester goals are really huge. The process of breaking down projects, final exams, and reading assignments into smaller and more manageable chunks, as well as juggling multiple deadlines and exam schedules without stuff falling through the cracks, really can help students succeed. That makes these planners worth it, in my opinion.
Don't Forget The Exclusive Promo Code For 10% Off Your First Student Or Kids Edition Of The Planner!
If you decide to get a Full Focus Planner for your kids, make sure to use the promo code TAYLOR10 to get 10% off the purchase of your first Kids or Student edition of the Full Focus Planner.
I Love My Bold Line Full Focus Planner!
As I mentioned above, I love my Full Focus Planner too, and use it daily. It really is the best planner I have ever used, and I sing its praises often.
In case you were thinking about getting one for yourself, know that I would highly recommend it.
I started out using the classic version, and then switched to the Bold line when it came out last year. In the picture below you can see me holding my French Blue version of the planner. Since I have used a full year of the blue version, I switched to the Eggplant version for this coming year, just to mix it up a bit!
Some links on this page are affiliate links, meaning that if you purchase a product through them I receive a small commission which helps me provide this information to you for free, plus support my family. My integrity and your satisfaction are very important to me so I only recommend products I would purchase myself, and that I believe would benefit you. To learn more please see my disclosure statement.
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