Best Planners

Most of us rely on electronic reminders about appointments and events. We have an appointment calendar on our cellphones, and we can get desktop notifications while we’re on the computer. And maybe you work for a company that uses Trello or Jira to coordinate all of the employees. But, there’s still an advantage to having a daily planner in booklet form.

You can have a large daily planner constantly open on your desk so that you can see the appointments and events of the day or week. You can glance at events months in advance, and you can see immediately what’s planned for the entire month at a time. And even when the year is over, you can use a hard copy of a daily planner to review and recap the year’s events. On the lighter side of things, you can use a planner to see if you are keeping up with any of your New Year’s resolutions!

We’ll examine some of the most popular types of planners available–ranging from pocket-sized versions to ones that are geared for a university student or business executive.

• Business planners–These have particular features for handling workflow, by writing down a to-do list in order of priority. For example, the Plan Tomorrow Productivity Planner helps you break down tasks into ABC: Absolutely Must Get Done, Beneficial, and Can Wait. Each day is divided into a 9 AM-5 PM schedule. It’s also full of motivational quotes as you go through the year!

 Plan Tomorrow Productivity Planner

• Academic planners–These are planners for the school year, so they may start in September and end in August, with some variations. For example, the Blue Sky 2021-2022 Academic Year Weekly & Monthly Planner goes from July 2021-June 2022. It has sections for important contacts and important dates in the school year.

Blue Sky 2021-2022 Academic Year Weekly & Monthly Planner

• Year planners–These will have two pages for each month of the year, as well as two pages for displaying each week of the year. Bloom Daily Planners have a wide selection of such year planners, as we’ll see in the “Top Brands” Section.

• Weekly Planners–These are handy for teachers setting up a curriculum, such as music teachers or students who are laying out a system of private lessons or goals for a semester. An example is the Molto Music Musician's Practice Planner.

Molto Music Musician's Practice Planner

• Daily Planners–These are primarily planners with each day occupying two pages: one page for your schedule and goals, and another page for useful notes. It’s more for scheduling and plotting out a particular long-range goal, where you assign the start and end dates. An example is the Fringe Studio Non-Dated Daily Planner.

Fringe Studio Non-Dated Daily Planner

• Space to write entries: People were pleased with the Bloom Yearly Planners because they allow so much space for writing. You can place a “To-Do” list on the left, and journal entries on the right. They also allocate space for things like “Things to Look Forward To”, “New Things to Try”, “Books I Would Like to Read”, and more!

• Quality and durability: Even though a planner is only intended to last for a year, it’s one book that you’ll intend to work with for every day of that year. People are pleased with planners that have a durable binding and cover, such as the hardcover Best Self Self Journal, with 100g white ivory paper.

Best Self Self Journal

Useful Tips for Shoppers

• Inspirational quotes and other features: You usually buy a planner to get you motivated to adhere to a schedule and not procrastinate. The best planners will pepper the pages with inspirational quotes, stressing good habits, or adhering to goals.

• Extra resources: Bloom planners also provide a space for you to track payment of bills, worksheets, task trackers, and lists of things to do as well as not to do!

• The Creativebug DIY Year Planner is a bit different. Instead of an actual planner that you buy, it is a set of classes that allows you to make a planner that’s customizable. You receive a supplies list and access to video lessons to make a planner in book form, that you bind yourself.

Creativebug DIY Year Planner

• The Bloom Daily Planner has a durable laminated cardstock cover and white bleed-resistant paper inside. When you open the planner, you can lay it flat, so that you can see the entire week’s plan at a glance. The planner is available in a pocket-size 4” x 6”, 5.5”x 8.25”, and A4-sized 8.5” x 11”. There are also special features to let you keep track of bill payments, monthly tasks, and more.

Bloom Daily Planner, 8.5” x 11”

Bloom Daily Planner, 6” x 8.25” version.

Bloom Pocket Planner, 4” x 6”

• The Yahafi Weekly and Monthly Planner comes in a number of exquisite designs and covers. It’s 6.5” x 8.5”, and displays the month ahead in a clear format that you can lay out flat. There’s plenty of room for putting entries on each calendar date.

Yahafi Weekly and Monthly Planner