“Putting a plan on paper can help you remember it more clearly since it’s less automatic than typing,” says Holly Chapman, head of global public relations for Papier. “It can also be a great space for self-reflection, plus ticking off a to-do list feels good, too.” We searched for planners that are comprehensive, customizable, useful, and fun. Our favorite is the Legend Planner, which comes with unique tools for both short and long-term planning. Plus, it’s got stickers. But we have a number of other recommendations that might fit your life and planning goals even better. This one comprehensive planner comes in nearly 20 colors, so you’re sure to find one you like. But it’s not just pretty to look at. An un-dated 12-month planner is a versatile option for nearly everyone since it features both weekly and monthly spreads for both shorter- and longer-term planning. It even has a pocket for storing important documents, as well as over 100 colorful stickers and ribbon bookmarks. The Legend Planner is unique, in that it’s designed for both concise daily planning and expansive life goals work. Its weekly planner pages are undated, so you can use it anytime, instead of just for one year. You can track habits over time, set weekly goals, and easily track to-do items. Plus, it has sections and checkmark boxes that actively encourage you to reward yourself and have a little fun along with your self-growth. There’s even a section for writing out your dreams and mind-mapping them on to a more concrete life goals structure. The Legend Planner has a faux leather binding and bleed resistant, 120 Grams per Square Meter (or GSM) paper, which is about as thick and durable as light cardstock. Price at time of publish: $25 This planner also has pages for contacts, yearly goals, important dates, and notes, plus a reference page listing major holidays. The Blue Sky 2023 Planner is spiral-bound, so it lays flat, and has coated tabs that make it a breeze to flip to the right spot. It’s also available in a wide range of color and pattern options. Price at time of publish: $26 Developed by an academic planner, the Class Tracker even has spots for students to write out their goals and the necessary steps to reach them. While we love this option for busy college students, the brand also has options for middle school and high school, and undated options to use any day of the year. The sleek design comes in tons of colors and is the perfect compact size to slip into your backpack for daily use. Price at time of publish: $29 You can even track your savings and your debt with helpful organizers. The end of the year even includes a holiday budget for extra spending during special occasions. All the months and days are undated, so you can start taking control of your finances any day of the year. There are even 190 included stickers to make financial planning a little more fun. While the whole process may seem intimidating initially, the planner includes an easy-to-follow introduction guide to help you get started. Price at time of publish: $27 Those who love digital tools will also appreciate this planner’s unique ability to sync with your favorite digital tools. You can save digital versions of your planner pages to cloud services like Google Drive, Dropbox, Evernote, box, OneNote, Slack, iCloud, email, and more using the free compatible Rocketbook app for both iOS and Android. Price at time of publish: $32 Also nice: The bound notebook is about 5 x 8 inches—plenty of room for all kinds of calendars, lists, and logs, but also small enough to tote with you. What’s more, the notebook is designed to open 180 degrees and lay flat to make journaling easier. When not in use, an elastic closure keeps everything snugly together. There’s also a pocket for storage—something most traditional notebooks don’t have. Price at time of publish: $26 The Erin Condren Monthly Planner features a number of ways to organize your goals, events, and plans, including monthly productivity pages, two-page calendars, deadline tracking, and pages with customizable boxes for your own bullet points or lists. Each month also has 10 full pages for notes. While this monthly planner is a fantastic way to organize your whole year, be advised that new versions are released monthly—rather than annually—which means your planner will feature the next 12 months from your time of purchase, rather than a specific calendar year. Price at time of publish: $47 Just as important as the practicality, this planner is one you’ll want to look at every day, with its fun cover design accented with little metallic touches. Price at time of publish: $37 It also comes with 150 colorful planner stickers to help you spot the most important inclusions, a pen loop to ensure you always have a writing tool at hand, and an inner pocket to hold important documents, receipts, and other separate lists. Price at time of publish: $25 Price at time of publish: $70 The Papier Meal Planner uses thick, 120 GSM paper, so it should hold up to splashed sauces and other kitchen hazards. It also includes a reference page with cooking times for popular pasta shapes. It’s a bit of a strange inclusion—why not measure conversions, guidance on picking ripe vegetables, or other, more useful cooking references? While we love the “Joy” Meal Planner, which has a clean look available in four different colors, Papier offers dozens of additional cover selections from a range of designers. Price at time of publish: $15 This portability does come with compromises. First, MYO Slim Planners are only 40 pages long, so anyone looking for a single, comprehensive planner may want to look elsewhere. Instead, MYO Slim Planners are tailored to limited time frames and specific uses. For example, the daily planner has space for hour-by-hour scheduling, plus little boxes to make note of the weather, exercise, and how you slept that night. However, it only covers 40 days of planning. The monthly planner has a calendar grid—enough for 19 months—while the weekly planner includes more space for writing out your day-to-day, plus a goal tracking grid, but only covers nine weeks. The MYO Slim Planner can also be incorporated in a larger system of binders and organizers, such as the Slim Button Planner or the Slim Notepad & Planner Organizer. You can take out a MYO Slim Planner in your pocket, then return it to a more comprehensive planning system. The MYO Slim Planner is particularly useful for anyone who has struggled to build a planner habit in the past, since the easiest way to use a planner is to make sure it’s on you and accessible at all times. Price at time of publish: $4 The Goal Planner begins with ideation, incorporating pages that encourage you to describe a vision for the coming year, establish benchmarks, and even draw up a timeline of milestones. Then you can dive into the nitty gritty of achieving your goal, with pages for action plan tasks, analysis, a text box for words of encouragement, and even little progress bars you can fill out. There are also pages for outlining a monthly “31-Day Challenge,” weekly outlooks, and plenty of dot grid space for note-taking. There’s even a page for logging and celebrating specific achievements made over the course of the year. There’s also a wide variety of colors and options. The book cloth cover version of the Ink+Volt Goal Planner is available in 14 different colors, but there are also “Soft touch” and “Starlight” variant covers available with different textures entirely. You can also choose between dated and undated versions. Price at time of publish: $49
Size
Planners come in a variety of shapes and sizes, from small pocket-friendly versions to larger, more spacious editions. The best planner for you depends on where you’ll be keeping it—in your purse or briefcase? Or at home on your desk? Also, keep in mind how much you will need to write in it. A larger planner will be more cumbersome to tote around, but a smaller version won’t give you much room to record your day-to-day activities.
Extras
If you want a simple, no-frills planner, you can easily find one that just has calendar pages and nothing else. However, there are also products that come with fun extras, such as stickers, page markers, shopping lists, and more. Go minimalistic—or not! The choice is yours.
Why Trust The Spruce?
This roundup was researched and written by Brigitt Earley, who has written and edited hundreds of buying guides for various publications over the course of the last 10 years. Not to mention, Brigitt knows a thing or two about scheduling and staying organized—she is a freelancer for more than a half-dozen publications, all while running a household of six (including four kids under the age of 4!). To make this list, she considered each planner’s features, size, and design. Additional review for this article was done by Grace Gallagher, a writer, and editor with more than eight years of experience covering lifestyle and home decor, among other topics.
