How to Choose the Best Planner for You

It’s the beginning of a new year (duh!) and most people are taking advantage of the opportunity to start fresh and get re-organized. Part of that (for most people) is choosing and setting up a planner for the year. I’d like to share a bit of a “roundup” of some planner options, but first, let’s talk about some of the elements that go into choosing the planner that’s right for you.

Size

Size definitely matters when it comes to your planner. Different needs demand different sizes. Too small and you can’t fit everything you need in it. Too large and (if this is important to you) it’s not portable enough. Finding just the right balance has always been the trickiest part of the decision-making process for me!

Format

I’m assuming a printed paper planner here. If you’re the digital type, you’re on your own, ’cause I’m a paper kind of girl. 🙂 Chances are, if you’re all-digital, you already have a favorite. (And if not, I have no idea what to recommend; sorry!) But those of us who prefer the more tactile are often still on the hunt.

In that case, the binding is the most notable issue in this category. For a long time I used wirebound, because I liked that it’s slim. But it doesn’t allow for the ready addition of pages, and that eventually became a problem. A ring binder is too bulky for me because it adds to the thickness of a book. For now, I’ve settled on comb binding, because I have a comb binding machine, so I can add and remove pages as needed (just not every day, ’cause that would be a pain). Disc binding is another option. And of course there are the classic book-style stitched planners.

Breadth

By this I mean what is the measurement used for the planner’s main layout? Do you need a page per day? Two pages per day? Two pages per week? Most people will want a monthly overview, but a monthly overview is insufficient for most people for the more detailed, nitty-gritty planning. So you’ll probably want some combination of monthly and daily or monthly and weekly, but how much space you need is up to to.

Thoroughness/Specificity

How specific and detailed is the design of a given planner, as compared to what you’re looking for? Do you want something that’s already very structured, so you just fill in the blanks? (For instance, “calls to make,” “errands to run,” “things to do”) Or do you prefer a very “generic” layout that you can customize yourself?

Specific Traits or Features

Are there particular features you really want? For example, is it important to you to have a grocery list included in your weekly layout? Or to have your goal setting, habit tracking, or other similar productivity tools built right in? Does it need to have spaces for meal planning or tracking your exercise or water intake?

Does it need to be pretty?

Or maybe it matters to you that it has tabs — or doesn’t have tabs — or that the weeks all start on Sunday or all start on Monday, or that the time increments on your daily pages include certain portions of the day. Know what matters to you and look for these things.

A Few Options

With all that said, here are a handful of options you can take a look at as you’re trying to find something:

May Books — That link will take you to the review I did for my holiday gift guide. I didn’t actually get/review the planner, because I already had one, so I just did a notebook, but they sell a planner, and it has all the same personalization options and beautiful quality.
Moleskine — I don’t use a Moleskine, either, because of the aforementioned need to add/remove pages. (Moleskine journals & planners are bound.) But those who use these seem to really love them.
Passion Planner — The Passion planner is available either in a downloadable version (that you print yourself) or in a pre–printed version. It’s rather unique, in that it has planning pages at the front for plotting out your goals, and space on the weekly layouts to track your progress.
Day-Timer — This is what I used for years, until just about two years ago, when I decided I wanted to do something more custom. It’s what my husband still uses, after well over a decade. We love(d) the little wire-bound pocket-sized planners because they’re so compact — not much bigger than a checkbook. (They come in a whole range of sizes, though.) Of course there are also the other “big brands” — DayRunner, Franklin Covey, etc. — but Day-Timer is my personal favorite.
The Confident Mom Planner — The weekly household planner is free; other add-on pieces are also available for a very affordable price.
Erin Condren Planner — I’ve never seen this in person, but I hear bloggers talk about it all the time, and every. single. person. I know who has used one of these raves about it.
DIY — Obviously, doing it yourself is an option. There are thousands of variations, pages available for printing online, etc., but just to get you started, here are my planner setup, and the DIY Planner site with pages you can print off.