The Best Daily Planners for Optimum Organization

To begin, daily planners are not for the faint of heart. They’re serious tools that pay attention to every detail of your day and life. Daily planners are made for those who like to micromanage themselves. Those who need to write down every little thing to create a sense of peace in their daily life. Those who simply feel overwhelmed by all of the demands and responsibilities.

The catch is that daily planners are a little hard to find, and a good one is even harder. Here are our top picks for the best daily planners on the market.

Day Designer Flagship Planner

Day Designer pretty much paved the way for daily planners. It was one of the first out there that really provided all of the space and organization that people wanted for their daily lives. It’s one of our original faves. It has a robust schedule spanning from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. and an equally-as-long to-do list. There’s space for the day’s three most important things, notes, a gratitude box, and four boxes titled “Due,” “Dollars,” “Dinner,” and “Don’t Forget.”

The Day Designer Flagship is spacious so there’s plenty of room to write. Additionally, there are note pages scattered throughout, and it has a hardcover, gold corner protectors, an inside folder, and wire binding. So it’s tough enough to survive any busy lifestyle.

The Day Designer Flagship starts at $47.60.

Day Designer A5 Planner

The A5 planner from Day Designer is similar to the Flagship, but it comes in a smaller package and it has a few extra features. It has the same layout as the flagship, but the schedule is a little bit shorter (6 a.m. to 9 p.m.). It also has built-in space for health information and meal tracking. The Day Designer A5 planner is undated, so you can skip days whenever you want. It also has multiple beautiful cover options for you to choose from.

The monthly calendar pages are also different. They’re done in one-page layouts and have two columns for you to write work and personal life tasks for that month. The A5 is for those who want a little more flexibility and control over the organization of their planner. And for anyone who loves a vegan leather cover with pockets. Additionally, the planner is that the cover is sold separately from the inserts. So you have complete control over your customization!

The Day Designer A5 covers start at $69

Emily Ley’s The Simplified Planner

In contrast to the two Day Designer planners above, The Simplified Planner is a clean-cut, super-focused daily tool. Each weekday has just room for your schedule (6 a.m. to 9 p.m.), a long to-do list, a notes box, and a dinner box. That’s all there is to it, and it’s incredibly effective.  What’s more, there’s a monthly calendar and a front folder to hold all your loose papers, but no notes pages or goal-setting worksheets. Ultimately, this planner is meant to be focused and to the point.

The Simplified Planner is for people who often feel overwhelmed with all the noise of unimportant things in life. It makes it easier to focus on the important things at hand each day without all the extra features. It has wire binding, hardcovers, and gold corner protectors.

The Daily Simplified Planner costs $50.

PurpleTrail Daily Planner

PurpleTrail boasts the most customizable planners on the market, and their daily version is no different. The daily planners come in three-month and six-month-long versions, and both of these have slightly different layouts. The three-month version displays one day on two pages. It has your daily schedule in one column, divided by morning, afternoon, and evening. It also has a to-do list column almost the full length of the page, a week-at-a-glance box, a huge space for notes, and a checklist. The six-month version offers each day on one page. It has the same type of schedule and to-do list column (but shorter in length), and a checklist and notes section at the bottom of the page.

No matter which version you choose, you have complete control over the personalization and customization of the planner. It comes with 80lb paper, soft or hard covers, monthly calendars, and two size options. Notably, you can choose from 17 add-ons, like health and budget tracking, to be included at the back of the planner.

PurpleTrail’s daily planner is ideal for anyone who prefers a planner that lasts a full year, likes to have a lot of room for each day’s important information and notes, and control over the look of the planner.

PurpleTrail Daily planners start at $53.95.

STARTplanner Daily Planner

The Daily Planner from Startplanner is one of those rare planners that somehow manages to make room for everything. Each day has a long schedule from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m., a long to-do list, and exercise and water tracking. It also includes vitamin and supplement tracking, dinner plans, self-care reminders, and even notes. And that’s just the daily page. The monthly planning pages are full of space to budget each month, make your lists, and set your goals. Also to develop plans to achieve them.

There are sections for absolutely everything you can think of, including holiday planning and medical expenses. Not to mention, you can choose between spiral or book-bound, two cover designs, and store whatever you need in the spacious folder.

STARTplanner Daily Planner costs $50.

Updated February 9, 2023.