Best Planners for Productivity and Organization

With a new year looming ahead, it’s time to start considering the goals you want to accomplish in those fresh 12 months. With all that possibility (and, of course, tons of important dates to keep track of), you need a great planner to help you out. Because the new year isn’t something to take lightly, you don’t want to choose a hum drum planner that doesn’t offer you any helpful tools or organization.

The following is a list of the best planners you can buy to guarantee you have a productive, organized, successful, and happy year!

Erin Condren LifePlanner

Erin Condren LifePlanner, $60.50+

No planner list would be complete without the Erin Condren LifePlanner. This weekly planner comes in three formats (horizontal, vertical, and vertical hourly), so you can get the exact style you want with all of the fun tools and accessories that Erin Condren provides.

The Erin Condren LifePlanner is definitely geared toward those who prefer a bird’s eye view and don’t want to track every little detail in life. Think Type-A people who also love to keep things simple and free-flowing. If you’re looking for detailed goal-setting pages or budget tracking though, you won’t get that with this planner.

For the same quality in a smaller form, the Erin Condren A5 LifePlanner provides everything you love about the original in a compact version. You can get in on this deal for as low as $57.50.

Day Designer

Day Designer Daily Planner, $68

This planner, the Day Designer Daily Planner, is the quintessential daily planner (and the planner the entire ESL team uses BTW). It has a schedule spanning from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. and a to-do list that is equally as long. Plus, there are the specialized boxes to help you stay focused and keep track of things like bills and dinner plans. Day Designer starts with a detailed, organized goal-setting section. It provides you with a place to break your goals down by quarters and into actionable steps you can undertake.

If you’re looking for a planner to help you create some clarity in your daily life, then the Day Designer planner can help you do that. With it on your side, you can get more of the important things accomplished. And if $68 is too steep for you, Day Designer also has mini versions of their flagship planner for $58.

Emily Ley The Simplified Planner

Emily Ley The Simplified Daily Planner, $64+ | Emily Ley The Simplified Weekly Planner, $54+

The Simplified Planner by Emily Ley comes in both a daily and weekly version. The daily version (aka the original The Simplified Planner) has just a schedule from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m., a to-do list, a box for your dinner plans, and a box for note-taking each day—and, of course, monthly calendars.

The weekly Simplified Planner consists of a horizontal weekly layout. Each day is divided into a to-do list and a lined space that can be used for your schedule. It’s called The Simplified Planner for a reason: There are no extra sections added in. Both the weekly and daily Simplified Planners by Emily Ley are all about focusing on the important things and letting go of the rest.

ClassTracker Planner

ClassTracker Weekly Planner, $25.99+

There’s nothing more critical to a student’s success than a good academic-focused planner. The ClassTracker is all about creating some organization and accountability for students. It has a weekly vertical layout with designated sections for important things. There’s space to write down the things you need to remember each day, the assignments/exams/etc. that are due each day, your assignments, and your social activities.

The ClassTracker planner runs from August to June to mimic the school year, comes with monthly calendars, and pages to record your class schedules. It’s ideal for both high school and college students.

inkWELL Press liveWELL Planner

inkWELL Press Daily and Weekly Planner options, $62+

The inkWELL Press liveWELL Planner now comes in two weekly versions and an undated daily version. All of them stand on their own; however, for ultimate organization, I think using the weekly planner in conjunction with the undated daily planner is the ideal choice. Because the daily liveWELL is undated and lasts 184 days, it can easily be used on those days when your weekly liveWELL doesn’t have enough space.

We all have those days when we need an entire piece of paper to keep track of everything, and a weekly planner can’t always provide that. But with both the weekly and daily liveWELL Planners at your disposal, you can tackle all types of days easily. Plus, inkWELL Press’ planners are known for having killer goal-setting pages, monthly planning pages, and habit tracking to help you live your best life.

These planners are build-your-own, so depending on what you choose, the cost will vary greatly. They do offer bundles if you don’t feel like making decisions, with the lowest bundle starting at $62.

Updated July 18, 2023.