The Perfect Planners for Everyone in Your Life

You should give the gift of organization with—what else?—a planner. No matter who you’re shopping for, there’s a planner out there perfect for them—and by the end of 2024, they’ll be thanking you for such a useful gift and for all of the help it provided them throughout the year.

Here are the best planners for students, mommas, twenty-somethings, men, and even health nuts.

Best Planners for Students

Students need a little bit more from a planner than the rest of us, and each student has entirely different needs. Some might need help budgeting, while others might need a space to write down all of their assignments and social events. These three planners are the most well-suited to all students, regardless of their specific needs.

Erin Condren LifePlanner

The Erin Condren LifePlanner has become known as THE planner for college students. With weekly layouts, tons of note pages, and oodles of fun, colorful designs throughout the planner, it provides the organization they need and the excitement they crave.

The LifePlanner also works with a whole litany of accessories. There are all kinds of dashboards and stickers to help your student stay organized; plus, it’s entirely customizable, so you can make it the perfect planner for them.

inkWELL Press’ Buildable Planner

inkWELL Press’ buildable planner is a great planner for older students who are starting to look beyond college. In five simple steps, students will have a customized planner ready to organize their school life. First, choose a cover, then a layout, any accessories, the discs, then buy!

No matter which layout you choose, the liveWELL planner is flexible and easy to mold to your specific needs and desires. This planner is meant for the more focused and goal-oriented students.

Best Planners for Moms

No one needs the assistance of a planner more than a mom. When you have to juggle your own life and career plus the lives and varying schedules of your family, you need something to help you stay on top of it all. These planners are all spacious and detailed enough to assist even the busiest of moms.

Emily Ley’s The Simplified Planner

Some moms find that too much organization and detail is too stressful. For those moms, The Simplified Planner is the best choice. It’s a daily planner that comes with just room for your schedule, to-do list, notes, and dinner plans.

There’s a monthly calendar each month, but that’s it. No goal-setting pages, no budget tracking, or other extra features. It’s to-the-point and focused, so you can be too.

Erin Condren LifePlanner

The LifePlanner is also a great tool for moms. It’s a weekly planner, so it allows them to see exactly what the week will hold for them and the family; plus, the lined to-do list provides a space for the most important tasks of the week.

If they need additional space or organization, the snap-in dashboards can provide them with all the help they need to plan meals, pack for trips, and write down even more tasks.

Day Designer Flagship Planner

The Day Designer Flagship is a comprehensive daily planner that detail-oriented moms will live and breathe by. It has a schedule from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m., an equally long to-do list, notes, gratitude, and daily spending, dinner, due items, and “don’t forgets.”

There are goal-setting pages at the front of the planner, and note pages are included throughout the planner. It comes in a myriad of beautiful designs as well. If you know a mom who’s juggling work, family, other obligations, and still wants to make the time to set some goals, then the Day Designer is for her.

The Very Busy Planner

For the moms who want to feel like they’re more than just “Mom”, The Very Busy Planner by Amy Knapp is a planner that not only handles a busy household schedule, it’s great for self-reflection. It has thought-provoking prompts each month that help you set goals, reflect on what’s working in your life, and define what you love.

If you’re a mom wanting to accomplish big things, The Very Busy Planner is a good one to have on your desk—or in the car, or the kitchen counter, or wherever you find time and space to reflect.

Best Planners for Career-Focused Twenty-Somethings

The career-focused twenty-somethings are a unique group. They’re in the process of growing up and trying to figure out what they want out of life. With so many new responsibilities and things to learn, they really need a planner that can keep up with their fast-paced, evolving life.

Day Designer Flagship Planner

The Day Designer Flagship Planner works for the twenty-somethings for the same reason it works for really busy moms: It includes just about everything and has a ton of space to write on a daily basis. Because these young adults are now working full-time (and often overtime), but also trying to make time to see friends and pursue interests, they really need a planner with a lengthy schedule.

This allows them to write everything down clearly. Because the to-do list in the Day Designer Flagship Planner is also lengthy, it allows them to write down all of their work tasks and their personal life tasks. You know, so they don’t forget to fold the laundry and schedule their yearly dental appointment.

Passion Planner

Another main characteristic of these young adults is that they’re very goal-oriented and looking for the best way to track their progress. This is where the Passion Planner can come in handy. This planner was designed with this demographic in mind, so it’s very attuned to their needs.

It has all of the space for its users to go over their goals and set them in trackable and manageable steps. It also has tons of room for their weekly schedule and to-do list for both work and personal life. Plus, it’s affordable and can work with any budget.

inkWELL Press’ Planner

The inkWELL is also goal-oriented, so it works for the career-focused young adults, too. With a yearly goal-setting section, monthly goal-setting, habit trackers, and even a budget tracker, the inkWELL planner is great for young adults learning to balance the adult world.

Best Planners for the Health-Focused

You can help your loved one out with their intention to start and maintain a healthier year by gifting them a health-centric planner. These planners are all about healthy eating, exercise, and creating a life that’s happy, healthy, and balanced.

Make It Happen Planner

Papier has the perfect planner for those who want to get serious about their fitness this year, and it’s name is Make It Happen. It includes a mind map, pages for setting and reflecting on goals, and features a 16 week view. Each week has three overview pages and seven daily pages for daily schedule and to-do list.

With nine lined pages for extra notes and undated pages, this planner is perfect for starting when you’re ready and keeping track of everything you want. It also has a hardcover, so it’s prepared for whatever you throw at it.

My Next 90 Days Life Planner

If you can’t afford a life coach, this planner is the next best thing. The My Next 90 Days Life Planner features a 90-day vision worksheet (it’s like having four New Years in a year!), prompts and tips for goal setting and reflection, and time-saving techniques.

With pages like “Organize Your Glorious Chaos” and customizable calendars, this planner allows you to take a step back, take it all in, then really focus in on what is most important in your life. Plus, the covers are gorgeous.

Best Planners for Men

Men won’t always admit they want or need a planner, and there aren’t a ton on the market. These are the best ones out there to help the men in your life stay organized and to make sure they never forget a holiday, birthday, or anniversary again.

DapperDesk Planner by Emily Ley

The DapperDesk planner by Emily Ley is a leather planner with a daily layout. The layout is very similar to The Simplified Planner, but it has a masculine edge to the design.

It’s small, so it’s easy to carry around inside a briefcase and it’s very professional—so he won’t be embarrassed to have it sitting on his desk at work. There’s plenty of room for his entire schedule and all of his daily tasks.

Passion Planner

The Passion Planner is great for men because of its unisex design both inside and outside. It’s a planner focused on functionality and goal progress, so even men can find it to be beneficial. It’s more detailed than the other two planners, but that makes it perfect for the Type-A men.

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Updated December 4, 2023.