Having trouble deciding on the right life planner to meet your needs? In this ultimate life planner comparison, I’ll help you find the best life planner, goal planner or productivity planner to get things done.

Note: This post contains affiliate links or referral links. Purchases from these links provides a small commission or discounts towards future purchases to me at no extra cost to you.Refer to my Full Privacy Policy and Disclaimers here.

As moms, our minds are already overwhelmed with the millions of tasks we have to manage for our family, our home, our work, our blogs/businesses and our selves. So adding to it what planner will help us wrangle the chaos is just another overwhelming decision with the zillions of planners on the market. Being the planner addict that I am, I took it upon myself to compile this ultimate planner comparison of my favorite planners so I can help you decide which planner will bring more peace to your mind so you can focus on your most important goals.

You see, this planner obsession of mine, it comes out of absolute necessity. I expect a ton out of my planner. Juggling 3 boys,  a husband, a 20 year old house that we’re busting out of, a blog business I’m passionate about and an autoimmune disease that zaps my energy as unpredictably as the rolling in of clouds, you could say I have a lot going on. And I rely on my planner as my brain outside my body to tame the chaos. Otherwise, I really think I would forget everything. But I know that I’m not the only one afraid of dropping all those balls I’m juggling. Don’t you feel that way too?

The good news is that I’ve done the research for YOU and am taking you through my absolute favorite planner companies on the market today. In my personal quest to crush my goals while taming chaos, I’ve scoured Instagram, the internet, Michael’s, Staples, Office Depot, Target and any other store that might carry a planner in search of the ultimate planner that solves all my personal challenges. I swear I can’t walk through Target without going through the planner aisle first. It doesn’t change much from week to week but it’s my guilty pleasure and with 3 boys in the house, I’m at Target..a LOT!

And while I can’t promise that the planner you choose now will be the one you stick with for the rest of your life, I hope that my planner comparison will help you decide what planner works for you in THIS season of life to help you get closer to achieving YOUR DREAM LIFE.

Who says you have to wait till the beginning of the year to crush your goals? As Lara Casey of Powersheets encourages us, you can start wherever you are…RIGHT NOW! 

Updating again! I’ll be updating this again for 2022-2023 planners since lots has changed! Please note that I originally wrote this post for 2018 and 2019 planners and noted changes in 2020. Please visit each store’s website for the most current, updated information. All these companies keep releasing new and great options worth checking out!

Ultimate Life Planner Comparison + Free Chart

To start things off, I’ll be walking you through the various planner companies I’m featuring, what I love about each one and what makes them unique in the planner market.

If you want more of the specifics on each planner, I’ve also compiled an Ultimate Planner Comparison file that you can download when you sign up for my newsletter. It includes a comparison chart so you can see:

• available formats (ex. dated, undated, calendar year, academic year)
• available binding (ex. spiral, book bound, binder inserts)
• available sizes
• cover material & binding
• paper quality
• monthly calendar format
• monthly planning page types (ex. goalsetting, menu plan, reflection pages)
• planner page format (ex. hourly schedule, top priorities, water or habit tracker, menu plan, gratitude, etc)
• extra preprinted pages in the front or back (ex. routines, gift lists, travel lists, bucket lists)
• # notes pages
• who the planner is good for in my opinion (ex. busy moms, people who are inspired by minimalist design, people want everything in one planner, etc)
• portability ranking in my opinion based on weight of planner from planner website.
• and more!

I created this chart using statistics found on the planner companies’ websites and flipping through the planners I have to make it as complete as possible to help you make a decision on the planner that best fits your needs. The chart will help you narrow down which planners to check out further. You can hide columns and rows if you want to print off or view only the data that is relevant to your needs.

Download the complete Ultimate Planner Comparison chart here when you subscribe to my newsletter so you can continue to get productivity tips to crush your most important goals.

Now let’s get to each company and what kind of planners they have that can help you.

Find the Right Life Planner to Keep Up with and Organize Your Busy Life

First we’ll discuss the life planners because let’s face it, many of us need help organizing our busy lives and schedules. In no particular order because they are all fabulous!

Emily Ley Planners

Emily Ley is the creator of the first 3 planners in this planner comparison: the Daily Simplified Planner, the Weekly Simplified Planner, and the Dapperdesk (daily) Planner.

1. The Daily Simplified Planner

I love the daily Simplified Planners*, they just feel like home and I love flipping the page each day for a fresh start.

Every time, I open the box for my daily Simplifed Planner, it kind of takes my breath away. The colors are vibrant and beautiful and the gold accents lend just a touch of class and sophistication without being flashy. I loved the Prep work pages and the Simplicity Challenge built into the prep work. My word of the year was “Simplify” for several years so the one-page Simplicity Challenge was a welcome and comforting sight in the planner. Not too long or overwhelming and totally doable in little increments of time.

What makes The Simplified Planner unique is that:

• Looking Back and Looking Ahead Prep Work pages to help you determine lessons learned and your path forward
• The Simplicity Challenge one-page checklist of ideas to tackle and simplify your life and home now
• Simplicity video coaching and tips via email with purchase including tips from creator Emily Ley’s  latest book A Simplified Life: Tactical Tools for Intentional Living* , a gorgeous book from inside Emily’s life and home to help you declutter your home and mind.
• Calendar and Academic Year versions in both spiral dailies and bookbound hardcover weeklies.
• Wide selection of gorgeous covers
• A complete line of planners and coordinating home and kitchen organizational tools, notebooks, journals, baby keepsake albums, office decor and so many great gift ideas on the Simplified Planner website*.

 

Simplified Planner Review:

See my full review of the Daily Simplified Planner here with lots of pictures. Summary of the pros and cons of this planner here.

Pros:

• great paper quality of coiled daily planners
• smaller than other coiled daily planners so easier to carry
• simple page design means you can customize what you track to suit your needs, even if that changes everyday!
• truly focused on simplifying your life: Simplicity Challange + Routine Worksheets + Monthly Simplicity tip reminders

Cons:

• If you like a dedicated space to track water, health, menu, expenses, then you’d need to customize a lot
• There are not many notes pages so you might need a coordinating separate journal or mini-notebook* or Powersheets if you make longer-term master task or project lists
• Weekends share a page
• Preprinted weekly tasks on Sunday might be a con for some users who would rather have that space to write

Get $10 off your first order through my referral link.*

2. The Weekly Simplified Planner

My first time getting a Weekly Simplified Planner, I found it really small. For someone with bad hands and big handwriting and doesn’t need to carry the planner with me, I didn’t think it would work for me. But I was pleasantly surprised. The compact size allowed me to make this my next actions planner for the Getting Things Done system and helps me think through breaking down my monthly goals into weekly and then daily tasks.

But I do think if you need a portable planner that you want to help you simplify your life and schedule, then this Weekly Simplified Planner is a fantastic option. I love that it comes with a ton of notes pages (31!!) so it can easily keep up with the bullet journaling/collection keeping I like to do in my planners.

You can read my full review of the Weekly Simplified Planner here. And get $10 off your first order through my referral link.*

3. Dapperdesk Daily Planner

2023 Daily, Dapperdesk Planner, Lilac
from: Simplified by Emily Ley

The Dapperdesk planner is the most professional and minimalist planner in Emily Ley’s line. A bookbound vegan leather daily planner, the Dapperdesk has full planning pages for Saturday AND Sunday making this the best planner for working moms (and dads) and those with busy weekends.

There is no color on the inside and it just has monthly layouts, a page per day for the calendar year and notes pages. It’s straight forward and to the point, no frills so you can customize it how you like. Because it has no coil, it is more portable and easy to fit in your purse or work bag.

You can read my full review of the Dapperdesk Planner here. And get $10 off your first order through my referral link.*

 4. The Day Designer

I first used the Day Designer* in 2016-2017, when I decided to take my blog to the professional level. It was my first daily planner and I loved having enough room finally to keep track of all the things running through my head and space for my schedule to track how I spend my time (I find that time tracking really helps me boost my productivity because honestly, no one wants to write down “slacking off” in their planner).

I love big, chunky books and I admit I love big, chunky planners too. They are great memory keepers and fabulous for seeing your progress towards achieving your goals. In these daily planners, I make sure to do a little more journaling or tracking of my small victories and the Day Designer was the one that helped me do that, a practice I still cherish doing today.

And the more you look at the Day Designer site, the more you’ll find that they truly offer an option for every planner style and budget! They now offer weekly planners that have some undated daily pages for extra busy days and gorgeous ring binders with A5 inserts.

What makes The Day Designer unique is that:

• the goal setting pages are the best in the daily planners I have seen that walk you through identifying your biggest goals and breaking them down into manageable pieces.
• Daily pages have space for gratitude, notes, expenses and a don’t forget section for most important priorities.
• the weekly planner has both weekly layouts and undated daily pages
• Gorgeous and wide selection of covers, spiral and bookbound options
• Wide variety of options between daily, weekly and monthly planners
• Professional Ring Binder with A5 inserts to customize and build your ideal planner, if I ever head back to a full-time outside the home job, I’m getting one of these beauties!
• Both a higher quality Flagship and mini line available on the Day Designer website* and a more budget-friendly Day Designer for Blue Sky line available on their website,  Amazon* and Target
• Ideal month and ideal week routine worksheets
• Variety of free, supplemental printables like an entertaining checklist, food and exercise log, weekly menu plan, cleaning schedule, books to read/movies to watch and many more on the Day Designer website*
• The minimalist design makes this great for people who want this to be a functional planner as well as creatives who like a blank canvas to make it their own.

The Day Designer Review:

Check out my full review of the Day Designer with lots more pictures of the daily and monthly pages.

Erin Condren Planners

5. Erin Condren Weekly LifePlanner

Ahhh, the planner that started the obsession and my ultimate planner comparison wouldn’t be complete without it. I have always been a planner girl but until I met the Erin Condren line of planners* in 2015, my planners were always the basic black or the ones I’d get in school and use black or blue pen. Nothing pretty or fancy but functional.

I opened that first beautiful box with my vibrant, colorful, happy little planner inside and marveled at it’s beauty. You couldn’t help but be joyful just looking at it, and that’s still how I feel when I opened the box to see my newest 2018 Erin Condren planner (and one lucky winner’s too).

For a noncreative person, I felt like the planner sparked some creativity in me. Like it was just begging me to write in it. And by getting down my notes, thoughts and lists, my mind felt like a burden had been lifted.

What makes the Erin Condren planners unique:

• They are just. so. beautiful – the inspiring handlettered quotes, the vibrant colors, it all works seamlessly together
• Available in bold, colorful, vibrant color scheme or a classic, elegant neutral color scheme
• Perfect for creating memorable keepsakes like a memory, dream, Bible or gratitude journal
• A wide variety of customizable interchangeable snap in-covers
• Available in hardcover bookbound, coil-bound weekly planners, folio notebooks and A5 ring binders. There really is a style for every planner type.
• Hardcover bookbound planners have gold or rose gold edged pages
• Available in life planners, academic planners, teacher planners and wedding planners
• Four coloring pages in the back
• Perpetual calendar booklet can be moved from year to year to hold your recurring events like birthdays and anniversaries
• Laminated back cover can be a dry-erase dashboard for lists or quote
• Wide variety of coordinating desk supplies, lunch and laptop totes, note cards, journals, apparel and home decor available on the Erin Condren website*. Accessories for the coiled planners are interchangeable.
• Seasonal surprise boxes containing mystery and exclusive items available on the Erin Condren website*

Erin Condren Planner Reviews:

Erin Condren Hourly Life Planner Review

Pros:

• Hourly, horizontal or vertical weekly layouts to suit your needs
• Daily planners available in various sizes of coil bound and A5 ring binders
• Unsurpassed beauty, perfect for keepsake journals or to stimulate your planner creativity
• Customizations available like personalized cover, layout and variety of add-on dashboards
• Good paper quality, works best with their line of pens*
• Annual and monthly dashboards can be customized for your goals, important events, menu plan or notes
• Coordinating stickers to highlight important events and to dos
• Future planning in the coming year calendar

Cons:

• The coiled weekly lifeplanner has few note pages. If you’re an avid list maker, you’ll need a coordinating separate journal* to keep your master task lists, project plans or bullet journal style collections in.

Get a $10 off coupon when you register for Erin Condren’s Insider program.

6. Erin Condren LifePlanner Binder

The original Erin Condren Life Planner Binder came out a couple years ago. Available in 6 month or 12 month inserts, it’s a gorgeous system. You can check out my complete Erin Condren Life Planner Binder Review here. The inside planning pages are similar to the colorful weekly and daily layouts in the other Erin Condren planners.

The Erin Condren Life Planner Binder is a BIG planner so it would be cumbersome to carry everyday. BUT it’s a fantastic option for a desk planner, family memory journal or home management binder.

There are daily insert pages, weekly insert pages and productivity and lined notes pages for the binder so now we can really customize our planning. There is a hole punch too so you can get the papers you need into the binder.

Get a $10 off coupon when you register for Erin Condren’s Insider program.

 

7. Erin Condren Daily Petite Planners

Erin Condren introduced new lines of petite planners* which are different categories of travelers notebook/journal style notebooks to build the planner you want. You can choose from goalsetting, daily planning, monthly calendars, gratitude journals, meal planning, travel, budget, baby planning and more. The individual notebooks fit into a gorgeous folio cover (that fits 4 notebooks) to make it portable. A great option for people who want to customize their Erin Condren planners, change the books throughout the year and carry it in their purse.

Erin Condren sent me the 2023 petite planners for review and I love them. I have been accumulating them since 2020 when this line launched. Over the years and they have discontinued/introduced new petite planners, journals and folios and changed the covers on some to keep things fresh and exciting. I truly love being able to switch out the different journals according to my season of life without buying a whole new planner. Each book is affordable ($14 currently) but get 4 for a discount. Really you could use the books on your own and throw in your purse for a truly portable and budget friendly option.

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But here’s a glimpse at some of the other petite planners/journals I have. I’m obsessed with them and keep getting the new ones. I like that they are focused on each topic which helps ME stay focused on the task/topic at hand. For an easily distracted person, focus is hard but these planners help!

Besides the daily planners, these are my other favorite petite planners/journals.

Erin Condren Budget Journal

For people getting started in budgeting or want simple budget and expense tracking pages on the go, the Erin Condren PetitePlanner Budget Book is great.

Erin Condren Meal Planner Journal

I use my Erin Condren meal planner all the time especially since I started meal prepping. There is a weekly grid for your breakfasts, lunches and dinners, a shopping list section and a meal prep strategy section so you can plan out how you’ll get it all done. There are additional pages for holiday and event menu planning too but I stick to the weeklies. It’s so easy to throw in your purse and go. You can see my meal planner in action on Instagram.

Erin Condren Self Care Journal

Spaces for habit tracking, reflections and reminders to track your mood, sleep and positive thoughts, the self care journal is simple and lovely without being too overwhelming. Prompts to make you truly mindful of taking care of yourself.

I think the Erin Condren Petite Planner Folio system is the best for customizable and portable planning that is budget friendly!

Get a $10 off coupon when you register for Erin Condren’s Insider program. Head to my Erin Condren Daily Petite Planner reviewErin Condren Daily Petite Planner review for more info and pictures of this great planning and productivity system.

8. Inkwell Press Planner

Next up the incredible Inkwell Press line of classic and elegant planners. Just like the Simplified Planners, I’ve been stalking the Inkwells for a long time too. These beauties are truly wonderful for women who want to develop effective, worthwhile habits and crush their goals. The Inkwells focus on using monthly habit trackers and vision boards in order to prioritize your time and goals.

The Inkwells also have the best paper quality (at least the highest gsm paper weight) so that means pens won’t bleed through and the paper is velvety smooth. Seriously, I was a little intimidated to start writing in these incredible Inkwells, I don’t want to ruin it. But an unused planner doesn’t do you any good, so grab a pen and just write.

What makes the Inkwell Press planners unique:

• The best paper quality (140 gsm) of the planners in this comparison
• Monthly 30 day habit trackers
• Monthly mission boards
• Setup video series with purchase from the Inkwell Press
• Project Organizer, Travel List, Bill Tracking and Gift List included in extra pages
• 32 notes pages for your master task lists and notes to make this an all-in-one life planner solution
• Vertical dated weekly layouts available from Office Depot, horizontal dated weekly and daily coil-free undated layouts available on the Inkwell Press.
• LiveWell Method Course and Productivity Academy courses with founder Tonya Dalton to help you live your best life.
• Free pdf downloads available like checklists, bill trackers, goal setting and bullet journaling cheat sheets on the Inkwell Press

Inkwell Press Planner Review

I don’t have a standalone review of the Inkwell Press Planners yet so listing the pros and cons here:

Pros:

• the paper! velvety smooth and thick so your favorite pens likely won’t bleed through
• discbound system completely customizable
• you can get sample packs to try them out before you commit to the whole system
• 2 dot grid pages in each month for Notes and Ramblings
• monthly mission boards for setting goals for me time, health, home, financial, social, dream big and 3 blanks to customize yourself
• monthly habits trackers to focus on 3 habits each month
• monthly calendar has space for top 5 priorities
• weekly layout goes to the very edge of the pages to optimize space so there is more room to write
• gift list, travel log, project planning space and monthly bill trackers

Cons:

• The gift list, travel log might be a con if you don’t think you’ll need that space and could have better used additional notes pages
• Horizontal Weekly and Coil Free planners only available on Inkwell Press website, Vertical Weekly planners only available at Office Depot (online or in store)

Get $10 off a minimum order of $50.

9. Passion Planner WEEKLY PlANNERS

I used the Passion Planner* in 2017 and the beginning of 2018 and I loved it because it had a soft leatherlike bookbound cover, the kind that look beautiful on a bookshelf, it was a large 8.5″ x 11″ size, an hourly schedule so I could track my time, a work and personal to do list for each week and it had plenty of notes pages for tracking my to do lists and goals. I also loved the Passion Planner Roadmap for goalsetting and the monthly reflections to help you figure out how the month went and how you can improve for the next month.  The Passion Planner really was a perfect all-in-one solution for people who like to bullet journal in their planners and the Facebook group really inspired me to be creative with my trackers.

The Passion Planner is now available in 3 sizes, a medium size in between the 2 pictured above.

What makes the Passion Planner Unique:

• Passion Roadmap to mindmap your biggest dreams and goals at the start of the year and mid-year
• Monthly calendar has space for personal and work goals and a space of infinite possibility for whatever you want to add in there (I liked mindmapping my goals into achievable pieces)
• Weekly layouts have equal space for personal and work to do lists to help you ensure work-life balance.
• Available in Sunday or Monday start
• Available in dated (Pro size) or undated (still available in Classic or Compact sizes until stock runs out)
• Monthly reflections pages to highlight what went well and what you can improve upon in the coming month
• Weekly challenges to break out of your comfort zone and improve your life in small ways
• Entire planner available via free pdf so you can print size you want and bind yourself and have your complete planning needs in one place.
• The most notes pages of any planner in this comparison (20 blank and 20 dotted in the Pro)
• Give One, Get One program so you can apply to receive a free planner. They give away a lot of planners to organizations and schools.
• The company gives back by donating portions of the proceeds to various charities. The theme of the covers support a different charity. For example, sales of the 2022-2023 Academic Adventure weekly green planner benefits  American Forests

Passion Planner Review

You can read my full review with lots of pictures on how I used my Passion Planner as a bullet journal here.

Get 10% off your first purchase of $15 or more here.

8 Awesome Planners like Passion Planner

 

The Passion Planner also has a daily version and digital versions available now.

10. Purple Trail Planners

The Purple Trail Planners are new to me and one of their reps let me select and customize every part of my planner to review for you. The review is coming soon but I had so much fun (and a bit of angst because there are sooo many options to choose from) customizing my ideal planner.

Being the Harry Potter fan I am, I could not resist the Harry Potter small 6×8 inch ring binder for my planner and I got:

• 6 months of 1 page per day daily planning pages (in the colorful layout)
• 12 months of content planning pages for my blog work (in the neutral layout)
• to do list pages
• checklist pages
• account pages for spending trackers
• dotted grid pages,
• pocket and
• whimsical wizard stickers!

Since I plan quarterly, I only keep 3 months of the daily pages and the content planning pages in the binder at one time (even though it could fit 5 to 6 months worth snugly). I used it at the beginning of 2020 and I loved the paper quality and the ability to move pages and just take out the pages I need on a clipboard. Having just what I need helps me focus on the task at hand and the rest of the binder is not far away if i need to write down other ideas, tasks or goals. I also love that the binder opens and closes easily without having to flip it over to adjust the pages.

what makes the purple trail planner unique:

• you can create your ideal productivity system because you can choose:
  • binding (ring binder, leather binder, unbound inserts, coil, hardbound book)
  • covers (soft laminate, soft synthetic, durable hardbook)
  • format (daily planners, weekly planners, monthly planners, mom planners, content planners, , wedding planners, teacher and student planners, fitness planners, tiny planners and planner notepads, printable planners)
  • colorful or neutral color scheme
  • starting month
  • planning page format (weekly horizontal, weekly vertical, weekly hourly, weekly 15 minute planner, weekly 3 section planner, weekly quad planner, 2 page per day planner, 1 page per day planner)
  • size (8.5 x 11 inches or 6 x 8 inches)
  • addons (different styles of notes pages, passwords, checklists, to do lists, fitness, nutrition, travel, grocery list, bills, bank accounts, monthly important dates, contacts, baby, appointments, teacher and classroom info and logs, student checklist, lesson planning, puzzles and games, pocket)
  • bookmarks, pens, stickers
• excellent paper quality, I don’t know the GSM but it can handle the darker mildliner highlighters and my black/navy gel pens without much (if any) shadowing!
• sticker club available
• also sells coordinating invitations, journals, notebooks, wedding guest books and more!

Purple Trail Planner Review

I don’t have a formal review yet but I’ll list the pros and cons for you here in the meantime. I can only speak to the ring binder since that’s what I have but I would think the same applies to the other formats of planners too:

Pros

• you can create and get EXACTLY the planner you need!!!
• excellent paper quality
• you can customize your start month so you can start using right away!
• ring binders open and close easily without flipping the binder over or maneuvering the pages
• ring binder is wide and holds a ton of pages, pages turn easily
• this can be an all-in-one planning solution
• simple, clean, minimalist design
• colorful layout is not too overpowering, one color per month
• they have good, frequent sales
• fast shipping considering it’s customized but you do need to plan ahead when choosing your start month

Cons

• it can get pricey to build your planner, mine came to $79.10 plus tax (shipping is free for continental U.S. order of $75 and over) but mine is both for personal and work.

Yep, that’s all i can think of to tell you about the Purple Trail planners, I think it’s a great value for what you can get!

Get $10 off your first order of $50 or more at Purple Trail and see if it helps you build your perfect planning and productivity system!

11. Plum Paper Planner

After the Erin Condren planner I bought in 2015, I discovered bullet journaling as a way to capture all the thoughts in my racing mind. I found that the Plum Paper planners allowed me to customize the planner so I could add a bunch of notes pages for my master task lists and project and bucket list ideas AND add preprinted checklists to each month and a blog planning section. It was a hefty planner because of everything I added in but it was AMAZING to be able to build a planner to suit my needs.

The Plum Paper was the first planner I bullet journaled in and loved that I could incorporate the system into a premade layout since drawing the layouts I wanted was too time-consuming and painful for my hands damaged by Rheumatoid Arthritis. I wanted an all-in-one solution because after reading Getting Things Done*, I knew that if I didn’t have everything in one place, I’d lose track of something important and the Plum Paper Planner rose to the occasion.

What makes the Plum Paper Planner unique:

• Just about everything inside the planner can be customized for your needs including:
  • 3 size choices
  • 16 layout options
  • 250+ cover options
  • custom personalization on cover with 14 shape choices, 20 font choices and 50 color choices
  • start month date so you can start your planner anytime
  • length of planner (6 month increments between 6-18 months)
  • bound or unbound
  • 41 add-on options for your home, business, lifestyle, educational for teachers or students, notes and lists, dispersed pages and stickers
• Monthly highlights pages for top 3 goals, birthdays, events and things to remember
• Weekly ME layout, MAE layout  or full week grids are perfect for categorizing your weeks by family member or task category (leave the titles blank so you can change it up if you like)
• New daily planner layout!
• Ready to ship teacher planners shipped out within 1 business day

Plum Paper Planner Review

This post shows you how I bullet journaled in my Plum Paper planner back in 2016 but I will go over the pros and cons specifically here:

Pros:

• most customizable, there isn’t a layout or need that they haven’t thought of already and made a beautiful layout for
• smooth paper is a dream to write on
• this can be an all-in-one planner solution
• colorful planner is not overpowering and has clean lines

Cons:

• because each planner is customized, shipping can take awhile depending on when you order. So plan and order ahead of when you need to start using it.

Want 10% off your first purchase of $30 or more in the Plum Paper Planner store? Email me at tanya{at}momssmallvictories{dot}com and request a referral. I have to enter your email address in Plum Paper’s referral system and they send you the coupon directly.

 

 

12. The Happy Planner

Every time I go into Michael’s (and I love going into Michael’s),  I head to the Happy Planner section. I love their covers and that they are discbound so you can add your own pages and customize the planner to suit your needs. They have a gorgeous collection of accessories and stickers to match also.

But as long as I have stalked them in Micheal’s, it wasn’t until now that I purchased one for the giveaway (and found a crazy deal on a 2018 for me to try out). It’s just so pretty. Anyway, here’s what I think makes the Happy Planner unique:

What makes the Happy Planner unique:

• the only discbound planner in this comparison
• hole punches* in both mini and large sizes and expander rings* allow you to add your own pages and customize your planner
• each Happy Planner is unique in color schemes, fonts and inspirational quotes. Besides the layout and size differences, no two seem exactly alike.
• monthly dashboard for current interests, birthdays and important notes
• Perfect for creating memorable keepsakes like a memory, dream, Bible or gratitude journal

 

The Happy Planner Review

I don’t have a separate review so have listed the pros and cons for you here.

Pros:

• Beautiful spreads to inspire you creatively and emotionally, besides weekly planning these could easily be used for gratitude, Bible, dream, or memory journal
• Good quality paper
• Discbound system is completely customizable with accessories like:
  • interchangeable covers*
  • wedding, fitness, budget and 6 month expansion packs*,
  • extra filler or graph paper*
  • deluxe covers for the classic* or mini*
• Ready available in stores at Michael’s or online at Amazon*, Prime members* can get free 2 day shipping.

Cons:

• If you want extra pages for goal setting, reflection or notes pages, you have to order or find it in a store

13. The Franklin Planner (Day on 2 Pages)

The Franklin (Covey) Planner has been a staple in productivity planners for decades. Although they have day on 1 page formats, I’m showcasing the Carrara Day on 2 Pages layout because that is the one I have used for most of 2021 and 2022.

I took the free Franklin Planner training course before I bought it in late January 2021. What makes the Franklin Planner system unique is that it uses the principles from the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and walks you how to identify your values and align your goals with your values. Then you figure out how to schedule those goal action steps into your day. It also teaches how to take and record/index your daily notes and tasks effectively so that you can find them when you need them.

Because I used the ring bound planner binder, I really could get everything into my one binder – monthly and daily planning pages (i kept two months worth of day on 2 pages at a time), my goal breakdown pages, menu planning, my GTD system, finances and notes for home, life, family, car and blog.

I accomplished some amazing home and finance goals in 2021 I didn’t think possible because my goals and financial worksheets were with me all the time when I did my planning. If you need an all in one solution, I highly recommend checking this one out.

Franklin Planner Pros and Cons

Pros:

• binder system is customizable – you choose size of binder/inserts and what you need in it
• all in one planning/life management solution
• day on 2 pages layout has space for to do list, time tracking, daily tracker and notes
• day on 2 pages layouts come with monthly: calendar, master task list, index and business expense tracker
• free values based training course helps you best utilize the productivity system and planner so you can align your goals and tasks with what you value most
• quarterly undated packs are available in different formats to try them out before you commit to a weekly, day on 1 page or day on 2 page layout.
• Franklin planner binders and inserts are available in 4 sizes in a variety of layout options

Cons:

• not portable – the whole year’s worth of day on 2 pages inserts requires a separate 3″ mini binder or storage case (weekly inserts and day on 1 page options are available though)
• can be expensive to build your perfect system between the binder and inserts

Buy the Franklin planner here and get free shipping on orders of $75 or more.

Find the Right Goal Planner to Achieve the Goals that Matter to You

There are a few planners on the market dedicated to clarifying and achieving our most important goals. And I’ll be doing the same sort of goal planner comparison so you can see if a goal planner will help you fulfill your purpose and goals.

14. Powersheets

I started using Powersheets* in 2018 when I was feeling a bit lost over my life purpose. I was overwhelmed with everything I wanted to do, but not getting anything done to completion. One thing was for sure, I couldn’t focus and I couldn’t do it all. Do you ever feel that way?

The Powersheets made me dig deep and reflect harder than I had before. The Prep Work is intense but it helped me get down to the core goals that are most important to me. Instead of focusing on 20 goals, I narrowed it down to my 4 most important goals. And I can’t say I don’t still get distracted, but I can say that I am getting more done on my core goals and saying “no” more to things that don’t get me closer to them.

After you set your goals, the Powersheets helps you develop effective Action Plans and Monthly Tending Lists to make sure you stay focused on your core goals. The Powersheets helped me accomplish some amazing things in 2018, big and small and I’m a big fan. I’ve bought one every year since.

 

What makes the Powersheets unique:

• 20 Prep work worksheets to force you to think about your fears, the identity box you’ve put yourself in and your biggest aspirations and motivators in order to help you cultivate your most important goals
• 10 Action Plan worksheets to take action on your 10 most important goals with more indepth questions to help you realize why the goal is important to you, resources to seek out and rewards when you complete the goal
• Monthly Tending Lists to track your monthly, weekly and daily goals all in one space.
• Month in Review worksheets to help you analyze what you’re grateful for, lessons learned, what’s going well and what you are saying no and yes to for next month.
• A page to celebrate highlights and recap best of the year
• Coordinating stickers included
• Beautiful gold designs on some pages
• The 12 month version comes with quarterly refresh challenges and reevaluation of goals and life.

The Powersheets Review

You can see more pictures and the pros and cons of the Powersheets in my full review here. Check out Everything You Need to Know Before You Buy Powersheets for answers to frequently asked questions and figure out if it’s worth it for you.

I think you can get a 10% off coupon when you sign up for the Cultivate What Matters newsletter.

15. The Self Journal

I came across the Self Journal* during my quest for my life purpose earlier this year. I am a sucker for hardcover bookbound journals and loved that the PDF of the entire journal was free to download. The Self Journal is undated and focused on 6 principles to help you achieve your goals including defining your goals in 13 week roadmaps, time blocking your entire day and bookending your day with positive psychology.

I really liked the way the Self Journal helps you break down your goals into progress goals, specific tasks, what success looks like and what your reward will be for achieving your goal by the target date. To hold yourself accountable, you have to physically sign and date your goals, a small step with great significance to keep you motivated.

What makes the Self Journal unique:

• Free PDF download available of the entire  journal so you can print yourself and try it out.
• Analyze your result goal (the goal you are trying to achieve), why it’s important and how it will improve your life
• Sign your commitment to completing the goal by a target date to hold yourself accountable
• Weekly habit trackers and reviews to determine wins, improvements and lessons learned
• Light gray text on hours of daily agenda (6a-9p) so you can overwrite your planned hours if needed
• Morning and evening daily gratitude
• 13 week undated journal contains 3 monthly pages, 13 weekly layouts (2 weeks to a page), and  approximately 180 daily pages
• Hardcover bookbound journal
• Can order a subscription, journals delivered every 11 weeks and 10% off individual journal price
• Weekly Action Pad* allows you to categorize tasks by time takes to complete and Energizing, Neutral and Draining

The Self Journal Review

I don’t have an individual review for this one yet so listing the pros and cons here:

Pros

• Undated so you can use it when you need it, designed to work in 13 week blocks
• Hardcover bookbound journal looks professional
• Small size makes it easily portable
• Weekly review pages focus on your happiness, wins and lessons learned
• Small weekly habit trackers associated with your goal work
• Daily gratitude for mornings and evenings
• Can be used for daily life planning and focusing on goals

Cons

• Need 4 journals to cover an entire year

16. Full Focus Goal Planner

The Full Focus Planner is new to me in 2022 after reading Free to Focus by Michael Hyatt at the beginning of 2021. Free to Focus is centered on identifying what’s important to you so you can focus on those goals. I love the routines he suggests nailing down: morning routine, workday startup, workday shutdown and evening routine.

I’ve got to say that my workday startup routine is my favorite part of the day. Even as a stay at home mom and blogger, I view this part of my day as what I need to get done to have a great day. My routine involves tidying up the kitchen and family room which is where I spend most of my day. Once those are clean and tidyed up, I can feel good about tackling the rest of the day.

This planner has spaces for routines, your ideal week, goalsetting, monthly, weekly and daily pages. It really is everything I need in my planning system.

The other thing I love about this planner is the weekly review. This is my favorite weekly review to do because it not only helps you reflect on how you did on making progress on your goals and why, but it requires you to manage/update your tasks and lists so nothing falls through the cracks and makes you plan self care time into your week ahead so you can be intentional and mindful about your sleep, what you eat, movement, connection with family and friends and relaxation.

What makes the Full Focus Planner unique:

• 90 day undated planner so you can use it when you want/need
• thorough weekly overview pages for planning your upcoming week to identify your most important goals and self care
• detailed weekly review to reflect on how you did on top priorities, what worked and what didn’t
• daily pages are a 2 page layout, left page is for tasks, appointments and routines and right side is for notes.
• saturdays and sundays each have a 2 day layout also.

The Full Focus Planner Review

I don’t have an individual review for this one yet so listing the pros and cons here:

Pros

• monthly, weekly and daily pages make it an all in one solution
• undated so you can use when you need it
• plan out your ideal week
• rolling quarters pages to help you future plan
• goal breakdown pages allow you to identify why the goal is important and a goal streaker tracker to encourage you to make a habit to check in/work on the goal.
• ideal for professionals, business owners and people who want to focus on incorporating their goals into their daily lives

Cons

• since it’s essentially a quarterly planner, it can get expensive for a full year’s worth of planners (you can subscribe or buy all 4 at once for a discount)
• If paper color matters to you, pay attention to the color of the paper on the listing. The standard version has cream colored paper and the leather version has white paper. Truth be told, I didn’t think I’d like the cream colored paper but it grew on me and this is an excellent planner so I was ok with it.

Coupon code: Buy the Full Focus planner here and get 10% off your first purchase when you use my discount code TANYA10.

Find the Right Productivity Planner to Boost Your Productivity and Efficiency so you can Have More Fun

Why do you want to be more productive? For me, I want to get all the things I have to do quickly and efficiently so I can make more time for fun! There are 7 Things Your Productivity Planner Should Do FOR You

I’m still working on this section of the post but these are the current planners I’m researching to test how they can improve your productivity and efficiency. More on the results soon!

Full Focus Planner – goals, planning, habit tracking and reflections all in one quarterly planner. use the discount code TANYA10 to save 10% off your first purchase.

Day Designer Daily Planners – the daily planners are described above but these planners also have a comprehensive goalsetting section so they are a contender for a productivity planner too.

Silk and Sonder – this subscription service sends you a different themed wellness planner monthly. It focuses on a wellness theme or character trait (such as joy, patience, compassion). It also has pages for your monthly and weekly goals and habit tracking. So it makes a well rounded planner. You can’t pour from an empty cup so filling your cup with things for your physical and mental health can make you more productive too!

Want all the details on these amazing planners so you can find the best life or goal planner for your needs? Subscribe to my Newsletter and Get Your FREE Ultimate Planner Comparison Chart!

Subscribe to my newsletter and download my Ultimate Planner Comparison chart for free so you can print or view a side-by-side comparison of all the life and goal planners described above (productivity planners will be added soon), their statistics and who the planner is best for. This will help you choose the best planner for you in your current season of life. With your subscription you also get the password to access my Exclusive Subscriber Library where you can download ALL the free planners, printables, bookish discussion questions and blogging goodies that I offer.

Everyone’s planning needs are so different, we have different priorities and goals. It can be hard to find the right planner to help you juggle your daily life, reach for your goals and cultivate a purpose-filled life that you love. I hope that this Ultimate Planner Comparison helps you see the benefits of the different planners on the market so you can choose one that helps you feel less overwhelmed and more productive.

So which planners most interest you? What do you hope your planner helps you do? Do you need a planner to help you juggle daily life or reach your goals or both? Tell me in the comments!

Feel free to ask me anything about the planners you see above and I will give you my honest opinion and feedback.