Planning on a daily basis becomes a must these times. There is so much information we need to remember that it becomes impossible to work or live without any organizing tool. Daily planning can reduce stress levels, improve your sleep, make you more productive and positively influences your personal growth. However, as promising as these benefits may look like, you need to find the right planning tool for you in order to make it effective and efficient.
In this article, we elaborate on the different types of available daily planners you can choose from, so you get a better overview of your options. We also provide some tips and tricks you can take into account when choosing between these daily planner ideas, so you can find your personal fit.
What does a Daily Planner look like?
Basically, a daily planner is a tool that captures your daily appointments, your tasks and all other aspects in life that you find important to schedule.
Next to these basics, it can offer you much more. Depending on your needs, it can include a To-Do list, habit trackers, budget planners, meal plans, reviews etc. It exists in many forms and can be used in different ways. You can choose to write things down or use digital planner apps, to do this on a daily or a weekly basis. A daily planner can even be a tool to set goals, plan accordingly and track your progress.
Daily versus weekly planning
Strictly speaking, a daily planner is an organizing tool where you take up a full page for one day. On this page, you include the features you want to plan, schedule or track every single day. A weekly planner, on the other hand, offers you an overview of a whole week at one glance.
However, we shouldn’t take this too strictly because the most important element to consider is that your planner fits your needs. For example, I plan on a daily basis (I make a schedule every evening for the next day), but I do this within a layout that makes me able to look at the schedule for a whole week. This means that daily or weekly planners are just about the layout, not about the function or when you plan your schedules.
In short, I consider a daily planner to be an organizing tool that allows you to plan on a daily basis, with the layout being a daily or weekly overview.
Daily Planner Ideas: An Overview of Your Options.
In order to decide on what type of planner meets your lifestyle, you first need to know the options which you can choose from. Let’s talk about the advantages and disadvantages of every option.
Daily Planner Templates
Templates are a blueprint on which you can establish your daily schedule. There are hundreds of layouts available, for free or paying. I recommend doing some research in order to find and choose a template that contains all the features you wish for in your daily planner. You can get endless inspiration on sites like Etsy. Another option is to create your own daily planner template, using programs like Canva.
Next to the design, you can choose the medium or form of template:
- Printable: you can get designs to print and collect in a folder.
- Noteblocks: there are templates delivered in the form of a noteblock from which you can peel a sheet every day or week and collect it in a folder if you like to bundle them.
- Tablet: there is an offer of templates that you can manipulate on your tablet via note-taking apps like Notion or Microsoft OneNote.
Advantages:
- Flexibility to add other templates than your daily schedule (like meal plans, budgets etc.) and create your own bundle of planners.
- Saves time by being pre-designed.
- Different options of mediums you can use.
- Cheap options available.
Disadvantages:
- Less easy to take with you in case you print on A4 format.
Daily Planner Journals
You can also decide to get yourself a journal in the form of a blueprinted book. Basically, this is a bundle of templates glued together. However, there are different options in layouts and some journals are specifically designed for you to make a daily plan in a way that your productivity increases or to support you in achieving your goals.
- Basic Journal: think about a basic diary where you can find a yearly and monthly overview at the beginning of the journal and the rest of the book containing pages with space foreseen to write down your appointments in a weekly or daily overview. This is perfect for people that don’t need to keep track of every single task or need to make a timeboxing schedule to complete those tasks.
- Specific Journals (Productivity/Performance): these are planners that you can use on a daily basis to make your schedule. On top of that, these journals focus on a specific added value. For example, journals with a built-up structure, specifically made for increasing your productivity, performance, goal-achievement etc.
Advantages:
- Can be small in format.
- Easy to carry with you everywhere.
- Specific genres for specific needs.
Disadvantages:
- Low in flexibility to change features.
- No possibility for adding pages with other subjects/features you want to include in your daily planner (meal plans…).
Bullet Journal
The Bullet Journal (or BuJo) is the most flexible option for you to create your own daily planner. This is more a planning method rather than an actual blueprint of a planner. You start off with a book that only consists of dots, forming your blank canvas. The bullet journal technique is very simple. There are only a few basic rules to plan effectively and efficiently. You can literally choose any other aspects or feature yourself. On top of that, if you don’t like the design and you experience the feeling that you need to chance your current layout, you can just do so the next week. This way, you can find the perfect fit.
The BuJo is a very powerful tool since it doesn’t only help you out with organizing your life. It is also a tool that can be used for increasing your productivity, achieving goals, personal development and even self-care. This is why the BuJo is my personal favorite.
For people that want to apply the Bullet Journal method, but like a blueprint instead of starting off with a blank book, there are also Bullet Journal Templates available for you. You can choose the layouts and collections you like and bundle those to create your own printed BuJo.
Advantages:
- Most flexible option to create your own daily planner.
- It can be an all-inclusive tool for other purposes too: increasing productivity, self-care, personal growth, goal achievement and so much more.
Digital Planners: Apps
There are a bunch of apps on the market that you can try out. This is an option for people that are looking out for the quickest method of planning since these apps are designed to work as efficient as possible. Unfortunately, you can’t change the features of an app. Thus, it is important to find one that covers all the features you want or need to organize your life. Otherwise, it can become more of a hazard, possibly reducing your productivity
This is not a good fit for people that like to personalize and beautify their planner. In that case you are better off with a written planner. It can be a form of self-care, to take a break. Using an app or tangible planner is clearly a personal preference, based on the purposes your planning tool needs to fulfill.
Advantages:
- Designed to plan quickly and easily.
- Easy to take it with you everywhere.
Disadvantages:
- Not flexible: you can’t change the features of the app.
- Reduces the power of writing things down.
Think Before You Act: Find your Perfect Fitting Planner.
It is time to think about which of these options would be the best for you.
The first question to ask yourself is Why or for What do I want to use my planner? Think about the purpose it needs to serve. For example, next to daily planning, you might also want it to be an inspirational tool for you to achieve your goals. Here are some question that you can consider in order to make the right decision.
- Do you want a quick and easy solution? Or would you prefer to personalize/beautify your daily planner, or have room for self-care moments?
- How much time do I want to block for planning?
- Do I like to write or type?
- How specific/detailed do I want to make my schedules?
- What features do I want to include?
- Next to daily planning, do I want to add other planners (like meal, finance, travel planners etc.)?
- Do I want to bundle everything together in one app/book? Or do I split functions like daily planning, goal achievement, personal growth, habit trackers, self-care? It might be that you want to manage some functions online and others offline.
- Do I want to split my work planner from my personal planner or organize them in one spot?
Think about these questions and go through the daily planner ideas, listed in the previous section, to find your ideal (or multiple purpose) planner.
Tips For Efficient an Effective Planning.
There are 4 powerful tools that made me efficient and effective at daily planning. I really started to notice the benefits when I made scheduling a daily habit, used the technique of timeboxing, kept an eye on the big picture and started to reflect on myself. It is now the basis of my personal development path.
You can keep these 4 tools in mind when you are deciding on what kind of planner you want to use. You might want to use other techniques that work better for you. Nonetheless, I wanted to share these because I am a type of person that has the need for detailed planning and structure.
Block Time For Planning: Make it a Habit
Blocking time on a regular basis for planning, making it a habit, will truly allow you to reap the benefits of being organized. Think about how much daily time you want to spend on it. I would recommend making your schedule (or reviewing it, in case you made it earlier that week) every evening. Block 15 minutes (or more if you like) for creating a clear overview on how your next day will look like. This allows you to empty your mind, so you can surrender to a good night of sleep. The day after, open your planner to check what you need to complete that day. Stick to the plan whenever possible in order to be focused and productive.
Basically, my advice is to block some time twice a day, both in the morning as in the evening. This doesn’t have to be a lot. For example, I look at my schedule in the morning while I’m eating my breakfast and take some time to make next day’s schedule after diner, so I can release any stress for the rest of the evening.
Assign Timeslots To Tasks (Timeboxing Technique)
While you are scheduling, make sure you make a daily plan that is attainable. Otherwise, you’ll negate the benefits like releasing stress and working productively. Having too much on your plate won’t get your mind at ease and it will mess with your schedule because you have to shuffle things forward all the time. Eventually, this can result in demotivating yourself, resulting in a decreasing productivity level.
Timeboxing is the technique that I use to schedule tasks. Allocate upfront an amount of time to every task and work on it for that amount of time you’ve blocked. This helps you to work productively and focused on each task, within the allocated time zones. It will also help you to create an attainable schedule that motivates you to work hard instead of pushing too many tasks on one day that, possibly without you knowing, wasn’t even possible to finish in the first place.
You might need to do some trial and error before you get used to estimating how much time you need for a specific task. So don’t beat yourself up when this technique doesn’t do the trick right away. Nonetheless, practice makes perfect.
Keep an Eye on The Big Picture
The big picture reminds you where you’re heading and keeps your eyes on the price. Before I started planning on a daily basis, I had notes, Post-Its and thoughts everywhere. It made me chaotic, stressed and didn’t really know what to do first. Now that I am using a daily planner, I store everything daily in one book. I make my daily schedule, track the habits I want to pursue, store all my To-Do’s, make collections of projects, remind myself of my goals and reflect on myself all in one place: my daily planner (which is in my case the Bullet Journal).
Your daily planner can keep you going forward instead of spending time on the wrong things that do not add any value to what is important to you.
Reflect on Yourself
You can use your daily planner to reflect on yourself. For example, including habit trackers or blocking time weekly to check on how you scored on your intentions and goals. I find this the most powerful tool for personal development. It tells you if you are on the right track and whether or not you need to adjust in case you’re getting distracted.
Conclusion
There are many ideas for different types of daily planners you can use. I recommend giving some aspects a thought before you actually choose your type of planner. Questions like what purposes it needs to fulfill, how much time you want to spend on it, how detailed does it need to be etc. Once you know what you need, you can acquire your perfect fit and start getting organized.