The Best Planners to Help You Stay Organized

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Research shows people who take notes on paper actually learn and retain more than those who use laptops. Below is a round up of some of the best planners to help you stay organized and productive.

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When  I was working in corporate land, I always had a status list of active projects and campaigns in production. Plus I had two monthly calendars on either side of my computer monitor.

Now that I’m in freelance world, I want to make sure to build in the same systems so I don’t lose track of my days and client projects.

To prep myself for life as a new freelancer — I started using Google calendar. But I also made the decision to go back to the ol’ pen and paper, and I purchased a diary planner.

There are many benefits to digital planners, but they’re not always best. In fact, research shows people who take notes on paper actually learn and retain more than those who use laptops. Now, I didn’t just walk into the office supplies store and pick up any old planner. I did weeks of arduous research on Pinterest.

Below is a round up of some of the best planners to help you stay organized.

The Happiness Planner

The Happiness Planner has a focus on your happiness rather than your productivity. It aims to help you to be mindful of your thoughts and to develop your self awareness.

This is a planner to help you make ‘happy’ changes in your life.  It is available as a 100 Day Happiness Journal or the July-June Happiness Planner.

The Happy Planner

The Happy Planner (completely different than the one above) is available in five cover options plus a recipe edition. While the basic layout of the interior and calendar pages is the same in each planner, the decorative elements, fonts and colour schemes vary in each version.

The Happy Planner covers are made from laminated card stock that are interchangable thanks to the disc binding system.  The covers measure 7.75” wide x 9.75” tall with 7” x 9.25” pages.

Kate Spade Monthly Planner

Everything Kate Spade is whimsical and fun—including the planners and agendas.  I love how the agenda gives you a list of all the holidays.  I also like how each month starts off with a quote.

It reminds you to take notice of the little things in life even though your goal is to write down every detail to remember the big picture.  Most importantly, this agenda has a detailed section for each day of the month.

The Ban.do Agenda

This is the planner that I ended up purchasing. It comes with a lot of stickers, but I don’t think  I will make use of them. What won me over is the fact that it’s big, with plenty of room to be as detailed as I want for my days.

I plan on throwing it in my bag along with my laptop. Where ever Ms. Laptop goes, my new Ban.do goes too. And even though I liked all  those other pretty girly planners, the Ban.do planner is a little bit more pulled back in the pink area.

The Content Planner

If you are blogger or any sort of content creator, consider getting The Content Calendar, physical planner for your social media and blog content,  to keep your life organized both online and offline.

Finding a work-life balance while being a trendsetter can seem overwhelming — even for the most seasoned of us. The Content Planner promises to help you plan your entire year allowing you to optimize your content for maximum impact.

You can write down your goals to accomplish more in less time and guarantee success, strategize your day-to-day social content to grow your online brand and increase revenue, and plan ahead of holidays, social media and retail dates to position your brand as a trendsetter.

The Verdict?

I ended up getting The Happiness Planner. I couldn’t purchase them all, but there were quiet a few that I enjoyed. Yes, I wanted a good-looking planner, but not one that’s overjoyed on sparkles in an effort to make me feel emotionally fulfilled. After all — I am a “business”  woman.

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