2023 UPDATE:
The Sol Planner was so amazing that I am using AGAIN this year and decided to forego doing my Planner Olympics this year. If you would like to see the 2023 Sol Planner check out the unboxing video I posted on YouTube here. Don’t forget to subscribe so you get notified when new videos are posted.
A quick word before we begin. The Best Planner is so entirely subjective and personal, which is why in large part I chose to highlight so many. I hope that the way I have broken them down helps you to identify which planner is the best for YOU in 2022. Please also note that there are many many many great planners not represented here. I have done my best to find interesting planners and sourced many of them from small businesses where I could. Please be aware that most of these planners were gifted to me, however, my opinion is still my own and I will always be honest. Check out my Instagram where I did first impression videos if you want more of a look inside and now without further ado….
Weekly Agendas
I consider it to be an Agenda if it has the times listed out for each day. Agendas allow you to keep your time and tasks in the same place so that you can keep track of everything you are doing in one place.
The Sol Planner
The Best All-Around Do-Everything Planner of 2022*
It’s beautiful. It’s goal-oriented. It was designed for business owners….BY A MOM. I love it. From its lux gold corner things to its detail-oriented design, this planner has it all. It starts with a goal-setting section that guides you through making goals that are aligned with the values that you hold most dear. Then those goals get broken down by quarter and revisited monthly and quarterly throughout the planner. The monthly goal check-in and reflection is well thought out as is the extensive extras section at the back (budgeting, holiday gifting, savings goals, habit tracking, the list goes on and on). But really what sealed the deal for me is the weekly layouts.
You get two spreads per week. The first has room for reflecting and preparing as well as plenty of free note space. The second is your weekly time layout, complete with a daily agenda, water and movement tracker, top priorities for the week, and a to-do list by day. So here‘s where the magic is. On your Process and Prep page, you have space to brain-dump your to-dos for the week, then prioritize them, and then move them to the daily to-do lists. Daily to-do lists alone are amazing for keeping you focused on each day of the week, but I cannot begin to tell you how often I have to brain dump my to-do list outside of my planner before I can get it organized enough to put in my planner, this planner skips that whole step. My life is changed.
Best For: *If it wasn’t already clear when I say that this is the Best Planner, I truly mean it is the best Planner for me (and those like me). In this case, that means: This is the best planner for anyone who needs to organize their time and tasks in one place, preferably a pretty, organized, paper place. This is the best planner for reconciling your business and your life in an organized, prioritized, and easy to navigate way. This planner is all set to help me manage my business, household, child, health, finances, self-care, and hobbies all in one place.
Key Features: Full color inside full of beautiful floral designs; easy to navigate fixed tabs for the months plus movable bookmark tabs for the day you are on, your goals, finances, and one you get to assign; Page numbers on all pages helps you to keep things organized if you (like me) create a table of contents for your notes; beautiful gold elastic to keep it together; a really cute and engaging email list from the creator; goal-setting; habit tracking; budgeting and savings goals; weekly meal planner space
Pros:
Brain-dump page and daily, as opposed to, weekly to-dos create a really useful task workflow
helps you set goals, break them down by quarter and month, and track your progress
Beautifully designed, full color, and with tabs/markers to help you navigate
Cons:
There are three colors available, but they are all in the trendy/earthy/mustardy family of colors and all are floral. If those aren’t your thing, too bad. I would love to see a more gender-neutral version and/or color options that were more different from each other.
If you had told me my favorite planner (and the one I plan to use all 2022) was a spiral-bound I would laugh at you. I HATE spiral bound. The fact I’m still going to use this one is a testament to how much I love the content.
Cost: $65 Which is really not bad at all for a full-color, full-year planner made in small batches by a badass solopreneur.
Tune into this month’s podcast episode where I interview the creator of the Sol Planner, Sarah Light. You can find this planner at solplanners.com
Passion Planner
The Previous Champion
Passion Planner has been my favorite favorite favorite planner for three years running, but all dynasties come to an end. Okay melodrama aside, I still really love Passion Planner. They have a great setup for sketching out a mindmap of what you want your future to be (they love mindmaps) and then breaking it down into one thing you focus on at a time. The paper is lovely, there is ample writing space, and the cover, ribbon, and elastic all hold up to a ton of wear and tear (trust me, I’m hard on things). The weekly layout has to-do lists for work and personal and sections the list off based on priority.
Best for: Almost anyone. The great thing about Passion Planner is that it is very flexible for different types of people. Ultimately, I found it wasn’t specific enough for me and didn’t have “room” for all the areas of my life, but that is because I live a very high-demand, juggle-lots-of-things, life.
Pros:
Very flexible for lots of different types of people and uses
A very approachable paradigm for goal setting. Ideal for those just starting out in goal-setting
Beautifully made
With many cover colors and designs, three sizes, and options for dated, undated, and academic there is a version of this planner for everyone.
Cons:
While there is lots of blank notepaper in the back, there aren’t many “extras” that they set up for you. I always end up “saving” pages in the back of my passion planner and never using them.
Tasks are separated into Work and Personal and I don’t find that to be the most useful way to sort them, particularly if those aren’t the two areas of your life.
Cost $35-$40 for a 12 month spread depending on the style you choose. Be sure to check out their sale tab for deals.
You can find the Passion Planner here www.passionplanner.com
Sugar Paper Desk Planner
The Big Beautiful Basic Agenda
Sugar Paper’s planners are all beautiful, clean, and simple. They offer expansive layouts and a very uncluttered design. The Desk Planner is intended to keep the schedule for a family, but regardless of if you are a soccer mom or a c-suite executive, there is something really appealing and calming about the wide-open clean design of this planner. The monthly spread is pretty standard but each month does have a dedicated spread for notes and goals for the month. The goals section has space for personal, health, work, and financial goals, though I will say that with 9-12 lines under each of those headings, they are probably more objectives or tasks as opposed to goals. The weekly spread has your hourly agenda and three rectangles per day for you to use how you want (tasks, meals, workouts, whatever).
Best for: The minimalist with a lot to juggle. If you like big clean white spaces, but also have places to go and things to do this is the planner for you.
Pros:
Did I mention its clean design and spacious pages?
Nice and simple; you don’t have to wonder if you are using this planner correctly
Cons:
The pages seemed a bit thin so I wouldn’t recommend gel pens or highlighters (Sugar paper does Sell some cute felt tip pens). You definitely are at risk of bleeding with a heavy hand.
The simplicity is one of this planner’s strengths, but it really doesn’t have anything in the way of goal setting, tracking, pre-planning, review, etc.
Cost: $36 for a 12-month spread. BF and CM sales going on through 11/29/2021
You can find the Sugar Paper Desk Planner here https://sugarpaper.com/collections/planners/products/desk-planner
Weekly Planners
Weekly Agendas are great for people who either have a very regular schedule (same classes or meetings each week) or who depend on their digital calendars for keeping track of their time and their planner is more for tasks, growth, and tracking.
You Squared Planner
The Best Planner to Change Your Life
This planner combines a personal cheerleader with a very organized, compartmentalized layout. The planner’s creator Athena, speaks directly to you throughout the planner to guide, encourage, and teach you towards the life of your dreams. The planner helps you set goals at the beginning. Then, there is encouragement and check-ins throughout. Each month the planner gives you a monthly mantra, book recommendation, and space to create areas of focus for each week. Instead of one big area per day on the weekly spread, each day is separated into three boxes. I think this is genius, it allows you to compartmentalize however you would like. Maybe you use them for morning, afternoon, and evening. Maybe you use them for school, work, and home. Maybe you use them for meal tracker, daily self-care/health, and tasks. It is all up to you. The weekly spread also includes space for habit tracking, gratitude, sleep tracking, and a link to Athena’s weekly blog post. Overall, I am very impressed.
Best for: People who need to juggle several different areas of life and want the encouragement and structure that Athena offers them. The actionable pep talk at the end of each month really could be a gamechanger for some.
Pros:
Packs in a ton of content without looking or feeling cluttered
Great for goal setting, reflection, and motivation
Nice compact size and a sturdy cover
Great paper
Cons:
No ribbon to use as a bookmark
The pens are meh. But cute.
A bit on the pricy side, BUT it is a small business so we know every dime is worth it
Cost: $72-$82 for a 12 month spread depending on if you choose the duo or trio. And because this company is so gracious, you can use the code TOLLIS10 to get 10%off your purchase.
You can find the You Squared Planner here https://yousquared.co/collections/frontpage
Silk and Sonder
The Planner for Wannabe Bullet Journalers
If you want to talk about a planner that is more an experience than a piece of stationary, then let me introduce Silk and Sonder. This is a MONTHLY Planner, yeah you read that right. They send you a new one every month. They are gorgeous, they are themed for each month, there is an app, daily podcast, and community that goes with it. Frankly, it's a lot, but a really good lot. The idea of silk and sonder is to encourage self-care. There are affirmations, habit tracking, journal prompts, guided activities, coloring pages, self-care challenges, and honestly that’s just the beginning. I was immediately reminded of the beautiful bullet journals you see on YouTube and Pinterest, where a watercolor masterpiece and 3 feet of washi tape are required to start out each month. This planner is for you if you want that experience without actually needing artistic talent (cough*cough ME). I really expected to fall in love, but honestly, with everything that this planner includes, I felt the actual planning part was lacking. Now don’t get me wrong, there is a full spread for weekly to-dos, top 3 priorities, how you want to feel that week, habit tracking, meal planning, shopping list, and health plan PLUS the spread with space for each day, but there was so much other stuff going on. Every detail of this planner (and app) is beautifully designed and the dedicated Silk and Sonder Community are loving it. I definitely see the appeal of starting fresh each month, but I want my year to have a bit more continuity. I would love for them to put out a journal subscription though. I just need more practicality in my planner.
Best For: Those seeking a self-care journaling practice and a community to support them. This planner gives you lots of things to do for yourself.
Pros:
Lots of guided prompts and self-care exercises
Nice paper and beautiful illustrations
Great for creating time for yourself
App and community for inspiration
Cons:
I don’t need more STUFF to do
If you want annual goal setting and continuity you have to purchase their separate annual supplement
Cost: $19.95/mo Monthly Subscription, $18/mo Quarterly Subscription, $14.90/mo Annual Subscription
You can find the Silk and Sonder Planner here https://www.silkandsonder.com/products/monthly-subscription-new
Daily Agendas
A daily Agenda narrows your focus down to the day at hand. I recommend daily planners to my clients who are feeling pulled in too many directions, in order to keep their eyes just on one day at a time. Note that most are quarterly.
Monk Manual
The Best Planner For Increasing Self-Awareness
Okay, when I saw an ad for a planner based on the way that monks live I will admit to being skeptical, but honestly, I am sold. Where other planners just help you focus on what you have to do, this planner helps you to bring awareness to who you are and who you are becoming. There are monthly, weekly, and daily spreads each with areas for to-dos and priorities but also space for reflection. In particular, the daily spread has a full page for reflection on ways you can give, highlights, and noticing when you are at your best, as well as when you felt unrest and areas you can improve. Part planner, part awareness training journal, this planner is one of the most unique concepts I have seen so far. The design of the planner is also simple, beautiful, and effective. Each monthly layout has you check in with each area of your life, prioritize, track habits and reflect on your month, as well as identifying the greatest insight you have gained. The planner offers space for gratitude, growth, productivity, and contemplation.
Best for: Seekers of enlightenment in the everyday. This planner will keep you organized and focused while encouraging you to look beyond productivity towards the person you want to become.
Pros:
Nice cover, ribbon, and elastic
Simple gender-neutral design
Wonderful space for reflection
Ample space for schedule and to-dos as well as highlighted priorities
Cons:
There isn’t a dedicated space for setting goals for the quarter, you have to get the annual extension pack
Not a big deal, but the back pocket is weird (Probably user error, but I accidentally pulled it out weird and my husband had to fix it)
Cost: $38/Quarter plus $14 for the annual booklet BF and CM sales going on through 11/29/2021
You can find the Monk Manual here https://monkmanual.com/collections/monk-manual-products/products/monk-manual
Esse Planner
The Best Planner for the Overwhelmed
This planner’s strength is all in simplicity. They truly distilled a daily planner down to its essential elements and it works. This planner only has one page (one side) per day and very simply lays out your schedule, tasks, and notes. That’s it. No bells and whistles. I love it. This planner is exactly what some people need because all these other planners are too overwhelming. There are simple monthly and weekly layouts as well to give you a wider view. Each month has space to write your monthly goals as well. This planner is very very simple but does it very very well.
Best For: Those that need to narrow their focus down to what they need to be doing without the distraction of lots of detail.
Pros:
Like I said SIMPLICITY
The paper, cover, ribbon, and elastic are all of great quality and the design is simple, classic black and white
a 6-month planner as opposed to the normal quarterly daily planner
Cons:
Nothing in the way of goal setting, reflection, or any of the add on features of the others
Cost: $32 for a 6-month undated spread (remember you only need 2 per year and they are currently on sale!)
You can find the Esse Planner here https://www.esseplanner.com/products/esse-planner-undated-daily-planner
Full Focus Planner
The Best Planner for Busy Entrepreneurs/Executives
This daily planner is truly designed to help busy high-achievers get the most out of every day, both personally and professionally. The planner starts with extensive goal-setting activities and planning for the quarter. I love the emphasis on viewing the quarter as the unit of time you are working with. In business especially that helps keep you in sync with the company’s growth, but also from a personal perspective, it prevents you from putting goals off all year. You focus on getting things done in the next 3 months. The planner includes monthly, weekly, and daily layouts. The months are pretty standard but functional. The weekly setup and reflection pages are two full spreads which give lots of room to look at your week. The reflection portion includes big wins, a review of actions, and reminders to transfer unfinished tasks or to delegate, etc. The prep for the next week takes into account prioritization as well as self-care planning. On each day you have a top priorities section in addition to your schedule, to-dos, and a full page for notes. The finish on this planner is also beautiful and professional. Where other daily planners have lots for you to fill out, track, and reflect on for each day, this planner has a simple daily layout and offers more room for growth in the more in-depth weekly section. I think that aligns more with where I at least have time for reflection and strategy. Note: It is bigger than most daily planners, offering more space per page.
Best For: Busy executives, entrepreneurs, and those whose lives have a LOT going on. There is plenty of space for tasks and there is an intentionally designed system for prioritizing them.
Pros:
Beautiful professional design including several cover options (I love the linen one I chose)
Great paper and TWO ribbons which I find so helpful
Extensive goal-setting and planning at the beginning as well as goal, priority, and self-care check-ins for the week
Numbered pages (and an index in the back) make this planner easy to navigate
There is a podcast, extensive user-base, and dedicated training and website for Full Focus Planner Users
Cons:
The planner has weekly setup pages then Monday-Sunday spreads labeled as Monday-Sunday so if you take a day off or never have much to add on a weekend day, that space is lost.
Cost: $34.99-$49.99 for a 3-month spread. They also offer an annual subscription bundle (4 planners) for $125-$160.
You can find the Full Focus Planner here https://fullfocusstore.com/collections/all-products
Passion Planner Daily
The Little Bit of Everything Daily Planner
I have sung my praises of the goal-setting, flexibility, quality, and color options that Passion Planner offers so I’ll keep this short. You get that same experience with their daily planner, but with the narrowed focus of a daily planner. There are spaces for top-priority tasks, personal, and work tasks, your schedule, self-maintenance, highlights, lesson learned, mood, daily word, and PLENTY of free space. The planner is set up great for use all day and then closes out your day with reflection. At the end of each month, there is a space for monthly reflection as well.
Best For: Those who want the narrow focus of a daily planner, but who aren’t up for a hyper-structured goal-setting structure. This has space to check in with the areas of your life and passion planner’s trademark mind mapping-focused goal setting.
Pros:
Great paper and lots of cover design options
Areas in the daily layout for lots of areas of life
Passion Planner’s unique goal-setting model
Cons:
I found it to be a lot to “fill out” daily and there is not any weekly setup/spread/reflection. I did use both the weekly and the daily at the same time and that worked pretty well, but then you need two planners
You can find the Passion Planner Daily Undated Planner here https://passionplanner.com/collections/daily-undated
Extras, Addendums, & Specialty Planners
These are great for adding to an existing digital calendar system or planner.
Flower Ink Weekly Planner
Okay so this one is obviously not a stand-alone planner, but it IS perfect for people who need an extra week at a glance spread. Maybe you use it for meal planning or household chores. Maybe this is your only paper since your master to-do list and calendar are all digital. Maybe this is a place to keep track of who is picking up the kiddo. The possibilities are endless. Grab one of these to add to any planning system. The company creates beautiful stationery products that are good for the planet and most of them are embedded with flower seeds, so you plant them when you are done! This particular product isn’t plantable (though its packaging is), but the paper itself is made of sugar cane residue. Basically, their paper is super cool. $22 at https://flowerink.ca/collections/weekly-planner
Take 3 Journal
This gratitude and affirmation journal has been a favorite of mine for about a year now. This daily Journal has you pick out three things you are grateful for today, three things you are grateful for in the future (manifesting the goals you are working on), and three things that went well today. Alongside this gratitude practice are the daily “take” (something to think about) and three affirmations for you to use. I sent these journals to all of my clients last year to help them create a daily gratitude practice. I highly recommend adding this one to your planner routine. $12.97 on Amazon and you can read more about the Take 3 Journal here https://www.take3journal.com/
The Little Pink Fitness Book
This book will guide you on a 60-day health journey including, workouts, meal tracking, mindset shifts, mental health awareness, and motivation. There are pages to track your daily actions and sections to teach you how to do specific workouts. It is a great kickstart to any health goal. This one is not a standalone planning system, but if you want to dedicate time, energy, and focus to getting in shape, this is the book for you. This book is designed for women and takes into account women’s bodies for every step of the health journey. My only complaint is that it really isn’t a “little” book, it’s normal-sized (just be aware). $44.44 from https://www.toisharae.com/product-page/little-pink-fitness-book
Manifest and Flow Journal
While it is loosely marketed as a planner, I wouldn’t consider it one. Primarily, it is a daily journal that prompts you to focus on the dreams you are manifesting (and hopefully also working towards). There is space for what you are manifesting, affirmations, gratitude, and a few to-dos (the working towards those goals portion). Spending time journaling about your goals is a powerful practice that keeps those things center stage so that you continue to work towards them. The pages are large with very wide lines which hopefully encourages you to think big about these goals. I can totally see this being a great companion practice to a regular planner or digital system. Be forewarned though, it is very pink. $48 at https://www.manifestandflow.com/collections/courses-digital-downloads-and-journals/products/manifest-flow-journal