People can spend their whole lives chasing productivity and trying to make the most out of their busy days. Individuals work hard to increase their daily output to get work done fast and have more time for themselves. On the other hand, businesses want their employees to be more productive to help boost their bottom lines.
Indeed, productivity is such an important topic that entire industries and professions have been established around it. Some coaches and trainers help individuals and businesses with boosting their productivity levels. Whole websites are devoted to the topic. There are books and videos on YouTube — just about anything you can imagine.
Many tools are available to help people with their productivity: task or time management apps, calendars, alarms and reminders, focus apps, and more.
One helpful tool that many often use is the productivity planner. But what is it exactly? And how can it help?
If you want to know more about productivity planners and how they can help you optimize your life, this list of the best productivity planners of 2023 might help.
The Best Productivity Planners 2023 Has to Offer
- Best Daily: Hobonichi Techo
- Best Weekly: JSTORY Large Weekly Planner
- Best Monthly: Clever Fox Planner
- Best Bullet Journal: Moleskine 12 Month 2023 Weekly Planner
What is a Productivity Planner?
A daily productivity planner is much like a personal or self-journal. However, instead of writing down thoughts and memories, productivity journals are more often geared toward helping you improve your productivity.
Productivity planners can support you as you pursue your goals and do your work. On top of your schedule, it can also track various things, such as your goal planner progress, accomplishments, moods, habits, health and fitness, and more. You can even use them to track your thoughts.
Planners like these are often multipurpose. Naturally, they can act as your planner. However, they can also work well as your calendar, organizer, noteholder, and address book. They help you accomplish your tasks strategically while providing you with a record to refer back to when needed.
There are often different types of planners available for different purposes and audiences. Some companies will release planners for students, young adults, and even specific professions. There are also planners for particular use cases and situations, such as kitchen, meal prep, recipe planners, travel planners, and planners for health and fitness.
How Do You Use a Productivity Planner?
One remarkable thing about productivity planners is that you can use them exactly as you see fit. There are few (and even in some cases no) rigid rules to follow, and there are plenty of benefits in daily planning. You can choose to use your journal in the most effective way for your specific situations.
With planners, you’re only limited by the layout or design you choose. However, you can choose to get as creative as you’d like. You can use your planner to write down, track, and achieve your goals and progress or stick to keeping it as a schedule and task manager. You can divide it into sections if that makes the most sense.
However, if you use a bullet journal, you can go absolutely crazy — your only limit is your creativity!
What Makes a Good Productivity Planner?
A good planner will provide you with the tools to organize your life. It doesn’t even need to be the best time management planner — it could be a premade one that has all the sections you need. It could also be a blank notebook so that you can design your own. Or, you might not even want paper planners at all! In that case, a productivity app on your computer, phone, or tablet might be the better choice for you.
One of the first things to decide before you begin shopping around for the best productivity planner is whether you want a paper planner or a digital one. Once you know, the next thing to do is to consider the factors below — though these criteria are more relevant to paper planners than digital ones.
- Layout: Your productivity planner should work for your preferred planning style, which is why it’s important to look for the correct layout. Ask yourself if you prefer a daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, yearly, or undated planner. You can also look for planners that offer a combination — for example, some have daily and weekly planning pages.
- Size, Weight, and Portability: Unless you have no intention of taking your planner off your desk, you might want to find one that is just the right size. By that, we mean a book that’s not just large enough for you to actually get some planning in but small and lightweight enough so you can easily carry it wherever you need to go.
- Durability, Cover Type, and Style: Not all planners will feature covers that suit your tastes. Choose a cover type that is durable enough for your needs, especially if you intend to toss your planner into your bag often.
- Binding Style: A planner’s binding style comes down to preference, but you may want to find something that suits your needs. Hardbound books tend to be more durable, while spiral-bound planners allow you to rip out pages as needed — if you intend to. Also, consider if you want books with lay-flat binding!
- Paper Type: Some people don’t particularly care about paper type, but if you like using fountain pens or inks that bleed through, then don’t forget to think about the paper quality! Some planners simply use better paper than others.
- Design: Choose a planner with design aesthetics that appeal to you. You don’t always have to do this, especially if you value function over form, but it might be worth thinking about!
- Refillability: Some planners (i.e., binders) allow you to refill pages to keep using the same cover for years. If this is something that appeals to you, you might want to look into refillable options!
- Features: Last but not least, look into what type of features and pages a planner offers. Do you want a habit tracker, goals tracker, finance tracker, brain dump, idea log, or notes section? Or do you prefer a no-frills planning-page-only approach?
When you’re choosing the best planner for productivity, it’s all about your preferences and needs.
Best Productivity Planners for 2023
Daily Planners
Hobonichi Techo – Best Paper for Fountain Pen Users
Size: A6, roughly 4 x 6 inches
Binding:Â Leather softcover, lay-flat stitch binding
Features we like:
- Small, lightweight, and portable
- Durable
- Dashed grid pages
- Moon phases
- Informational pages
- Tomoe River paper handles ink without bleed-through or feathering
The Japanese-made Hobonichi Techo was first introduced in 2001 and has since been coming out every year since. It’s an incredibly beloved daily productivity planner, and it’s easy to see why. The A6 Techo is lovingly designed and created. And thanks to its leather cover and lay-flat stitch binding — it’s also very durable.
This planner has a yearly calendar and index, a monthly calendar, and 377 daily pages. At only 4 x 6 inches, it doesn’t seem as though the planner can fit much, but you might be surprised. The best thing about its size is that it’s so much more portable and easy to toss into a bag.
To help you plan your days better, there is a page at the beginning of every month. Every daily spread of two pages has a quote to help you get going. There are also many other features, including moon phases, conversion tables, and even recipes for Donburi rice bowls.
If you’d like to know more about this planner, this article from JetPens might help. If you want a larger version of this daily planner, you might want to check out the Hobonichi Techo Cousin. Additionally, if you don’t want to worry about blank pages in your book in case you skip some, try the Hobonichi Techo Day-Free.
Stalogy 018 Editor’s Series – A Daily Planner with Fantastic Paper
Size: A6, roughly 4 x 6 inches
Binding: Softcover, stitch binding
Features we like:
- Small, lightweight, and durable
- Great paper
- A lot more affordable than the Hobonichi Techo
- 5mm x 5mm grid paper
- Grid is faint and not distracting but visible enough to act as guidelines
If you want something like the Hobonichi Techo but don’t want to pay the price for one, the Stalogy 018 Editor’s Series might be the planner for you. This planner was also created in Japan and has a similar high quality to the Techo. Of course, a few changes were made to keep this planner at a much more affordable price point.
For example, the Stalogy 018 uses paper rather than a leather cover. There are also fewer features, but you might be happy to know that the company behind this planner made no compromises when it comes to the paper. It’s still smooth and bleed-through-free for most pens and inks.
The 5 Second Journal – Best for Planning and Journaling Beginners
Size:Â 6 x 8.5 inches (about A5), 1 inch thickness
Binding:Â Hardbound
Features we like:
- More than just an average planner
- Hardbound, durable
- Affordable price point
- Created by someone who wrote a best-selling book on productivity
The 5 Second Journal: The Best Daily Journal and Fastest Way to Slow Down, Power Up, and Get Sh*t Done — that’s this planner’s full name. If it sounds like a self-help book, that’s because it kind of is. Created by Mel Robbins, the author of the international best-selling book The 5 Second Rule, this guided planner claims to be able to help you with getting sh*t done, building confidence, amping up your passion, and kissing overwhelm goodbye. This planner provides you with the building blocks you need to have a great day.
It’s worth mentioning that this is not the planner you want if you want to purchase a year-long one. This planner has enough for about 60 days, which is good enough for establishing habits and changing your mindset.
Full Focus Planner by Michael Hyatt – Best 90-Day Planner (and Daily Planner!)
Size: 6.25 x 9.25 inches
Binding: Black linen cover, book bound
Features we like:
- Comes with a weekly overview
- Daily planner with plenty of features
- Daily planner also comes with its own legend
- Hourly planner available
- Large space for the notes section
- Goal planning
One of the first things you might notice about the Full Focus Planner is that it comes looking quite premium. It’s packaged in a box and has a black linen cover with a lay-flat book binding style. It’s also actually quite premium — you’ll need to pay for this book four times in one year if you want to use it consistently, and that’s because it only comes with 90-days worth of planning pages each time.
Despite the expense, many agree that this planner can be quite worth it simply because of its features.
The Full Focus Planner might look a bit boring initially, as it has a plain design and offers no pops of color. However, this planner offers you full creativity and flexibility, allowing you to use your own colors, pens, markers, highlighters, stickers, and more — if you want to. The design was also intentional, allowing this planner to have far fewer distractions than others like it.
This planner contains a weekly overview, but in essence, it’s a daily planner. It includes features like a daily spread, a daily big 3, notes, other tasks, an hourly planner, and a legend you can use. And if you’re lost on how to get started with your planner, you can check out the guide videos.
Because of how pricey this planner is, you might be looking for a Full Focus Planner alternative. You might want to consider Monk Manual, but it’s also quite expensive. We’ll do a more in-depth Monk Manual vs. Full Focus planner comparison in another article later on.
Weekly Planners
JSTORY Large Weekly Planner – Best Distraction-Free Weekly Planner
Size: B5, about 7.5 x 10.1 inches
Binding: Flexible cover, stitch-binding
Features we like:
- Simple, no-frills design
- Large enough spaces for the days
- Red Sunday marker
- 54 weeks, undated
The JSTORY Large Weekly Planner is an excellent choice if you don’t want any frills. It’s certainly large and has enough space to get your planning in where you need it. The pages are made out of 100GSM paper, making it thick enough to avoid most bleed-through. There are 54 weeks in the planner, and each page has one week on it.
The planning pages are undated, which allows for complete flexibility. So if you’re looking for a simple yet efficient weekly productivity planner, this one by JSTORY is worth a look, as this simple product gives you a fantastic weekly overview!
There are many other JSTORY planners if you enjoy their designs. An example is the Large Monthly Planner.
Moleskine 12 Month 2023 Weekly Planner – Best 12-Month Weekly Planner Overall
Size:Â Large 5 x 8.25 inches; also available in other sizes
Binding: Softcover (hardcover available)
Features we like:
- Moleskine quality
- Available in three sizes!
- Back pocket
- Great paper
Moleskine is a renowned and trusted brand for quality notebooks and paper, and this 12-month weekly planner is no different. The planning pages are made with smooth paper that works with pencils, ballpoint pens, and fountain pens. It comes with calendar grids but allows enough flexibility to use it for bullet journaling. And the binding and cover, whether soft or hard, are durable enough for daily use.
One of the great things about this planner is it comes in three different sizes, so you can choose the one that suits you best.
Monthly Planners
AT-A-GLANCE Two-Year Monthly Planner – An Excellent Two-Year Planner for Those Who Want to Think Ahead
Size: 3.5 x 6 inches, Pocket Size
Binding: Faux leather, stapled
Features we like:
- Planning section for two years
- Good paper
- Extremely affordable
- Recycled version available
- Pocket-sized and portable
The At-A-Glance 2023 to 2024 pocket planner makes an excellent choice if you want something that can allow you to plan a long time ahead. It’s small, thin, and unassuming, and it’s effortless to just toss it into your bag or briefcase. The paper in this planner is resistant to ink bleed-through, and although it’s staple-bound, it’s durable enough to last you the duration. This planner covers 24 months, from January 2023 to December 2024.
Lemome 2023 Planner – Best No-Frills Hardcover Planner
Size: A5, 5.75 x 8.25 inches
Binding: Faux leather hardbound
Features we like:
- Affordable
- Eco-friendly faux leather binding
- Durable
- Lots of features
This planner by Lemome is quite durable, thanks to its faux leather hardcover. It comes in A5 size and includes many features to help you plan your days and important tasks better. This 2023 version features 12 months’ worth of weekly and monthly pages for year-long planning. There are also calendar stickers, reference information, contacts pages, two ribbons (for bookmarking), and a back pocket.
Clever Fox Planner – Best Undated Planner for Ultimate Flexibility
Size: A5, 5.75 x 8.3 inches
Binding: Softbound
Features we like:
- 23 colors available
- Amazing 120 GSM paper
- Great layouts
- Undated weeks and months allow for ultimate flexibility
- Money-back guarantee
Among all the planners on this list, the Clever Fox planner might be one of the best regarding flexibility. This A5-sized planner comes in 23 colors, so you can find it in exactly the color you’d like. There are 150 colorful stickers to help you mark habits and essential things during your days. Another great thing about the Clever Fox planner is that it’s undated, so you can pick one up and start any time. Skip weeks or months if you want — or just plan for the important dates if you prefer!
Among its many features, the Clever Fox planner has an excellent monthly and weekly layout that allows you to list your priorities while also recognizing your wins and areas of improvement. There’s a vision board and self-discovery section to help you get to know yourself better. There’s a goal section where you can list your biggest dreams and break them down into smaller, more manageable, and approachable tasks. With Clever Fox planner, you might have an easier time as you work to achieve your goals.
If you’re unhappy with your planner or encounter any issues with its quality, the company has a no questions asked money-back guarantee.
Bonus: Best Digital Productivity Planners
If paper planners feel like they aren’t for you, perhaps a digital planner might be a better option instead. Here are a few of the best digital productivity planners to help you get started.
Todoist
Free or Paid: Paid with a free forever plan
Key Features:
- Todoist Karma and streaks help you to set a productivity goal and maintain a daily productivity habit
- See your dashboard in today’s or upcoming views
- Look at your project dashboards in the list or board (Kanban) view
- Tags and labels
- Integrations available
- Relatively affordable pro plans, reasonable free forever plan
- Set reminders and recurring tasks to help ease your planning process
Todoist is an interesting app that helps you build a productivity habit through its daily and weekly productivity goals and what’s known as Todoist Karma. Karma allows you to rise to the ranks by earning points from adding tasks, finishing tasks, and more. But beyond this handy feature, Todoist is a fantastic tool all on its own.
With this app, you can see your dashboard in today’s or upcoming views. You can also look directly at your project dashboards, which you can see in either list view or board view.
Trello
Free or Paid: Paid with a free forever plan
Key Features:
- Uses boards, cards, and lists to help you manage your tasks and projects
- Plenty of collaboration features, including the ability to assign more than one user to a task
- Create subtasks
- Use deadlines
- Activity log
- Has table and calendar views for premium users
- Integrations available
Trello is an interesting productivity app that works well not only for individuals but also for teams of various sizes. It offers a generous free forever tier that might work well enough for some, but access to features like an improved table or calendar view is paywalled behind a premium or business subscription. Unfortunately, these improved views are what make Trello feel more like a productivity planner, so you may have to invest in the tool!
Trello allows you to use cards and Kanban boards to organize your tasks and projects. You can also add due dates and collaborators if others are working on the same tasks as you. Integrations are also available, allowing you to use Trello with some other productivity tools that are already in your arsenal.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Is the Most Effective Planner?
There’s only one answer to this question — the most effective planner is the one that suits your needs best. When choosing the planner for you, make sure you choose one that’s right for your schedule, has the features you need, and makes sense for your budget. If you can’t find exactly what you want, you may want to try a bullet journal instead.
Do Planners Increase Productivity?
Planning is key to making sure you can move through your day more efficiently. Taking a short amount of time to plan can save you tons of time come execution time.
A planner helps you prioritize, analyze, and execute your tasks to increase your output and stay on schedule. To help you with task management, it may be a good idea to separate your tasks into categories: overdue, urgent, important but not urgent, and nice to do.
You can visually represent and break down large tasks into smaller, easier-to-do tasks with a planning journal. This visualization can also help you make more realistic estimates of how much time each task will take.
What Is a Good Planner?
A good 2023 planner has a good mix of all the features you need. You’ll have a good mix between design, portability, durability, layout, paper quality, and budget.
What Qualities Make a Good Planner?
People have different definitions of a good planner since everyone has different tastes and needs. However, it may be a good idea to look for a planner within your budget with the size, layout, durability, and portability you need.
What’s a Bullet Journal?
Sometimes the best productivity journal is a bullet journal or a BuJo, as many affectionately call them. Bullet journals are much like a regular productivity planner, but you create everything within, making it fully customized for you.
Many who use bullet journals get as creative as they’d like by involving calligraphy, stickers, sketches, photos, and more.
Bullet journals are like a next-level planner that comes to you completely blank as a lined, unlined, dotted, or grid notebook. You can use it exactly like any other planner, but it can be much more deeply personal because it’s so customized.
This type of productivity planner is excellent if you want to make your own, but the downside is it does take quite some time.
What Is the Best Planner for ADHD?
What might work for some people with ADHD might not work for others. However, you can consider digital planners like Todoist or Trello, which offer some flexibility while accommodating ADHD. On the other hand, you can try paper planners like Clever Fox, JSTORY Large Weekly Planner, or even the Full Focus Planner by Michael Hyatt. Be prepared to do a bit of trial and error to find the planner style that works best for you — or just create your own bullet journal!
What Are the Best Productivity Planners for Entrepreneurs?
Entrepreneurs often have extremely busy and dynamic schedules. If your plans tend to change often, and sometimes at the last minute, you might want to consider using a digital planner instead. For example, there are many productivity apps on the iPad (and other platforms!) that can be fantastic for an ever-changing yet hectic schedule.
Final Thoughts: Should You Use a Planner?
The best productivity planners are helpful, but whether they’re necessary is debatable. However, many who use them might tell you that they can be great tools to help you track your life progress and get your life on track. The best productivity planner can also act as an outlet and be a therapeutic part of your day.
Planners might be helpful to you, but if you already use other things like calendars or task management apps on your Mac or Windows computer, they may be redundant. However, if you want something tangible that you can look at in a pinch, it may benefit you to try them!
If you feel you need a little help developing skills that can improve your productivity, consider checking out these programs on Coursera. Also, consider checking out some of the best productivity books in 2023.
Related reading:
- Top 8 Best Journal Apps for iPhone, iOS, Android, and Windows
- 11 Best Work from Home Apps
- Top 8 Best Time Management Apps
- Best Alexa Skills for Improving Your Productivity
- Top 9 Best Chrome Extensions for Productivity
- Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Fulfilling Life
Chriselle has been a passionate writer for over 10 years, working with many publications worldwide. She currently writes for Productivity Spot, The Grad Cafe, and Hackr.io, among others.
