Time management is one of the biggest challenges most professionals face, no matter where you are on your career path. In fact, even your day-to-day productivity levels vary. Some days the sky’s the limit and then there are days when even answering emails seems difficult. Modern tools like daily planner apps and digital planners can help us better map out our days and bring some order to the chaos. Daily planners came in different sizes and shapes and hence have a number of types of planner each varying from one another.
1. Blank Planners
Blank planners give you the freedom to design and use your planners however you want. They are a blank canvas and you can use them for one aspect of your life, like financial planning or work, and use them as one place to plan everything. Blank planners give you the freedom to be a little creative and use the planner however you want without any restrictions.
Online:
Todoist – Todoist offers several features such as sub-tasks, sub-projects, recurring tasks, reminders, different priorities and more. More Todoist alternatives to explore!
Asana – Asana is another great project management tool with a fantastic to-do list feature.
Concept: It’s one of the better-looking workspaces for organizing tasks, creating notes, project plans, presentations, organized documents and more.
Workflows: An easy-to-use digital notebook for keeping lists or organizing research
Complete overview of online planners.
Paper:
Lemome Planner: Great for traditionalists who want a simple schedule without a lot of goal setting and thinking.
Moleskine Planner: Blocks of space for each day so you can take notes without appointments or a schedule. There’s also a blank page next to each week so you can make quick notes.
Complete overview of recommended paper planners.
2. Work Planners
Whether you’re part of a team, a manager, or someone running your own business, you need a work planner that lets you keep track of your daily activities. There are always people to connect with, tasks to complete, and plans to make. When you use a planner for work, you have all these details organized in one place, so you don’t have to refer to different apps, notepads, emails and journals to find something.
Online
Trello: Uses a Kanban approach where you assign dashboards that contain individual cards with task details.
Action Day Timeboxing Planner/Journal. Our top recommended paper planner! Use it for timeboxing. Recommended for highly communicative people in fields such as sales or business development
Paper
Ink & Volt Goal Planner. Best for reflection and weekly planning and recommended for ambitious people but not micromanagers.
3. Bullet Journal
A bullet journal is exactly what it sounds like and is another great idea for planners. It’s a simple journal where you use bullet points to plan your entire day. It’s a blank canvas and perfect for those who want to design their own planner. Bullet journals don’t go into too much detail and are great for those who like things simple and minimal. To get started, you need to organize your bullet journal – this video from the official Bullet Journal account is a great overview.
