9 Types of Planners

Sure, tracking your goals in apps is an efficient and pretty good thing, considering how many hours we spend on our gadgets.

However, do you also feel the time has come to go back to those old-school paper planners?

Plenty of research shows how writing your goals and creating to-do lists can really lead to big changes in your life.

Well, that can only mean one thing – it’s time for you to get a good planner for a fresh, new stage of your life. Let’s check which one would suit you best!

1. Basic Planners

Basic planners are an excellent starting point when you are still not sure what exactly you could write down or how to plan your day/week.

They are minimalistic and, by that, limitless, so you can set your schedule whichever way you want.

For instance, you can start with regular to-do lists. Divide them into a couple of different categories such as work, personal life, grocery list, those small things you have to do, but always somehow forget, etc.

It would be easier for you to arrange those lists according to their importance, and put crucial ones at the top.

Basic planners are a great way for you to test your discipline as well. Writing things down and tracking if you’ve done them is not easy.

As a matter of fact, most people forget about it pretty soon after they get their planners and simply go back to their old habits.

Let your primary goal be basic as your planner – remember to check it out and write something down every day. If you do that, you’ll easily develop the rest throughout the time.

2. Finance/budgeting Planners

Whether you want to save money for a vacation, buy a car, collect some extra cash for retirement, or simply want to control your finances better, getting a proper planner may be one of the first effective steps towards it.

Sure, organizing your money and sticking to a given budget really isn’t that easy, but it’s definitely not impossible.

First of all, you want to determine incomes and expenses. The next step would be dividing expenses into a group of ones you can’t avoid like bills, debts, car, and those everyday things we all need such as food, home essentials, etc.

The other group consists of things where you can cut the budget more easily: coffee, bars, restaurants, shopping, and more.

Setting a strict budget may not be easy at first, especially if you’re not aware of how much you spend on a weekly or monthly basis.

However, you can write literally all of your expenses down on a daily basis in order to get familiar with the final amount you spend.

You might end up surprised during that process, especially when you realize how much of your money goes on things you don’t actually need or use. 

After dealing with that part, you can upgrade finance managing to the next level adding things like general savings, savings for a car or some other specific goal, making your own investment portfolio, etc.

3. Planners for Students

Exams, classes, studying, homework, extracurricular activities, social life, family… Student life may look simple at first, but it’s not easy to manage it without good organizational skills.

Even if you don’t have any, there’s always room to improve yourself and work on that part. Of course, getting the right planner is one of those great tools that can help you bring that part to a higher level.

Organizing your schedule doesn’t mean you have to be a constantly productive robot with a strict timeline for each and every activity in your day.

It simply helps with sorting out priorities and dealing with obligations – which is something that, in the end, leaves you more time to enjoy things that make you happy.

Event times, timelines, due dates, goals, notes – it’s never too early to start learning how to keep those in one convenient place. Also, that’s definitely a skill you’ll need later in life.

Even though it seems like you’re going to stay young forever, remember time goes by really fast, so the least we can all do is use it well.

4. Planners for Moms

Hello there, moms! Only you know how difficult it can be to juggle all the tasks your need to do around kids, together with other regular things constantly waiting for you aside. It’s hard to manage family life, and no planner can change that.

However, if you feel overwhelmed and constantly in the rush, it may help to have a planning tool specifically intended for all the supermom tasks in your life.

With the right planner, you can track specific things such as budgeting, kids’ activities, meal planning, coupon storage, and all other things related to your loved ones.

Perhaps you can write down the amount of time you need for a certain activity too? That can help you figure out how many hours you have left for yourself too.

Other than that, you can include kids in certain tasks, divide chores amongst other family members, and generally organize overall time better. Mom planners can certainly give you some inspiration on how to manage things around the house.

5. Wedding Planning Books

Sure, checklists and apps are a great thing, but little can compare with the feeling you get when you take a pen and piece of paper, and simply start writing all your wedding plans down.

Better yet – a pan and a planning book adjusted to tracking guest lists, budgets, decorations, and all other smaller or bigger details related to your Big Day.

Many of the wedding planning books come with interactive checklists, that will help you manage everything you need to solve around the wedding as well as share the details with your mom, maid of honor, or future spouse.

Plenty of those planners are filled with inspiring quotes and gorgeous, emotional photos that can even give you some ideas for both ceremony and reception.

Some planners can include the space for stressful, confusing yet beautiful moments of the entire planning process. Wouldn’t you be glad to have this planner as a reminder of those, what’s one day about to become, good, old times?

6. Fitness Planners

You’ve finally decided to get off the couch and start your fitness journey? Excellent, a decision is the first step.

The second one is facing those small, yet essential moments when you have to fight with the temptation to stay in bed, watch a movie instead of doing your workout, or simply go for that tasty burger, fries, and Coke combo fifth day in the row.

Changing your habits isn’t easy, and the essential thing to stay persistent is to remind yourself of the goals you’ve set.

Having a planner can certainly help because you can plan your time wisely as well as track goals you want to achieve within certain periods of time.

Make sure to set realistic goals that allow you to fail sometimes. For instance, promising yourself you’ll go from 0 to 5-6 workouts a week almost certainly won’t continue after the second week.

Firstly, try to find enough time for a light 30-minute workout 2-3 times a week as well as improve your diet for 3 days a week. Set your goals gradually and write your progress down in your fitness planner.

Track things you’re happy with and find a nice reward when you see you’re making a progress.

For instance, there’s a new dress you saw at the mall the other day? Turn it into a reward after being persistent with a workout and a better diet for an entire month.

Also, keep track of things you’re not satisfied with so you could know what you need to improve.

7. Travel Planners

We all sometimes dream of visiting far destinations, taking a swim in the crystal clear sea, heading for countries we’ve never visited, drinking coconut juice under the palm trees.

These things are really not mission impossible. As a matter of fact, all you need is to stay focused and not forget you can really achieve them.

The first obstacle is the price. Rarely anyone has enough money to travel at the moment when they get an idea to hit some faraway destination.

However, why not mention this goal in your financial planner? It can help you reorganize your expenses and setting the amount you need for traveling.

It’s not easy to resist the temptation to spend money on some short-term satisfactions such as shopping, but when you constantly remind yourself of your newly set goals, you know sacrifice makes sense.

That’s what long-term goals are all about – resisting current temptations, so you can enjoy later.

Along with that, what’s a good way to remind yourself of your traveling goal? Explore countries you want to visit and choose one.

Use your planner to write down interesting facts about that country, places you’d like to see, foods you’d like to try, etc.

With time, your focus will be more clear, and you’ll realize it’s really not that difficult to give up some other expenses to finally set to the journey you’ve always wanted to take.

P.S. Some planners have check-lists to track which countries you’ve visited, so the process of making your traveling dreams can be even more fun and adventurous.

8. Business Planners

Are you struggling with organizing stuff at your work? A business planner could be the next step of bringing your schedule to a higher level.

There are sometimes a bunch of those small things your boss or colleagues tell you to do. Even though they don’t take much time, you still forget about them due to many other, more important things waiting for you.

That’s why a business planner really comes as a great, little helper where you can make more or less important to-do lists right away.

They also save time. When your boss asks if you finished certain tasks, you don’t have to recall all the things you’ve done throughout the day – just check your planner.

On the other hand, maybe you want to develop a business of your own? It could be a side thing or something you’re planning to transfer to from your regular job.

Even if you still don’t know how to shape your new business, writing certainly comes as an important step in the entire process of planning.

Break bigger goals into smaller ones so you know what your next step is.

Dreams surely seem too big when you’re at the beginning, but if you take smaller steps, after a while, you will realize they’re realistic and achievable – with lots of work, focus, and, of course, the right planner.

9. Organization & Productivity Planners For Procrastinators

Maybe you are not sure which direction you want to go, but you know you’ve had enough of waiting for big things to happen and simply want to get off the couch and start with anything. It may seem aimless at first, but, don’t worry, it makes perfect sense.

We don’t all have strictly set goals strictly and firm plans about things we want to achieve.

Sometimes it’s enough to get off the couch, turn off your mobile phone, take a short walk, and generally go back to things that will encourage your brain to wake up.

We often fall into a routine where we finish things we’re obligated to do and simply waste free time on endless binging of TV shows (we’re not even that interested in), hours of scrolling through social media feeds or watching pointless videos on YouTube.

Being productive doesn’t only imply you need to develop business ideas in your free time. It can help you to effectively separate your working hours from those meant to be used for enjoying life.

For instance, if you want to learn some new skill, you can study for 30 minutes a day, and use the rest of the time to enjoy things you love.

Spending time in front of the TV or mobile screen is rarely a rest we need. It seems like fast-paced life constantly encourages quick “resting” solutions that make our brain and body even more tired.

Go offline, take a bike ride and recharge yourself in order to be really productive in periods when you want to sharpen existing skills and build new ones.

Getting proper rest is something that boosts productivity as well as creates a space for new ideas you could develop or implement in your life.

Some Final Words

Planners can’t do the work instead of you, but they certainly come as useful tools that can assist with setting your schedule and getting your work done. The hardest thing is to develop a habit of writing things down and checking your planner on a regular basis.

After you learn how to deal with that part, the rest of your planning process will certainly become a fun and intriguing adventure of fulfilling your goals and making the most out of the most valuable resource you’ll ever get – time.

So, do you already have your favorite planner?

Resources:

• https://nymag.com/strategist/article/best-planners-according-to-productivity-experts.html
• https://moneytamer.com/best-budget-planners/
• https://www.collegeraptor.com/find-colleges/articles/tips-tools-advice/7-best-planners-students-theres-life-homework/
• https://www.brides.com/best-wedding-planning-books-4778389
• https://personalplannerforme.com/types-of-planners/
• https://justplaincooking.ca/6-different-kinds-of-planners-you-could-use/