Craving More Mindfulness? The Best Planners to Keep You on Track
I bet you’re looking to slow down a bit.
Get back to basics, take some things off your plate… simplify. Everyone I talk to lately seems to be experiencing a deep need to retreat from the frantic pace of life. The constant feeling of being online, tied it, turned “on”.
There’s no doubt that we live in a hyper-digital world, even when it comes to our schedules.
Calendars are synced, reminders ping, and our lives are meticulously tracked across dozens of apps.
Don’t get me wrong… these tools are HELPFUL. Like you, I rely on digital calendars; there’s nothing wrong with that! They’re convenient, always at our fingertips, and the “reminder” functions are lifesavers.
But have you ever stopped to notice the irony here? We’re craving a slower, more intentional approach to living yet relying on tools that are the complete opposite of what we want to help us get there.
Kind of funny, isn’t it?
THe best antidote? Paper Planners
Early in life, I learned to love physical planners. I think back then we called them “agendas”? I heavily relied on mine to get me through my school years.
Then, in high school my parents gave me a PalmPilot (IYKYK). I was obsessed.
Ever since then, I’ve juggled BOTH digital and paper planning systems, experimenting to find the perfect balance.
While digital tools offer amazing convenience, they just don’t provide a grounding experience.
Paper planners, on the other hand, offer respite from it all. They provide a physical space for planning and reflection—a dedicated area where thoughts and ideas can exist offline.
They are tactile and flexible. You can doodle, use colorful pens… or even tape a concert ticket inside!
You can save your planners at the end of the year and have a record of your life to look back on.
The best paper planners aren’t simply calendars; they are places to track your thoughts, your habits, and your goals. They are a time capsule of who you were having coffee with, what you were cooking for dinner, and what was important to you over the past year. They are a living, breathing snapshot of your life.
If you’re feeling overwhelmed by digital overload, you might find that this simple tool does wonders for your soul.
In my opinion, the best physical planners provide room for:
- Setting goals and stating intentions
- Making lists (brain dumps are shown to help reduce anxiety and clear mental clutter!)
- Tracking habits + progress
- Expressing gratitude
- Open-ended documentation (similar to bullet journaling)
- Being creative!
Today, I’m sharing my top five favorite paper planners that include all of these elements– each one is tried, tested, and loved by yours truly.
Let’s dive in!
The Best Planners: My Personal Top 5
1. The Best All Around Planner
Erin Condren is a frontrunner in the planner market, and their LifePlanner is a classic for a reason. It offers comprehensive planning across daily, weekly, and monthly views. What sets it apart, in my opinion, is it’s carefully edited selection of planning pages and the option for fun design customizations. You choose your cover, personalize it with your name or a favorite quote, and even select your preferred layout!
I like to mix things up when it comes to my planners, but this is the one I have come back to time and time again. I gift these to my mom and MIL every Christmas and they are always excited to open them. You can’t go wrong with this one, guys.
- Layout Options: Erin Condren offers four layouts: vertical, hourly, horizontal, and compact vertical. The vertical layout, my personal favorite, is super flexible—perfect for juggling various commitments.
- Customization: The ability to customize the cover with colors and monograms is a big plus. You also choose between vibrant “Evolve” colors, muted earth tones in “Bold Blooms,” or a clean, minimalist “Canvas” design for your tabs/printed page colors.
- Extra Features: You get a yearly overview, goal-setting pages, monthly calendars, dot-grid pages for bullet journaling, STICKERS, a handy pocket, and even a perpetual calendar. It’s got it ALL.
- Price Point: Around $65 (but there are often great sales!)
Looking for something simpler? Erin Condren also offers a smaller, more streamlined A5 softbound planner which offers portability and a lower price point. Additionally, they have specialized planners for teachers and students.
2. The Best Planner For Goal-Setting
If you’re a goal-getter, the START Planner is a game-changer. This planner isn’t just about scheduling appointments; it’s a comprehensive system for managing various aspects of your life. It feels like they thought of EVERYTHING!
- Detailed Goal-Setting: It includes sections for yearly goals, vision boards, individual goals, financial goals, home maintenance, health tracking, and more. It even guides you through goal setting and helps you break down big goals into actionable steps.
- Weekly Layout: The weekly spread includes checkboxes, meal planning, habit trackers, and space for gratitude. It’s designed to help you stay focused on what truly matters.
- Extra Features: It includes tear-out grocery lists, holiday budgeting pages, and more. It’s seriously soooo detailed!
- Price Point: Around $68
3. The Best Planner For Luxe Customization
Golden Coil is for those who appreciate quality, beauty, and total control over their planning experience. This is a premium choice with an incredible focus on customization.
- High-Quality Materials: The luxurious paper and beautiful linen covers are unique amongst the planners I’ve tried. This little detail gives you a seriously upgraded planning experience.
- Complete Customization: Choose your cover, daily and weekly layouts, add-on pages (calendars, fitness trackers, budget pages, etc.), and even specify your planner’s start and end dates. You can have important dates and your contact info printed into your planner- making it feel special and completely unique to you.
- Price Point: Prices vary depending on the number of pages and customization, starting around $77 for a 242-page planner (but be careful because things can escalate quickly!)
4. The Best Planner For Seeing It All At Once
Laurel Denise takes a unique approach. Their brand tagline is “Planners for the way you think,” and I feel like it’s true! Their horizontal weekly planner is on the larger side, but it works really well as a desk planner (I used mine as my mousepad!) and it offers a inventive way to view your month and week simultaneously.
- Dual View: This planner lets you see your monthly calendar and the current week’s tasks at a glance.
- Flip-Through Weeks: Each month starts with a full monthly calendar and mini weekly pages which flip through as the week ends.
- Other Features: Includes yearly planning, goal-setting, dot-grid/ box grid pages, habit trackers, and more.
- Price Point: Around $59.
5. The Best Planner For Minimal Mindfulness
My current planner, The Saint Belford Curation Daily Planner combines the best aspects of all the other planners I’ve tried with a minimalist aesthetic that I love.
- Layout: Offers a large weekly spread with space for journaling, habit tracking, daily priorities, and gratitude.
- Pre-Week Planning: Shown above, this spread provides a pre-week overview with space that is flexible for planning what’s most important to you.
- Format: Unlike the other options, this one is not coil-bound .It comes in a large, daily, or mini size (but several sizes are sold out at the time of publishing).
- Price Point: Varies with size, but the original starts at $50.
If You Choose This Planner: Make sure to purchase the optional “TABS” which make this planner much more user friendly (plus, they’re just plain pretty).
Which Is The Best Planner for You?
I hope this helps guide you as you search for the perfect paper planner. Whether you’re a seasoned planner enthusiast or just starting out, there’s a perfect fit out there.
I put together a video walkthrough of all 5 planners if you have 30 extra minutes and nothing better to do, haha.
Also, each of these sites has specific videos that you can watch for more thorough walk-throughs and examples of their products.
If you’re thinking about doing a paper planner this year, I’d love to hear more from you.
- What paper planner do you love?
- What things do you look for in a paper planner if you use one?
- What questions do you have about getting started using a paper planner?
Let me know in the comments which planner sparks your interest, or share your own favorites! I hope this was helpful for you as you find the best paper planner for you to level up in the coming year.
Happy planning!
xoxo,
