If you feel like planning just doesn’t come naturally, there are steps you can take to get better at it. You can start by recognizing your own strengths and weaknesses and accepting that planning is a skill you need to build.
You’ll also want to explore different systems until you find one that works well for you. No matter how elegantly they’re designed, tech tools don’t work for everyone. If you’ve tried apps and online calendars with no success, here are some of my favorite paper planners to try instead.
There’s no one right tool for everyone. If paper works best for you, use it!
| Planner | Best For | Focus |
|---|---|---|
| Day Designer | Daily structure & schedule | Time blocking |
| Best Self | Goal achievement | 13-week cycles |
| Full Focus | Executing big goals | Priorities + rituals |
| Passion Planner | Purpose-driven life | Vision + reflection |
| Purpose Planner | Values & intention | Life purpose alignment |
| Bullet Journal | Custom planning | Infinite flexibility |
| High Performance | Peak productivity | Habit + performance tracking |
| Ponderlily | Creative lifestyle planning | Aesthetic + well-being |
| Project Me | Growth & self-discovery | Personal development |
Day Designer Planner
Best for: Daily structure & work–life balance Overview: A day-by-day planner focused on prioritization, with large daily pages. Each day has sections for your schedule, top three priorities, to-dos, gratitude, and notes. The layout helps you plan a full day in detail, while also helping your mindset by directing you towards gratitude.
Best Self Planner
Best for: Goal achievement & weekly reflection Overview: A structured planner combining daily pages with goal-setting frameworks. It helps you move forward on larger six-month goals with weekly check-ins and reflections. It also includes motivation prompts and accountability systems. This planner is an excellent choice for those who need a little more support in seeing their goals become reality.
Full Focus Planner
Best for: High achievers & quarterly planning Overview: Created by productivity author Michael Hyatt. It emphasizes quarterly goals, daily rituals, and weekly preview sessions. Uses a “Big 3” priorities model to keep you focused on what matters most. This format is an excellent choice for those who struggle to stay focused on their “must-do” items each day.
Passion Planner
Best for: Purpose-driven planning & reflection Overview: Combines scheduling with deep personal reflection. Offers space for long-term vision, monthly and weekly spreads, and “Passion Roadmap” sections to break down goals. With Passion Planner, creative minds gain the structure to effectively plan their time, with the space to also record ideas, and reflect on past projects and create a vision for the future.
Purpose Planner
Best for: Values-based life planning Overview: Helps you clarify purpose, break goals into weekly and daily tasks, set intentions, and build empowering habits. Often includes reflection pages to track alignment with your purpose. This planner is ideal for those being pulled in many directions. The reflection pages will help ensure that plans and commitments align with overall goals.
Bullet Journal
Best for: Customizable planning & creativity Overview: Not a pre-printed system — a method you create yourself in a blank notebook. You build calendars, trackers, lists, and notes using rapid logging. Infinite flexibility. If ready-made planners do not provide the flexibility you crave, then the bullet journal framework may be the system you’ve been looking for.
High Performance Planner
Best for: Productivity + well-being balance Overview: Developed by Brendon Burchard. Combines morning and evening routines with weekly planning questions, focus blocks, metrics tracking, and reflection prompts. This format will provide additional support in creating or maintaining habits to keep your days flowing smoothly.
Ponderlily Planner
Best for: Creative planning & lifestyle tracking Overview: Aesthetically appealing planners with layouts for life areas like health, finances, self-care, and goals. Includes habit trackers and motivational spreads.
Project Me Planner
Best for: Personal growth & self-reflection Overview: Focuses on goal setting, mindset, and intentional living. Combines daily planning with self-discovery prompts and prioritization tools. Often includes reflection and gratitude sections. This planner is a great fit for those who need a little support in stepping away from reactively responding to life’s needs, and instead foster a mindful approach to planning their time.
With 2026 just a few weeks away, now is the time to ensure you have the right tools to start the year off well. If you would like additional time management coaching support, I would be delighted to speak with you further.
Some links in this post are affiliate links, meaning I may earn a small commission from qualifying purchases. I recommend products I have personally vetted and believe will add value to you.
About Real Life E
Elizabeth Grace Saunders is a time management coach and best-selling author who empowers individuals who feel guilty, overwhelmed and frustrated to feel peaceful, confident and accomplished. She helps people struggling with new levels of responsibility after receiving a promotion or becoming a parent, who aren’t meeting expectations at work, or who need better work-life balance to overcome burnout.
Elizabeth was named one of the World’s Top 30 Time Management Professionals by Global Gurus every year since 2018 and is a member of Forbes Coaches Council. McGraw Hill published her first book The 3 Secrets to Effective Time Investment: How to Achieve More Success with Less Stress. Harvard Business Review published her second book How to Invest Your Time Like Money. And FaithWords published her third book Divine Time Management. Elizabeth regularly writes time management articles for Harvard Business Review and Fast Company and has appeared on CBS, ABC, NBC, and Fox.
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