5 planners for personal development and productivity
I have to tell you that I no longer look for planners that just help me organize my to-do lists and schedule appointments. I look for planners that can help me with my personal development and productivity. Lucky for me and you there are so many excellent options to choose from with more appearing every year 🥰 💃🏽 👍🏼.
What is the use of personal development planners?
I’ve found that paper planners 📖 can help me direct my attention where it’s most beneficial, if I use them consistently.
Did you know that happy, successful people work constantly on mindset? It’s not much of a surprise particularly if you are a highly sensitive person. In fact, I also think a good journaling practice is helpful along with a good planner.
A planner 📖 + a journal 📓 are a match made in heaven 😇.
A good planner and journal, when you use them, can even get your dirty dishes done if that's something you routinely neglect and want to change. When you run your own business, the right tools (for you) can make a big difference for your productivity and ultimate success. You are your business, so personal development is something worth investing in as the strong foundation upon which everything else can be built.
Here are some of the best planners for productivity and personal development I’ve found, highlighting their approach to planning and personal development, with a brief summary of what you can expect with each experience.
What you need to know about the Panda Planner planners
Comes in undated format
Has pages for days, weeks and months!
Comes in 2 sizes: 8.5 x 11" and 5.25 x 8.25", Pro and Classic respectively
Easy and quick to start using right away
This is an undated planner so you can start whenever you like!
The Panda Planner experience
Monthly Pages
Monthly calendar
Planning section with space for monthly goals and things to avoid (love this)
Focus for the month (love)
Practice a new habit that you want to practice daily for that month (love this too!!)
Weekly Pages
Wins and how you'll improve
How to make this week great
What you're looking forward too
Habits you want to practice,
What new thing you want to learn and space for
Your passion project (not too sure what this is but it's explained in detail with the planner),
Big projects (or goals)
Tasks for each big project (that get moved to your daily plan) and finally,
Top goals for the week
Daily Pages
Morning review that includes what you are grateful for and what you're excited about
Affirmation
Focus
Exercise
Today's priorities (top 3-5)
Schedule from 6 am - 9 pm
High priority tasks from the "Big Project's" you declared in your weekly planning
Small space for notes
End of day review with day's wins and how you can improve
Comes in a few sizes if you want lot's of space
What I love most about The Panda Planner planners
This is a very growth-oriented planner that helps you learn what's necessary for improvement daily with a very positive and encouraging focus. I also love the simplicity of it. The Panda Planner lives in my backpack now and the more I use it, the more I love it. It's simple to understand and use a planner that's not overwhelming. I could start using it straight away and see the benefits.
I LOVE that.
What you need to know about The Self Journal by BestSelf
Comes in one very compact size easy to take with you
This is an undated planner -start anytime!
High-quality materials and feels nice to use
Great planning instruction and teachings to break down goals into a 13-week roadmap
Encourages you to schedule all your time
Teaches you how to break down tasks to reach 3-month goals with their 13-week roadmap
Day and week pages *no month pages
The Self Journal experience
13-week roadmap
Define WHAT your goal or goals for the 13 weeks
Understand WHY you want to achieve your goal or goals
Work out HOW you will achieve your goals by defining specific actions you will take
Teaches you how to break down your goal into weekly milestones and then understand what you need to do daily to accomplish your milestones! Pure awesome. Appeals to my Project Management side.
Daily pages
Schedule your day in 30-minute increments around your goals and the actions you defined. The planner system encourages you to have zero space in your schedule so you plan in your downtime and stay focused on your priorities
Daily goals
The day starts at 6 am and goes till 9 pm
Gratitude practice daily
Meet your daily "Targets" (this is what you have to do as defined in your roadmap, to meet your goal)
Inspirational quote provided on each page
Lessons learned and opportunities for improvement
No Monthly pages, but comes with Weekly reflection and tracking
The Self Journal does not appear to have monthly pages but has space for weekly reflection and habit tracking. This isn't a calendar. It's a "get things done", build momentum, stay focused positive reinforcement manager!
What I love most about The Self Journal
I love the task planning approach outlined at the beginning of the planner. Their 13-week approach to setting goals and breaking them down into daily tasks is simple and extremely practical. This is something most other planners don't provide in the same detail, but the way they teach you how to actually take big goals and make things happen is simple.
The size of this planner is perfect to slip in a bag or purse. I'm sure it would be simple to take with you everywhere.
What you need to know about Innerguide life and goal planners
This planner draws heavily from Life Coaching principles and helps you balance your whole life (not just your business goals). This is great as it can help prevent unhappiness and burnout. We are more than our businesses.
Monthly and weekly planner only *no day pages
Fairly large spiral hard covered book 8.5" x 9. 25 Now they have a lay-flat softcover without the spiral binding :)
This is a dated planner and starts in January (now comes dated and undated)
The most "personal development"centred planner I've seen -it’s a life coach in a planner with a lot of great things, particularly for life coaches working with clients -I can see this being a good recommendation as a tool both could work with within a coaching package
The InnerGuide life and goal planner experience
The InnerGuide company emphasizes three things in all their planning products: Awareness, Empowerment and Fulfillment, and they do this very well.
They claim their planners will help you develop greater self-awareness, improve discipline, create new success habits, hold you accountable for your inner and outer life and motivate you to gain control over your time to be more focused and productive.
Tall order! Worthy goals.
Monthly planning pages
Space to organize your TOP personal and professional goals for the month
Prioritize where you want to be at the end of the month and understand what you need to get there, how do you need and want to feel, what thoughts do you need to have?
Know the big picture tasks and actions you need to take
Plan your focus for this month with consideration for all aspects of your life (family, friends, home and more)
Weekly pages
Understand your weekly top priorities
List all the tasks you need to do in the week to accomplish your goals
Gratitude reflection
Rate the quality of your thoughts with a
"Positivity Score" love thisRecord the areas of your life you felt most connected to that week
Review how you gave back or how you "Share the love" this week
Schedule times start at 6 am and go to 10 pm
Monthly reflection pages
Space to assess how you connected with your inner self or "Inner Guide" with a spot to tick off great ways to do this such as having tech-free time, being present, slowing down, awareness of emotions, active listening and more
A "Self Awareness Checkin"
Mind-Body-Spirit Self Care section where you declare how you supported yourself in these areas
General reflection journaling for the past month
What I love most about the Inner Guide Goal and Success Planners
If you don't know already I love life coaching principles and trained as a life coach from The Institute of Life Coach Training. Traditional coaching principles and teachings are practical, proactive, powerful and empowering. Life coaching can provide a safe space to grow, learn and hear your own soul's desires. And it can help us be our best selves, live with less stress, have better relationships, improve our health. The discipline is extremely proactive with a focus on what works over what doesn’t. There is a lot to love.
Is it any surprise I loved this planner?
Consequently, I think this planner might help you live a happier more productive life. Most noteworthy, I can see how you could use this planner to also focus on business goals while still ensuring you honour your full self.
And I want you to honour your full self in business always.
For example, you can use the self-awareness check-in to evaluate how you did with your business goals, how you felt, what came up for you, what felt easy and what felt hard and why what inspired you and what you dreaded -and why.
Why I love the Passion Planner
Come in two sizes 5.5″ wide x 8.5″ & 8.5″ wide by 11″
Comes in dated and undated formats -love
The cover is soft and flexible which I prefer over the Panda Planner
Has full year at a glance calendar -I like this
Same progressive personal development perspective as the rest reviewed here above
The Passion Planner has been reviewed online a lot so I won’t go into a load of detail here as the images speak for themselves.
NOTE -I purchased this planner in 2017 and didn’t use it much. I am finding that I no longer need daily pages for a few reasons. Many daily pages go to waste and when I do need them, often there is not enough space. What works better for me now is a planner without daily pages -and a notepad or notebook for daily notes. I have specific preferences for weekly spreads as well that I find helpful over other weekly options. IF I can see a whole week on one page, that is ideal for me with space below each day for notes or tasks -all visible at a glance. ✅
Planner Pad
The Planner Pad is not really a personal development planner but I listed it here because it has a super simple method for getting things done that I think will work particularly well for a holistic work/life balance. Personal and life goals can easily be brought to light with this planning approach and that is why I’ve listed it here.
The simplest of all the planners
Flexible and comes in many sizes and formats
Their "Funnel System" of breaking down your goals into tasks to get shit done
Loose paper for binders, spiral lay-flat bound as well as electronic options
Comes in dated and undated versions!
Year calendar for forecasting and year at a glance
My favourite weekly spread approach -providing that full week view at all times of what's going on and what needs to be done
Adheres to essentialist principles to just get er done!
I stumbled across these during my research and really like their straightforward approach to getting things done! The way they break down your goals into weekly then daily tasks is simple and effective. This planner doesn't include the mindset and personal development guidance HOWEVER -> it is perfect to ensure you get those things incorporated into your daily life so you reach your personal development goals.
If you already have other ways to ensure your personal development and mindset work happens every day and you're looking for a straightforward "get things done" planning tool, this one might be for you. Check it out.
I know you will find the perfect personal development and productivity planner for you
In conclusion, I am confident you will achieve success with any of these planners if you commit yourself to their teachings and practices. These planners can help you achieve your business and life goals. I’ve found that it can take time to find the right planner system so have fun and experiment with different systems until you find what works best for you.
Happy planning!
