digital planner layout

Different types of planners: A Comprehensive Guide

With so many distractions in today's world, it can be difficult to stay organized and our productivity suffers.

One of the easiest and most effective ways to counteract these issues is to use some type of planner. There are different types of planners to use so today we're going to take a look at them to help you decide which one is best for you.

Keep in mind, a lot of people change the type of planner that they use from time to time. Whether you want a change or your situation changes, a new planner could help you shake any stagnant times.

In this article, we'll be looking at 4 different types of planners that you can use.

  1. Digital Planners
  2. Bound Paper Planners
  3. Printable Planners
  4. Personal Planner App

monthly planner and daily planners

What is a planner?

Before we get started, let's go over the basics. What is a planner?

A planner is a tool used to help structure and organize the tasks and events in your life. If you know that feeling of not knowing what to do next or wondering how you will have time for everything, a planner is a tool that could help you.

There are tons of different types of planners which is what we're looking at today but they all have the same job, helping you be organized and productive.

Some planners are more general and can be used for all aspects of your life and some are more niche to focus on a specific thing, such as financial planning or fitness planning.

An addition, you have different formats that they come in. Some are digital planners while others are paper planners.

Digital Planners

If you are looking for a digital solution but still want to write like it is pen and paper, this is the solution for you.

A relatively new method of planning, digital planners are quickly becoming the favorite way to plan.

If you're new to digital planners, we have an in depth article available here but we'll give you a basic overview now.

Basically, the planners are PDF planners that you import into a PDF markup app on your iPad or tablet. Then, with a stylus, you write on them as if they are pen and paper.

You keep that natural writing experience but you get a lot of the benefits that come with digital. Again, you can read more about digital planners here.

We offer a wide variety of different types of planners in the digital format. No matter what you need a planner for, we have something special for you.

  • Personal Planner
  • Life Planner
  • Weekly Planner
  • Financial Planner
  • Fitness Planner
  • Business Planner
  • Gratitude Journal
  • Student Planner
  • Teacher Planner
  • Bullet Journal
  • 100 Day Planner
  • Money Saving Challenge

If you interested in a more in-depth look at each of these different planners, you can read more about them here.

health and fitness planner

Bound Paper Planners

Do you like a good ol' paper bound planner?

Some people don't like to have something digital, they want to have real paper that they can write on. That's where we started in fact.

Paper planners will always have a spot in your life. They can serve multiple benefits and still give you all the daily planning functions that you need.

With our bound paper planners, you get complete a complete daily planner. You start with high level planning so you know where you want to end up and then you break it down into monthly, weekly, and daily plans.

Setting goals and building a schedule that helps you keep track of everything. It helps you prioritize all of your goals and tasks.

We built out planner to be the ultimate productivity tool, stay focused and accomplish more goals.

bound paper planner notebook

Printable planners

If you love paper planners, you have another option. You can always go with a printable planner.

Printable planners are nice because you can create a customizable planner very easily. We offer all of our digital planners in printable versions so you can print what you need, and create your own planning binder.

If you want some financial planning templates, you can print and insert those. If you want weekly and daily planner templates, you can add those. Same with fitness, business, school, or any of our planning templates.

You can organize them however you want using dividers to create different sections. You can put in whatever you need to keep track of your life.

Even if you don't want to create a planner binder, you can use the sheets individually.

monthly planner and daily planners

Personal Planner App

The last type of planner is a planner app or software.

We recently added a planning software that helps you plan a little bit differently. Our planner software, called Last Plannr, is a goal setting software.

What we found our customers wanted and needed was a good way to track and work on their goals in life.

Many people commented on how task managers didn't fit right and there really wasn't a good solution. Since they already loved our current digital planners, we decided to build off that to build an app.

The focus of Last Plannr is to completely organize your goals and tasks so you stay focused and work on the tasks that actually help you accomplish your goals.

To do that, you organize your goals into projects. Projects can be things like your personal life, business, or career.

Then, you create all of the goals for these projects that you want to complete. After you have a goal created, you add all of the tasks you need to do to complete that goal.

Now, when you look at your schedule, you'll know exactly what tasks to work on and when you complete them, you know you're working towards a specific goal.

Last Plannr is an excellent goal setting software to help you keep track of all of your goals and progress.

Which is better paper planner than digital planner?

Simple answer, neither. They both are great and serve the purpose that they were intended.

The goal of a planner is to help you stay organized and be boost productivity. Both types of planners will do this.

With that, there could be arguments that on paper, a digital planner is better. It offers several benefits that include:

  • Easy to erase text without ruining paper
  • Adding images and other types of media
  • Ability to duplicate pages as needed
  • Planners can be reused if they are not dated
  • Ability to store multiple planners on your iPad or tablet without carrying more bound notebooks
  • Can be customized
  • Can be synced to other apps or your calendar

customizable digital planner layouts

Types of planners final thoughts

There is overwhelming evidence to show that there are extreme benefits to using a planner. From increased productivity and higher success rates to less procrastination and stress, planners have ample value to your life.

There is always the question of, what types of planners are there and which one is best for me?

As you can see, each type of planner has it's own pros and cons. The best way to determine which one is right for you is to pick which sounds the most appealing to you and give it a try.

One of the great things about planners is that you can switch and change as you want. We have customers who switch between all of them. Some people have digital planners but also use the bound paper planners.

We offer all of these different types of planners and you can try them to see which ones you like the best. We thoroughly believe that no matter which type of planner you pick, you'll drastically improve your life and be most productive, organized, and happier.

bullet journal weekly planner

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