13 best planners to keep you organized in 2025
Planners are a great tool for jump-starting productivity, but experts say the right one comes down to your personal needs.
Papier Quilted Daydreams 2024 Planner
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$35.00
Planners are not one-size-fits-all. When shopping for one, our experts recommend considering the following factors:
To help determine the best yearly planners to suit your needs, we rounded up some our favorite staff picks and highly rated options based on our experts’ advice.
This weekly desk planner is a staff favorite for its structured layout — it has large boxes to plan out each day, the next week and a to-do list. NBC Select associate reporter Bianca Alvarez loves the spaciousness of the 9.5-inch by 7-inch planner that allows her to fit all her lists and upcoming events. “I always worry I won’t have enough room, but luckily, the pages and designated spaces are big enough to fit my never-ending list of weekly tasks,” she says.
This weekly planner is great for those who prefer efficient notebooks without any extra graphics or charts. NBC Select reporter Harry Rabinowitz says while he’s not the best at using planners, the undated pages of this Field Notes option reduces the pressure of having to use it every day. “I can miss months at a time and come back to this planner, flip a page and start fresh, without wasting any paper,” Rabinowitz says. “It’s also great quality — the pages don’t bleed through, it lies flat on a table and the cover pages are durable.”
Rocketbook offers a variety of reusable, eco-friendly planners. This option has sections for undated yearly, monthly, weekly and daily planning, as well as goals and motivation templates. It works with any Pilot FriXion pen, marker or highlighter, and you can wipe its synthetic paper clean with a damp cloth, so you can use the planner over and over again. With the accompanying Rocketbook app, you can store all of your planner pages to the cloud to digitally save and share your notes even after they’re erased, according to Rocketbook.
Papier is NBC Select updates editor Mili Godio’s go-to brand for planners and stationery, and she even used the brand’s wedding invitations earlier this year. “Not only do the planners come in several stunning designs, but you can also customize the front cover with your name or initials,” Godio says. “I also love how much blank space there is to write down daily tasks and to-dos.” It provides weekly and monthly views, along with a year view for 2024 and 2025. It has spaces for monthly goals, to-do lists, habits and priorities, as well as a page for contacts.
If you prefer to have more room to write out your tasks and don’t need the portable ease of a book, a desk planner might be a better choice for you. This 7.25-inch by 10-inch planner from Sugar Paper Essentials comes with undated pages laid out for weekly planning, so you can customize it depending on when in 2024 you want to start getting organized. In addition, a separate box at the bottom provides room to jot down any accompanying notes for yourself.
This portable planner provides undated monthly and weekly views, along with two pages for all your contacts, 14 lined pages for notes and an inner pocket to store loose items, like tickets, cards and other important papers. Each monthly spread comes with five weekly pages, along with ample space to write your weekly goals and to-do lists.
Ban.do is known for its quirky planners filled with fun stickers and calming coloring pages. This 10-inch by 8-inch option includes yearly, monthly and weekly views, plus pages for notes, coloring and more. Godio, who received one from the brand, says she loves its larger size because it can fit everything she writes. “This planner also has colorfully illustrated pages, a spiral edge and an elastic closure that keeps everything inside,” Godio says. It includes stickers to mark your calendars — and if you run out or just want more options, the company sells several sticker-book options.
This classic option from Moleskine provides a full page for each day in 2024, giving you ample space to take notes, write down appointments and more. The planner also has monthly views, as well as extra features like international measurements and time zones. It lies flat when it’s open and comes in both a pocket size (3.5 inches by 5.5 inches) and a larger, 5-inch by 8.25-inch edition. You can also choose a hard or soft cover that comes in four colors: red, black, blue and green.
This planner from Papier is designed specifically with students in mind, beginning in August 2023 and running through July 2024. It includes weekly, monthly and yearly overviews, with a month-ahead section for goals, deadlines and key dates. It also has a meal-planning section and a finance tracker, which can come in handy if you’re trying to stick to a strict budget. It comes in two colors — green or red — and has both a hardcover and spiral softcover option depending on your preference.
If your resolution is to become a more mindful eater, this planner is designed to track your daily food intake. Each day has slots to track up to five meals, and within those slots you can rate your hunger and mood at the time of each meal and indicate why you ate and how you felt afterward. If you’re just starting out on your nutrition journey, the planner also includes a comprehensive list of proteins, fats, carbs and more.
This Erin Condren planner is perfect for students who want an academic planner that is both functional and stylish. Its interchangeable, snap-in leather cover not only looks great, but also resists the wear and tear of the academic year. “One of the best qualities was how durable it is —I would toss mine in my backpack or tote and it stayed intact, never ripped and looked brand new by the time the school year was over,” Alvarez says. It has a yearly, monthly, weekly and daily view with enough room to write every assignment, task and exam, Alvarez says. It also comes with a sticker sheet for color coding and labeling.
This 13-week undated planner is a food tracker, fitness planner and gratitude journal in one, designed to motivate you to achieve your health, diet and fitness goals. The daily spreads include spaces to plan meals and workouts, as well as nutritional tips and ideas to develop healthy habits, according to the brand. With each purchase, you get the Healthy Eating & Meal Planning e-package, which contains downloadable recipes, weekly meal plans, weekly fitness routines and guide to plan and prep meals.
Wedding planners are a great way for soon-to-be married couples to stay organized during the hectic planning process. This Select staff-favorite from Erin Condren seems to leave nothing unturned. It includes wedding tips and planning checklists; lists and pages for vendors; sections for the wedding party, guest list and seating; spaces for notes, journaling, brainstorming and mood boards; beauty and outfit-planning pages and more. There are also pages for honeymoon details.
The benefits to using a planner on a consistent basis are plenty, according to our experts. Specifically, you can control your time, money and space, and improve your productivity at the same time, says O’Neil. Using a planner also allows you to “clear out the clutter in your brain” so you can stay focused on any tasks at hand, says Melissa Levy, founder of professional organization company Declutter + Design.
“By consistently using a planner, we can view our life and see if what we are spending time on aligns with our values and priorities,” says O’Neil. “Investing time in planning allows us to track how, where and when we spend our time.”
Even with the invention of the smartphone and calendar apps, sales of physical planners continue to stay strong. “Not everyone wishes to jump on the tech bandwagon,” says Murray. In fact, a 2022 study found that paper calendars offer tired eyes a rest from phones, tablets and computers, offering a gratifying sensory experience for the user and allowing them to better see the big picture of tasks and activities.
“There’s something about being able to cross out a completed task or cracking the spine on a new paper planner on January 1 that brings many people joy,” says Murray.
At NBC Select, we work with experts who have specialized knowledge and authority based on relevant training and/or experience. We also take steps to ensure all expert advice and recommendations are made independently and without undisclosed financial conflicts of interest.
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