Welcome to Sundays at Home. A revamp of a series I’d planned on starting a year ago and then let the idea fall flat. Sundays at Home will be a short and sweet post each Sunday featuring something I really love. It may be a product for home, beauty or clothing with other things thrown in as well.
Today I’m sharing my favorite planner and a close second that I’ve tried as well. I love planners and even with all the great technology today, I find that there is nothing like having a physical planner to jot notes, write my daily to-do lists and plan out my content at the shop and for the blog. I use a lot of online tools to stay on track but nothing replaces my physical planner.
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I’ve tried many planners over the years. From weekly and monthly planners to ones that are broken down to the day. I’ve been happy with the overall quality of many planners, from hard covers, durable ring bindings to thick pages that don’t bleed through but nothing has compared to my favorite planner, the Day Designer, Daily / Monthly Planner from Blue Sky.
I’ve shared this planner in years past but it truly is the best planner for me. While I wasn’t able to find the fancy hardcover version this year, I was able to find the standard flexible cover which is basically a cardstock cover with a flexible clear plastic cover on top for the front and back. I’ve used this kind before and while I prefer the hardcover, the flexible cover is sturdy enough to stay together all year long even with toting it around in my bag.
The Day Designer planner starts with a goal planner section in the front where you can get your big goals for the year mapped out. Having this in the front means it’s super easy to refer to throughout the year so you always know what you should be doing to reach your goals.
Then each month has a tab. The first spread in each month’s section is a monthly calendar. I like to mark holidays, vacations, dr. Appointments, etc. In this section first and then map out my content and major deadlines for the month here for quick reference.
The daily pages for the month follow. Each weekday page features just the right sections for highlighting the day’s top three tasks, map out a to-do list with little check boxes. Each daily page also includes a section with times which is great to scheduling timeblocks, appointments, etc. For the day. This is always where I’m able to see if I have too much on my plate for any given day.
The pages of the planner are heavy enough that they don’t show bleed through. I’ve used highlighters, gel pens and regular ball point pens and I haven’t had isuses with ink bleeding through.
A simple pocket in the front is a great place to store my planner stickers (this planner comes with a set too).
This planner is my go to year after year. There are so many options out there but Blue Sky remains my favorite brand.
A new, close second is the series of planners from Clever Fox. There are many versions and I honestly don’t know the difference. if you are interested in trying one of these, I suggest doing a little research first to make sure the version you buy includes the sections you want.
For 2021, I used the weekly/monthly pro planner for the blog. I missed having the pages for individual days in a weekly planner but the quality of the planner is top notch! I hate throwing it away because it still looks as good as it did on day 1, more than a year ago.
This year, I decided to give the Daily Pro Planner a try for the blog and life. The only thing I don’t love about this planner is that it isn’t dated and all the monthly calendars are in the front instead of in between the daily pages like the Day Designer Planner is. Maybe this is more about what I’m used to.
I also understand the reasoning behind an undated planner but it’s kind of a hassle.
The other thing to note with the Daily Pro from Clever Fox is that it is a QUARTERLY planner, not a fully year. While the detail is great, it’s only good for three months so the cost per year is significantly more than even the pricier hardcover in the Day Designer.
I do like the leather-like cover of the Clever Fox planners. The pages are also super thick compared to other planners. I do like the way the planners are bound like a book but I actually prefer the wire ring of the Day Designer so that I can fold the planner open on itself to take up less space on my desk when I’m working.
Minus the fact that I’ll have to buy three more of these to finish out the year, the Clever Fox is a great alternative and because they come in your choice of so many colors, it’s easy to find one to fit your taste.
My favorite planner continues to be the Blue Sky Day Designer. The cover designs, page layouts, tabbed month dividers and page thickness all make this planner my go to year after year.
If you have a favorite planner, I’d love to hear about it. If you’ve tried either of these planners in the past, I’d love to hear about that too. Leave a comment below.
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