How to Evaluate Daily Planners

When you live a busy life, it can be hard to keep your daily agenda organized. One of the biggest obstacles to a busy life is keeping track of everything that needs to be done. Thankfully someone thought to invent the daily planner so that we can schedule our days, weeks, and months in advance and keep track of everything we need to do. However, choosing the right daily planner can be difficult if you don't know what to look for. Follow a few simple criteria when evaluating daily planners so that you choose the planner that's right for you.

Instructions

1. Choose a size of daily planner that will work best for you. Larger daily planners hold more information, but can be heavy and difficult to lug around. Smaller daily planners are easier to carry, but might not provide the page space you're looking for. Make a list of where you plan on carrying your daily planner and what you will be using it for, and then make your decision on how large you would like your planner to be.

2. Look inside of the daily planner to see how many months of planning the planner provides, and how many time slots each day holds. Daily planners that have too few months won't be as useful. Don't pick a planner with small, hourly lines to fill in if you know that you do most of your tasks in half-hour blocks of time.

3. Choose a daily planner with a durable casing. Daily planners made out of leather and pleather can provide adequate protection and stand up to the wear and tear of carrying the planner around. Daily planners made out of plastic or paper might wear out more quickly.

4. Select a daily planner with removable pages. A spiral bound planner might be a good choice for a small investment, but daily planners with removable pages can be refilled minus the cost of the casing.

5. Pick a color of daily planner that will be easy to spot, but also reflective of who you are. Chances are you'll be using your daily planner frequently, so you want to choose something pleasing to the eye.

6. Choose planners that have colored tabs to separate months and weeks. Planners without tabs can be difficult to navigate, especially if you plan far in advance. A daily planner with tabs will make it easier to find the scheduled time that you are looking for.

7. Look for extras that are included with the planner that enhance the planner's usefulness. Some features include: a pen, pen holder, highlighter, calculator, sticky notes, or colored arrow markers to pinpoint special times. Extra features can greatly enhance the functionality of the planner by adding valuable resources stored within the planner for easy retrieval.

References

• Time Management Huddle: Daily Planner An Organized Day