There are hundreds if not thousands of apps on your phone to help you plan your life.
But sometimes a physical planner helps you see the whole picture, disconnect from your mobile device, and enjoy the process.
There’s something special about marking through a project you crushed. And you create an artifact that will be around for years.
While there are probably close to as many physical planners as apps for your phone, we’ve simplified the list to 8 wonderful planners for you to choose from.
Let’s go.
How to choose an EDC planner?
Everyone’s planner needs are different. Some may want to carry their planner around in their pocket while others lug it around in a pack.
So first answer how you plan to use it.
Next, you need to think about durability. If it’s going in your pocket or pack, you want it to be sturdy and last for an entire year. There’s nothing worse than having to port your life over to a new planner mid-way through the year.
What’s the best way to use this product?
The main two use cases for an EDC planner are long-term planning and short-term planning. And of course, there are both.
Long-term planning is on a quarterly, bi-annual, or annual cadence. It includes your goals and action items to take by a specific date (think of them as your milestones).
Short-term planning is managing your weekly and month goals. This also includes your weekly and monthly tasks as well as down to your daily tasks.
Best EDC Planners
- Best Overall: BestSelf Self Planner
- Runner Up: Rite in the Rain All-weather
- Best Budget: LEUCHTTURM1917
BestSelf Self Planner
- Sheet size: 9.09 x 6.14 x 1.34 inches
- Duration: Weekly
- Cover: Hard
- Pages: Unknown
The BestSelf Self Planner is an organizational and productivity tool that helps individuals stay focused and productive. It includes a weekly planning page with space for setting goals, to-do lists, and notes. It also includes monthly and yearly planning pages with space to set and track long-term goals.
The planner also has sections to track habits, record your successes, and reflect on what worked and what didn’t. It also has a pocket folder with stickers and accessories to help you customize the planner and stay focused.
The planner also includes free pages to roll in your own planning process. And based on their marketing materials, Daymond John, Shark Tank star and business mogul, uses their planner.
Pros:
- Many templatized pages (great if you do not have an ironed-out planning process)
- Includes 3 goal templates
- Progress milestones
Cons:
- Fit your planning process into their template
Rite in the Rain
- Sheet size: 3×5 inches
- Duration: NA
- Cover: Soft
- Pages: 100
Rite in the Rain is true to its name. It’s one of the few notebooks that not only can survive a torrential downpour but you can write on it the entire time.
The Rite in the Rain notebook is durable and resistant to the harshest of environments. Use a pencil or crayon to write in the rain or a pen and a sharpie to write when the pages are dry.
We did notice that cheaper pens do not write as well on this paper. They required more force to get the ink to stick, creating indentions on the other side.
Rite in the Rain sells pens they’ve tested on their notebooks if you encounter this same problem.
Pros:
- Durable pages, will not erode in water
- Completely customizable
Cons:
- Rite in the rain pens work best
LEUCHTTURM1917
- Sheet size: A5 (5-7/8 x 8-1/4)
- Duration: Weekly
- Cover: Hard
- Pages: 251
The LEUCHTTURM1917 paper company is known for its quality paper. They’ve been around since 1917 which says something.
They pride themselves on creating pages that accept any pen without it bleeding through. Another pet peeve of ours is being able to see the writing through the page. This is not a concern with the LEUCHTTURM1917 planner.
Pros:
- Highly customizable
- Two ribbon page markers
Cons:
- Only 8 perforated sheets
Moleskine 2023 Planner
- Sheet size: 5.3 x 0.6 x 8.35 inches
- Duration: Weekly
- Cover: Hard
- Pages: 288
The Moleskine 2023 Planner is a 12-month calendar that helps organize activities for the entire year. Each page includes space for reflection, monthly and full-year overviews, and to-do lists.
The planner includes special pages for setting goals and planning out projects, as well as overviews of the day, week, and month. It also includes a pocket for notes, stickers, and receipts.
The 2023 Planner features durable designs, with a smooth black cover and high-quality paper. It’s the perfect
Its design allows you to write your week’s appointments on the left with plenty of room on the right to jot down notes and ideas on a ruled page.
Pros:
- Multiple views: monthly, horizontal weekly, daily
- Durable cover and sticking (withstand normal wear and tear)
Cons:
- Paper indents easily
Hobonichi Techo Planner
- Sheet size: 5.83 x 4.13 x 0.55 inches
- Duration: Daily
- Cover: Soft
- Pages: 448
The Hobonichi Techno Planner is one of the largest planners we reviewed. It includes a full calendar view and daily views.
Many pages include powerful sayings and quotes to keep you going especially when times are tough and you feel stuck.
The squared line format makes drawing easier than only the ruled pages of their competitors (if you doodle).
Pros:
- High-quality craftsmanship
Cons:
- Does not take wear and tear well (got scuffed up easily)
Smart Planner Pro
- Sheet size: Three sizes (Small A5 (8.6″ x 5.7″), Medium B5 (10″ x 7″), Large A4 (11″ x 8.5″))
- Duration: 26-week
- Cover: Hard
- Pages: Unknown
Smart Planner Pro is a 26-week planner with many page templates, 3 bookmarks, and a huge selection of stickers to customize your planning.
There are many pre-built page templates to assist in planning and executing your work.
Pros:
- Sticker sheet included
- Includes 3 bookmarks
Cons:
- Rigid format that requires you to adjust your process to fit the planner
Anecdote 2023 Planner
- Sheet size: 5.875-x-8.25-inch Inches
- Duration: Daily
- Cover: Hard
- Pages: 250 Pages
The Anecdote 2023 Planner is an organizational tool that helps individuals or teams plan, track, and manage events, projects, and tasks.
It has an interactive and user-friendly dashboard, timeline interface, and customizable calendar and to-do list views. It also has features for sharing notes, reminders, and important documents, incorporating images into plans, and data tracking and analysis to help with decision-making.
Pros:
- Templatized but relatively flexible
- Monthly calendar and freeform pages
Cons:
- Paper color is more offwhite (our eyes prefer a brighter white)
Clever Fox Planner
- Sheet size: A5 (5.8” x 8.3”)
- Duration: 12 months
- Cover: Hard
- Pages: Unknown (+50 grid pages)
Clever Fox Planner is an all-in-one planning tool designed to help individuals and teams stay organized and productive.
It provides support for goal setting and tracking, breaking tasks down into manageable chunks, creating actionable plans, and collaborating with teams.
The vision board pages are a nice addition that other planners do not include as a pre-built page template.
Pros:
- Vision board pages (a useful strategy that we rarely do but find value when we do it)
- Sticker pages included
- 3 bookmarks included
Cons:
- Highly templatized – forces you to adjust your planning process to fit the notebook
- A bit crammed with a lot going on
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the best 2022 planners?
We’ve covered what we consider the best planners above. If we forgot one, please let us know. We’ve chosen not to include some as they were not up to par.
But to recap the best 2023 planners, we recommend BestSelf Self Planner as the Best EDC Planner, the Rite in the Rain All-weather as Runner Up, and the LEUCHTTURM1917 as the Best Budget.
- Best Overall: BestSelf Self Planner
- Runner Up: Rite in the Rain All-weather
- Best Budget: LEUCHTTURM1917
What does EDC mean for planners?
When we say EDC planners, we mean planners that you can pack around in your pocket or your bag. A planner that you can keep with you. And not those desk-size planners that live and stay at the office. That’s just not how we roll.
What is the most effective planner?
The most effective planner is the one you use to organize your life and accomplish your goals. We’ve tried many and sometimes switch at the end of the year. We’re always tweaking our planning processes which often includes the planner itself.
What is the best refillable planner?
There are numerous refillable planners. These are perfect once you’ve nailed down your planning process and found the best planner for yourself. But if you’re like us you get distracted by new, shiny objects and will want to experiment with a different planner at the end of the year.
While they are not a great fit for us, they do have their benefits such as your planning process is reliable and stable when you use the same planner year after year. You get very good at it because your medium (the planner itself) does not change so your processes rarely change.
Now getting to planning your 2023
We’ve covered what we consider the best EDC planners for 2023 and why we believe that. There are many planners to choose from and we did our best to only include the best of the best and then narrow those down a step further for you.
So again, here are top picks for 2023 EDC planners:
- Best Overall: BestSelf Self Planner
- Runner Up: Rite in the Rain All-weather
- Best Budget: LEUCHTTURM1917
Curious about what we think about a planner, not on this list? Shoot us a message.
