“Rise and grind,” “everyone has the same twenty-four hours,” and “nobody wants to work anymore,” are all supposedly inspirational mindset phrases we’ve seen circulating social media over the last few years.
Yet the harsh reality many of us must face is that post-lockdown life has created an unhealthy vortex of toxic positivity and productivity masking as entrepreneurial innovation. It’s entirely understandable how such a tumultuous period of staying indoors and feeling as though we were achieving very little has led to such a counterproductive mindset – especially in comparison to those who were showcasing the best versions of themselves and their lockdown-initiated small businesses via TikTok and Instagram.
Now, that’s not to diminish the achievements of those who did indeed manage successful enterprises and complete exciting projects before, during or after the Great Pause. However, many of us have struggled with, and continue to run into problems with staying on top of life admin, work responsibilities and social arrangements – all while getting a full eight hours of sleep.
The advent of the bullet journal back in 2013 rolled daily, monthly and yearly planning into one neat personal organisation system. However neurodiverse folk who live with diagnoses such as ADHD and OCD can sometimes find catch-all planners like these to be overwhelming – leading to an ultimate shunning of the organisational process entirely. Though some find the bulleted system helps to make sense of a crowded or hyper-sensitive brain, others find it makes more sense to take things day by day, thereby training our brains to slow down ever so slightly.
Rather than looking deep into the future, making five-year plans and sketching down personal goals, sometimes all we need to improve our mental health and mindset is to simplify our lives. After all, in the inevitable case that we don’t realise all our hopes and dreams, we won’t feel that overarching sense of disappointment.
Now that we’ve successfully made a case for the mighty day planner, we’ve rounded up a selection of the best on the market. Enjoy life one day at a time.
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Raspberry Blossom Rainbow Check 304 Page Daily Planner
Perhaps one of the most beautifully designed, brightly coloured, and inherently mood-boosting pieces of stationery that we’ve come across, the rainbow check daily planner by Raspberry Blossom is everything we could ever want in a productive notebook and more.
Printed onto luxury 90gsm A5 paper, the undated planner can be purchased at any point in the year. This means that you can start your organisation journey whenever feels right – you don’t need to wait for an ‘official’ starting date, like September or January 1.
Featuring a daily bulleted list, boxes for extra notes and priorities, as well as some blank pages at the back of the notebook - slow and steady organisation has never looked so good. This planner is also specially bound to lay flat on the table, which means you won’t have to apply the full force of your body just to work across two pages.
Buy now £39.95, NOTHS
Moleskine Classic Diary 2024
It doesn’t get any more classic than a Moleskine planner. Though monthly and weekly options tend to be the bestsellers for the brand, we find this fantastic daily planner to be wildly underrated.
Designed for those in the market for unobtrusive planners void of any positive quotes or additional sections within sections – the Moleskine 12-month daily agenda is a fuss-free, traditional alternative to more modern planners. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!
Buy now £20.99, Amazon
Hobonichi Techo Cousin Book
This aesthetically pleasing, grid-lined journal is slightly more hi-tech than most daily planners for a few reasons. It does mean we wouldn’t recommend it to those looking for an ultra-simple system.
Designed by the Japanese stationery brand Hobonochi, the Techno Cousin Book operates in a similar manner to a traditional Bullet Journal, just without any of the convoluted symbols and constant switching between pages. It contains a yearly, monthly, weekly, and daily calendar – therefore giving you the option to plan a little further in advance than a classic daily planner.
Buy now £68.00, Amazon
Papier Saekdong Stripe Undated Daily Planner
At first glance, it’s difficult to tell whether this piece is a workable journal or an Ed Ruscha-inspired oil painting. Designed in an array of calming neutral tones, this daily productivity planner urges us to enjoy “the little joys of every day” – a message we can most definitely get behind.
This is another undated option so that you can get started at any point in the year. We also love that each double-page spread has a weekly meal-planning section and shopping list for a more holistic approach to organisation.
Buy now £25.00, Papier
Rhodia Webplanner 2024
Though technically marketed as a weekly planner, we love how this Rhodia journal is split up into sizeable sections for each day of the week and has a handy gridded blank page opposite each weekly calendar for any notes and tasks that might not fit.
This is a fantastic daily planner option for those looking to reduce the amount they tackle in one day, rather than spreading out a workload throughout the week.
Buy now £12.90, Galaxus
Week By Week Planner + Day Planner + Jotter
A three-in-one, non-committal option suitable for those who are prone to typos and smudges, keep track of your day-to-day tasks, movements, classes, and meetings and simply discard the page of your pretty planner once you’re done – as heartbreaking as it might feel to recycle some perfectly gorgeous stationery.
Working with disposable, yet aesthetically pleasing planners allows you to remain in the present without looking back on past mistakes, or even looking too far into the future.
Buy now £25.00, NOTHS
