As we roll into the new year, here are just a few of my favorite planners for a Daily To Do List System. As course creators, we have so many details to keep up with – and finding the right to do list system is essential. For some of you, it won’t make much of a difference. But for others of us, who are very visual thinkers, this can be an important choice to help us get more done.
When choosing a planner, here are a couple questions to ask yourself:
- How much info do you have to track? Is it just a few items each day? Then you can use a weekly planner. But if you have a lot like me, you may need a daily planner.
- Does it need to be mobile (for example, traveling back and forth to work with you)? This can impact the size – you may want a 5×7 planner that could more easily fit into a bag rather than a full-sized 8 1/2×11 planner.
- Do you want to use paper or an online system? There are some really fantastic online programs and apps for your phone so you may want to use one of these programs instead.
- Or do you want to keep it simple? I’ve seen folks be super-successful with just a notepad where each day they make a list and check off the items!
It really comes down to what will you use consistently to take action?? You may need to experiment to find out what will work the best for you.
I use a simple spiral notebook for my daily to dos. I write the date at the top of the page in a square. Then as I plan the day I group to dos into a couple sections: clients, personal, CCHQ for my website, and notes.
If you prefer a pre-printed planner, here are some I’ve found that look interesting:
- Panda Planner
- Planner Pads
- Michael Hyatt’s Full Focus Planner
- Chalene Johnson’s Smart Life PUSH Journal
- John Lee Dumas’ Freedom Journal and Mastery Journal
- Leonie Dawson’s Create Your Shining Year
Blank planners with dotted pages:
Online programs and apps: