Best Diaries And Planners For 2016

Best Diaries and Planners for 2016

© The Typical Female Magazine

I have a weakness for planners, diaries and notebooks. You’ll probably faint if you see the amount of money I’ve spent on the notebooks I either rarely or don’t use, planners that are either half-used or not touched at all and the sheer amount of diaries sitting on my shelf. And you thought I’m just nuts about makeup and skincare; wait till you see the stationery collection of mine. Oh yeah, it will blow your socks off. 😛

I’ve been trialing and testing out different planners over the past couple of years, and I’ve stumbled upon some really good ones. If you’re looking for a new planner/diary to plan your 2016 (which is coming in just under a month omgwheredidthetimego), here are some that you might like to check out. I give these 2 enthusiastic thumbs up!

Best Diaries and Planners for 2016

1. Spark Notebooks

The Spark notebooks are the brainchild of Kate Matsudaira, who created these via her Kickstarter campaign a year or so ago. These aren’t just notebooks; they’re undated weekly and monthly planners as well. The sleek black design is board meeting-friendly and it’s great for planning. Matsudaira recently launched her Spark Planners, which are similar to the notebooks but dated to 2016 and without the note pages at the back of the books. Personally, I prefer the notebooks as they’re more flexible and can be used at any time of the year. I’ve had great customer service with them as well.

2. Kikki K personal planners

Some call Kikki K the poorer cousin of Filofax but if you’ve seen Kikki K planners, you’ll know that’s absolutely not the case. In fact, Kikki K comes out with even more beautiful ring-bound planners than Filofax does and at much better prices too. If you’re what the planning community call a “ring planner”, you cannot go wrong with Kikki K’s planners. Each season, they come up with gorgeous planners that you cannot help but want to own multiple pieces of. Believe you me, there are Kikki K planner collectors out there who would collect almost every design they have!

3. Happy Planner

Just like Erin Condren’s Life Planners, the Happy Planner has exploded in the planning community lately and it’s no wonder why. They’re cheaper than the ECLPs and as they’re disc-bound, you can easily remove the inserts (something that cannot be done with the ECLPs). They’re still growing and while they don’t have as many planner covers and ways to customise it, I see great potential with the Happy Planners.

4. Typo Diaries

If you’re looking for very affordable and cheeky diaries, you can’t go wrong with Typo. In terms of quality, they may not be in the same leagues as Kikki K, Moleskine or the other planners I mentioned here but they do exactly the same job as a diary/planner does: they help you plan. Typo diaries are great for students. If I had these when I was at uni, I’d be mighty chuffed.

5. Erin Condren Life Planner

Ahh the planners that pretty much took the planning community to a whole new level. When it comes to planners, it’s hard not to have heard of Erin Condren’s Life Planners. I used one last year and it helped me boost my productivity greatly. Even though I didn’t continue with it this year, it’s still one of my favourite planners to use. The multi-coloured planner isn’t corporate-friendly but for personal, family use, it’s great. The only issue I have with Erin Condren is how expensive and slow shipping was to Australia. I made the mistake of ordering a metallic cover, and that cover alone delayed my order by 2 months. When the planner finally arrived, the cover wasn’t even as good as the original ones I ordered. Having said that, everything else was A-okay. I wouldn’t hesitate recommending this to anyone. By the way, the amount of stickers you can find on Etsy for ECLPs is mind-staggering!

6. Midori Traveller’s Notebook

This year, I decided to try out a different type of planner, and I stumbled upon the world of traveller’s notebooks. There are plenty of indie brands that do traveller’s notebooks. As for me, I prefer the one by Midori. Traveller’s notebooks are simply notebooks bound by elastics and a leather or fabric cover, and were traditionally use to record one’s travels. These days, you can use them as a planner too, which is what I did with mine. After using ring and spiral-bound planners for so long, it was refreshing to use a notebook once more. They’re much easier to write on without needing to bump into the coils or rings. The best thing is, you can have a notebook for simply everything!

7. Mi Goals Diaries

I first heard of Mi Goals when I bought one of their cheeky “Get Shit Done” notebooks. The diaries are no different. The paper quality is great and the layout simple and easy to use. There are inspirational quotes peppered throughout the pages of the diaries. Worth checking out!

8. Daily Greatness Journals

Instead of diaries and planners, Daily Greatness does journals and very beautiful ones at that too. Even though these are not created to plan out your days, weeks and even months like a diary would, they help you to reach certain work and health goals. I have two Daily Greatness Journals: one for business planning and the other for exercise tracking. Even though they don’t actually help you plan out a year’s worth of activities and to-dos, they’re sufficient in helping you monitor what you’re doing to reach your goals.

9. Frankie diaries

Frankie has always done pretty diaries and 2016’s is no different. The linen hardback cover gives the diary a vintage appearance and the paper quality is excellent.

10. Moleskine Diaries

I love Moleskine notebooks and their diaries don’t disappoint. They’re plain diaries that are not dissimilar to any other diaries. When it comes to Moleskine, you’re buying into the tradition of using notebooks that have been used by famous artists and writers like Vincent van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, Ernest Hemingway and more. The paper quality is excellent and really, it looks good anywhere.

11. Passion Planner

If you want very detailed planning, down to the nitty gritty, then the Passion Planner is the way to go. This was also a Kickstarter project, this time by Angelia Trinidad, and it was a huge success. I got this to try out early this year and while it turns out it’s not really for me, I must commend the amount of detail Trinidad has put in to make this planner help one focus as much as possible. There are tips in the planner on how to create and reach your goals, how to focus on each task at hand, etc. If you typically have a lot going on for you and are very busy with lots of things to do, appointments to meet and so on, I highly recommend giving this planner a go. The details go beyond any other diaries and planners I’ve ever come across.

12. Personal Planner

I love the Personal Planners mainly because of how customisable they are. Even though they may not look nor feel as good as the Erin Condren Life Planners or any other planners mentioned here, the selling point about Personal Planners is that you’re able to customise it to your needs. You can design and add the cover you want, change the weekly layout to your liking, add different features to the bottom of the pages, change the type of notepaper you want and much more. The best part is, with all the customised features, they’re cheaper than most planners mentioned here.

Do you use a diary/planner? If you do, which one will you be using for 2016?

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17 comments… add one
  1. LeGeeque

    I love looking at planners and diaries but I can never commit to using one. In fact, abuot 8 weeks ago, I decided to go completely paperless. No notebooks, nothing. My work is all planned around Evernote, my personal life on google keep and google calendar. I decided on this because my printing was going out of control and I felt awful looking at the amount of trees I killed from printing. Having said that, I always tote either a tiny Smythson notebook to jot down thoughts or a pink Moleskine. They’re not diaries. It could really just be something for me to doodle on waiting for food/drinks. A lot better than messing around with my phone.

    I’d love for you to do a similar post like this to refills 🙂

    1. Tine

      I’ve always loved paper planners. I went down the paperless route for a number of years with Google Calendar, Keep and Evernote. But at the end of the day, I still went back to a paper planner. There’s something about actually writing down my appointments, things to do, etc and putting shitloads of stickers on my planners that makes me feel good 😛

      As for refills, it depends on the planner you’re using. For typical Filofax-style ring planners, you can go for actual Filofax or Kikki K inserts. However, these days, there are so many stunning printable inserts on Etsy that make Filofax and Kikki K inserts look sterile.

  2. MonicaP

    I love planners with a closing snap so number 2 is my fav 🙂

    I don’t use a planner now that I’m at home .. vs working where I absolutely needed one, but I may pick one up and get inspired to plan blog content 🙂

    Monica.
    MonicaP recently posted..The Tie Front BlouseMy Profile

    1. Tine

      Hahaha I have one to plan my blog content too! There’s something about having a planner for it that inspires me to blog. Weird but true! 😛

  3. Megan

    I ordered my first ever planner last week and went with one called the Paper Source Planner I found on Amazon. Wishing I’d seen this post before I’d ordered but I was so overwhelmed with all the options in the planning world, hopefully it suits my needs once it arrives! I’ve become addicted to watching planning videos on Youtube and never realised there was such an enthusiastic community around planners. The Passion Planner was one I was very close to ordering but I decided that having something with times on it wasn’t going to work for me since my job is 24/7 spread over several time zones 🙂
    Megan recently posted..Updates!My Profile

    1. Tine

      OMG planner videos on YouTube are crazy addictive! Most of the planners I buy are from watching YouTube videos, especially “plan with me” videos. 😛

  4. BebeTaian

    Oh, they’re so pretty!

    I have a very ‘boring’ planner. It’s a half-size binder, like the school kind, black with clear covers to insert whatever cover you can print off. Folders inside, with calendar pages, note pages, scratchpad pages, etc. sorted by mini dividers in bright colours. It’s a system that’s lasted me for a couple years now, strangely, and I just make refills on Word until the binder itself falls apart. But I think now the binder system itself got discontinued locally, so when I run out, I may end up buying myself something more expensive… but all in all, it’s a system that’s really worked for me, since I can easily design my own pages with a standard ‘half-sheet’ printout, and I did it on $10 or less with the plastic dividers, binder, calendar pages (purchased), and all!

    My journals on the other hand, are basically art in progress. <3
    BebeTaian recently posted..Bolivian Fair Trade Amazon Catapiz Seed Beads – 6 Natural Catapiz Beads by BebeTaianMy Profile

    1. Tine

      I agree, at the end of the day, it’s the “system” that works, not so much how pretty the planner is (although it helps 😛 ). I’ve tried many, MANY types of planners and while all of them are very pretty, it took me a while to actually decide on the system I like.

  5. Kat Ness

    These planners are so cute! I bought a couple from Kikki K for my little nieces. I don’t use a diary anymore – but I still use a paper calendar as well as the one on my phone. I use a big diary at work (at a school) which is weekly and separated into periods of the day.
    Kat Ness recently posted..NotD | Aflorable NailsMy Profile

    1. Tine

      Oooh they’re lucky to have an auntie who buys them Kikki K planners! 😀

  6. Jade

    I ordered the Happy Planner the other week, I usually go for a Kikki K diary but figured a planner might be good for keeping organised for uni 🙂

    1. Tine

      Good luck with the Happy Planner! I hope it works for you! 🙂

  7. Nicole

    Great range of planners you have listed. I am also a huge lover/addict of planners, currently I am using a Kikki K one that I have been loving and am in search of a new one for the new year for a change so I will be defiantly checking out a few that you have listed here.

    Nicole xx | http://www.nicolesbeautybabble.blogspot.com.au

    1. Tine

      Hahaha best of luck find your unicorn planner! 😀

  8. Carole en Australie

    I only use Filofaxes! The one I use everyday was gift from my parents over 15 years ago. It’s a real leather one (Personal size Portland) one and I treasure it (they aren’t many of this type around, not sure why). I got the Kikki k refills for 2016 as they are already decorated a little. For work, I have a pink patent Filofax A5 which is perfect. I just need good planner printables A5 size now 😉

    1. Tine

      Oooh was it that planner I saw you take out of your bag yesterday? It looks very well used and loved! I wish I had a planner that I use for that long. Mine’s pristine, mostly because I don’t use one for longer than a year. Too fickle to stick to one. 😛

      Etsy has plenty of planner inserts printables. I’m sure you know, y’know, being a part of the Planner Addicts FB group and all. 😉

  9. Jenny / Commit30

    Check out our Commit30 daily planner + goal-setting notebook! http://www.commit30.com

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