How to Find Your Planning Style

Planning is a highly personal process. Some people prefer planning every hour of their day, while others prefer a more fluid approach. What is your planning style? Whether you think you work better in an understated environment or you need lots of color and fun to thrive, there’s a planning style that describes you. And by knowing your planning approach, you’ll be able to pick out the best planner to help you achieve your organization and productivity goals.

Ready to get started? Here are some of the most common planning styles.

Minimalist

Do you prefer to get right to the point when it’s time to get things done? Are you inspired by clean, streamlined spaces? If you’re most productive in a simple, pared-down environment, there’s a good chance you have a minimalist planning style. You need a planner just as streamlined as you, one that provides you with plenty of uninterrupted space to write down your to-dos, plans, and goals.

Minimalist Planning Style Product Recommendation

Our Focused Collection™ keeps distractions to a minimum while presenting a clean, simple, and professional look. Choose from planners, notebooks, and desk pads that can help you stay on track.

Taskmaster

If you thrive working on complex projects and consider yourself a master of multitasking, you probably have a taskmaster planning style. You love the challenge of juggling multiple to-dos, and you do your best work when tackling a lot at once. Task-based planning is often best managed with checklists: As you complete each task, project, or phase of a project, you can check it off your list, giving you a sense of accomplishment as you go about your day.

Taskmaster Planning Style Product Recommendation

Our Checklist Petite Journal and A5 Checklist Notebook let you take your to-do list with you wherever you go. Or add one of our snap-in checklist dashboards to your favorite spiral Erin Condren planner to help you prioritize daily and weekly to-dos.

Expressionist

Are you happiest when you can express yourself creatively and customize your planning needs? You’re likely an expressionist planner. You’d rather design and illustrate your plans than go with a one-size-fits-all approach. You’d love to customize your planners, journals, and notebooks with planner stickers and washi tape, and you might use markers or gel pens to doodle, embellish, and enhance your planning efforts.

Expressionist Planning Style Product Recommendation

Any of our customizable, personalizable LifePlanner™ Collection planners could work well for you. Choose the cover, layout, and binding color, and then go to town with stickers, accessories, and writing tools to make your planner your own.

Programmer

Some people become restless when they have nothing to do. If you’re the sort who has to have a plan and needs to know exactly what you’ll be doing each and every day, you may be a programmer. Your planning style is comprehensive. Daily planner pages with spaces for hour-by-hour planning can help you map out your days so you can tackle your responsibilities with confidence.

Programmer Planning Style Product Recommendation

The Daily LifePlanner™ Duo provides the most comprehensive planning page layout, allowing you to track daily tasks hour-by-hour.

Divide and Conquer

While some like to use a single planner for every aspect of their lives, including work, hobbies, social activities, and volunteering, others prefer to use separate planners for each of these domains. If this describes you, you’ll probably find a lot of satisfaction in choosing a different planning style and format for each activity you’re planning and organizing.

Divide and Conquer Planning Style Product Recommendation

Our PetitePlanner Folio System allows you to mix and match up to four PetitePlanners (in different styles and designs) that you can store in your choice of vegan leather On the Go Folios.

Whether you strongly identify with one of these planning styles or you’re still sorting things out, our planner quiz can help you find the right planner for you!