We've all forgotten a meeting, thought about starting a rolling to-do list (and promptly lumped it into the too-hard pile), and double-booked ourselves for Sunday brunch so, to do away with those sticky situations, we've found the best planner apps to whip your life into shape and kick serious goals.
Free Planner Apps
Structured
One for the visual folks, Structured compiles a visual timeline of your day with tasks to complete, commitments and reminders. You can colour code as you need to keep things separate and import most of your existing digital calendars. For a one-off $15 fee you can also upgrade to Pro which includes notifications, syncing Apple reminders, and planning recurring tasks.
Artful Agenda
Inspired by an old-school single-month paper planner, Artful Agenda is one of the best daily planners to integrate into your routine. This one syncs to your digital calendars, spits out inspirational quotes to keep you on top of your organisation game, gives you planning stickers, tracks your water intake (a must), hosts meal plans and even has a section where you can identify daily priority tasks.
Notion
While it was built to make teamwork smoother, Notion's free version for personal use is a super handy way to keep track of your thoughts and tasks. You can tap out and organise notes, and drag and drop to file them in different ways that suit your life and way of thinking. With checklists, project boards and trackers all displayed side by side, nothing gets forgotten (or "accidentally" ignored...).
Smart Diary Student Planner
Every student needs a planner to stay on top of life’s general curveballs (ie. working your deadlines in and around procrasti-binging Netflix). As well as keeping track of your timetable, Smart Diary Student Planner lets you add specific homework tasks and tests, keep notes and manage your absences. There’s also a handy little section for time management which lets you assign tasks a certain time frame to complete, and more planning
Paid Planner Apps
Fantastical
Cost: $63 yearly
For those out there looking for nothing less than an “award-winning” app—look no further than Fantastical. This easy-to-use digital planner trumps most others with its extra features like natural language parsing, weather forecast, event and task templates, custom alert sounds, the ability to add attachments to events on iCloud, Google and Exchange and add stickers, plus a whole heap of accessibility support.
MinamaList
Cost: $8.60 yearly
If it’s the simple pleasures you love in life, MinamaList is the life planner app with your name on it. This simple digital planner app clocks a to-do list, reminders, a checklist and a task manager that helps you to get things done. You can also share your lists with others (a game changer), customise your notification sounds, your font and background. You can definitely cop this one for free but if you want all the features, you’ll want to dive into the year subscription.
Planbella
Cost: $13.99
An elegant digital planner with a hell of a kick, Planbella is a minimal calendar app that brings your bullet journal to life. In this daily planner app, you can organise events, tasks and make notes in bullet style too (with the satisfaction of crossing out errands when they’re done, or ticking off jobs when they’re finished). Planbella will also give you a full calendar view and easy navigation between months and all your busy days as well, and you can set timed reminders so nothing gets forgotten.
Planner Pro
Cost: $32.99
Whip your life into shape with the ultimate daily calendar. We vibe Planner Pro because she’s the Lizzo of all planning apps—you can’t not love her. Whether you need a one-stop shop for planning all your next WIPs and meetings, or you’ve just started your first semester at uni and you need a clear plan of attack to tackle philosophy essays, Planner Pro has got your back. Alongside fully planning out the next few weeks of your life (with boozy brunches and weekend hikes) you can also keep tabs on current things you need to do and track tasks by project, subtask and status.
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Image credit: Urban List