Using a planner is more than just scheduling and organizing each day—it's a way of life. What is a planner exactly? A planner is a notebook filled with calendar dates designed to help organize and schedule day-to-day activities. Planners come in all shapes and sizes, as well as different layouts including monthly, weekly, and daily styles.
Decorating your planner is a great way to be creative and show off your personality. Whatever planner you choose, we have just the right supplies to help you spruce it up. Read on to see what supplies we use to make planning fun and functional!
Washi tapes are Japanese decorative tapes made of paper that showcase colorful patterns and designs. These MT Tapes have a huge range of designs, from simple stripes to floral prints. They come in a variety of sizes. Use washi tapes to mark off sections in the planner, create eye-catching labels, and even add fun touches like the mini banner seen in the photo.
If your plans change, you can reposition a sticky note! These notes fit perfectly on the monthly squares of a Midori MD Diary.
Forget your run-of-the-mill yellow sticky notes—these Midori Writing Marker Monthly Block Sticky Notes feature lovely and cute designs that will make even the most mundane tasks fun to write. You can also jot down recurring events and move them from week to week. These sticky notes are sized to fit in the squares of a monthly planner or calendar. They have a backing sheet that also doubles as a handy bookmark: just fold the sheet over the page.
Stickers are great for adding a touch of whimsy to a planner, but for something slightly more functional, we recommend these dedicated schedule stickers. With designs for everything from books to sports to birthdays, the stickers can be used to mark daily occurrences and special events.
For many, a planner is more than just a scheduling tool. It's a keepsake that can be treasured forever. After a special occasion, we like to use this glue pen to stick ticket stubs, program cut-outs, or other memorabilia into our planner.
This cult classic needs no introduction. With its vibrant colors and smooth-flowing ink, it's easy to see why the Uni-ball Signo is a planner favorite. Its fine tip makes it easy to write notes and reminders and even dabble in the occasional doodle. Best of all, the ink is archival so you can look back on the planner and enjoy the memories for years to come. We feature the RT1 line here because it's super smooth and has a retractable tip.
If you're looking for something bolder than a gel pen but fine enough to write with, the Stabilo Fineliners fit the bill. These pens are inkier than regular pens, perfect for outlining or underlining dates and making special events stand out in the planner. With an incredible range of 25 vivid colors, the Fineliners are more than ideal for color-coding schedules.
Customizable multi pens are a planner must-have, and the Pilot Hi-Tec-C Coleto tops our list. Choose from a variety of colored gel pen, mechanical pencil, and even eraser refills! Conveniently housing everything you need in one pen, multi pens make color-coding and organizing schedules a cinch.
More sophisticated than regular neon highlighters, Zebra Mildliners give a soft wash of color to bring attention to important dates. Available in a variety of beautiful pastel colors, they're the perfect hue to attract attention without being overwhelming. It’s double-sided with a chisel and fine tip allow you to circle, underline, or draw little clouds around words or dates with ease.
Even the most careful writers makes mistakes. However, correction tape can be too bulky to carry, and correction fluid is often messy. We like to use the portable Pentel Power-Corre Correction Pen for pesky mistakes. It's used just like a pen and its needlepoint tip makes it easy to target specific areas.
The Nakabayashi Magnetic Bookmark Ruler is a practical accessory for any planner user. It's made of a flexible magnetic strip and is printed with a centimeter ruler. Use it to draw neat lines and boxes in your planner. When you're done, you can fold it over the page to mark your place.
These cute little stamps help categorize activities in your planner. Designs range from items such as gifts and cake, to buildings such as schools and hospitals. If plans change, don't fret—they feature the same FriXion ink that we know and love and are easily erased with the hard rubber surface at the other end of the stamp.
For those who write with a heavy hand, a shitajiki, or writing board, is a must. Planner paper is often thin and delicate, and it's easy to create imprints on subsequent pages as you write. Pencil boards help prevent this kind of ghosting, keeping the planner clean and neat.
If you don't want a separate case to lug around writing utensils, a pen loop lets you keep a pen or two handy. This adorable magnetic clip has a soft silicone surface that won’t scratch your pen. The strong magnet clasps firmly in place onto both thick and thin covers.
These pen-style scissors are useful for cutting out pieces from recipes, maps, programs, and other memorabilia that you want to stick in the planner. Its slim profile and thin strap allow you to carry it on a key ring for easy accessibility.
Planners in Action
Now that you have a run-down of possible supplies, how does decorating and organizing a planner look in practice? We suggest choosing just a couple of tools that you will use consistently rather than trying to cram everything in. This will help streamline your planning process and keep everything organized. See our recommendations in the planner profiles below!
Student Planner
Students can keep organized by using sticky notes, gel pens, highlighters, and stamps in their planners.
From soccer practice to piano lessons, students' lives are filled with activity. To stay on top of all the extracurriculars as well as schoolwork, an organized planner is a must. We recommend pairing student planners with sticky notes, gel pens, and highlighters—these supplies do double-duty as they can also help students while they study!
Parents need a good multi pen and highlighter to juggle the whole family’s schedule, but cute accessories can make planning more fun.
Parents juggle much more than just their own lives; scheduling for a family is practically a full time job! A trusty multi pen and highlighters are the bare necessities to help parents color-code and organize everyone's schedules. To help make it more fun, we recommend cute stamps and stickers that are sure to brighten anyone's day!
Working professionals should choose sophisticated planners and accessories, such as modern index tabs and sleek gel pens.
In the business world, staying organized is paramount. Use translucent sticky notes for long-term projects, and business-appropriate gel or multi pens to jot down deadlines and meetings. A pen loop will help keep everything in one place so you're not constantly digging into a pocket or briefcase when you need to write something down.
An artists's planner should have plenty of space for doodles. A nice set of drawing markers can help inspire productivity.
While artists can use their planners for marking deadlines, conferences, or shows, they can also use planners to help keep their creative juices flowing. Artists frequently use planners for doodle-a-day projects so we suggest stocking up on Fineliners. You'll never run out of colors to play with!
Travelers can reduce their load with a few key essentials: a good gel pen, glue pen, pen-style scissors, and cute washi tape.
Conquer daunting itineraries by laying them out in a planner! Sticky notes are invaluable for writing down important things to remember. You can keep all the extraneous details on sticky notes to avoid cluttering the planner. We also recommend having a pen-style scissor handy to cut out itineraries, brochures, or other souvenirs.
We hope we provided some fresh ideas and inspiration for how to decorate your planner. We'd love to hear how you organize your planner in the comments below!
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