Get Your Shit Together With the Best Planners for College Students

Keep yourself focused with a new planner to start the school year.

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Image: Smart Planner

Top Product: Moleskine Weekly Planners | $18 | Amazon

Life comes at you fast, and it can be hard to keep track of all of the things you want to keep an eye on. It’s not your fault, life’s just really busy, and you’re already doing a lot by keeping a job down, studying, and trying to also have a social life on top of it.

It can be hard to feel like you’ll ever have a handle on it, but it doesn’t have to feel like that. You can grab one of the best planners around and give yourself a little bit of help. Writing down important dates, be it someone’s birthday or a deadline, can make sure you don’t miss it.

So, we’ve gone ahead and put together a collection of the best planners around no matter what you need it for.

Best Planner Overall: Moleskine 18 Month 2020-2021 Planner

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Graphic: Jason Coles
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Moleskine Weekly Planners are perfect for a variety of needs, including business planning, bullet journals, travel planning, drawing/sketch diaries, and reading journals. One great thing about Moleskine monthly & weekly planners is that they come with grids and pages that can be used for to-do lists and project tracking to ensure you’re on track to reaching your goals.

These planners are also made from high-quality materials, including creamy, thick paper pages that are perfectly textured for writing with a ballpoint pen, marker, or pencil.

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Best Planner for Productivity: Simple Elephant Daily

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Graphic: Juliana Clark

Are you looking to take control of your destiny this year? Then, say no more. The Simple Elephant Daily planner is perfect for organizing your thoughts and schedule.

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This product even comes with a mind map and vision board to encourage the incorporation of intention in your everyday life. There is also space for you to pursue a 90-day or monthly gratitude plan, so you can manifest the 2021 of your dreams.

As a bonus, this stylish agenda is made from soft faux-leather (i.e. no animal cruelty here!) and has no-bleed paper. This planner is available in a variety of colors and also comes with stickers if you’re into personalization.

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Best Goal Planner: The Very Busy Planner

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Graphic: Elizabeth Lanier
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I like to use my planner space not just to plan for what’s ahead in my week, but to also plan farther ahead and to track my progress toward certain long-term goals. If you’re the same way, you might want to check out Amy Knapp’s The Very Busy Planner.

This beautiful little planner is compact but has plenty of space to track your class assignments while not skimping on creative prompts to get you thinking of possibilities for self-improvement. For example, each month it has a beautifully illustrated page asking you to reflect on what went well and what could have gone better. There are also gorgeously drawn pages with just plain practical things a planner should have, like a page to keep track of birthdays and another to plan holiday shopping lists. Plus, it has tons of colorful stickers in the back, and I don’t know about you, but I still enjoy stickers from time to time. The Very Busy Planner is overall a great option for college students who want to plan and reflect in equal measure. But it could work, really, for any adult wanting to look inward and works toward improving themselves on a regular basis. I’ve been using this one for a little bit now, and I just can’t help but feel inspired using a planner as bright and positive as this one. It’s also small enough to easily fit in your backpack or most purses.

The only drawback, I would say, is that this planner is a dated one, so it can only be used through December 2021. I can honestly see myself tearing out some of the evergreen pages, though, to keep on track with long-term goals.

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Best Planner for Women: She Believed She Could So She F*cking Did

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Graphic: Juliana Clark
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Sometimes, getting your sh*t together can be stressful. Luckily, Sourcebooks is making that project a little bit more fun by infusing the process with a healthy dose of humor. Packed with hilarious motivational phrases and badass affirmations, the She Believed She Could So She F*cking Did is a must-have for the ladies in your life getting it done!

Keep track of your important appointments and events with the planner’s sarcastic stickers, which include “payday, bitches,” “another sh*tty meeting,” “someone’s f*cking birthday,” and more.

This 6" x 8" planner has a durable hardcover and double spiral wire-o binding for easy writing and to last the full 18-months. It’s also beautifully designed with floral patterns and is manufactured in an environmentally responsible way.

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Best Academic Planner: PlanGoalPress Academic Planner

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Graphic: Jason Coles
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While it’s fine to just rely on digital calendars, it’s generally far more reassuring to have everything you need in one little book. The trouble is that many calendars don’t cover the academic year, and that’s where the PlanGoalPress Academic Planner comes in.

This planner covers from July 22 to June 23, has spaces for contacts, passwords, a variety of different spreads within it, a daily schedule area, and is great for those who love to make lists. It’s also under $10 too, which should make it a bit more enticing for those looking to be efficient with their money as well as their time.

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Best Undated Planner: Clever Fox Undated Planner

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Graphic: Juliana Clark

The Clever Fox Undated Planner is the best planner for those who simply don’t stick to normal timeframes. Maybe you’re grabbing it partway through a year, or you’re just someone that doesn’t need a planner every month, but does when a big project comes in.

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No matter the reason, this planner divides each week into two spreads so you’ll have plenty of space to organize yourself as you see fit. Plus, there are three sheets of stickers that come with it to allow you to be even more organized.

This story was originally published by Elizabeth Lanier on 02/01/2021 and updated with new information by Jason Coles on 02/25/2022.