Distractions are everywhere. If you don’t plan your day you will be less productive, miss important tasks, and have a more chaotic and stressful day. To get the most out of your day, either download a ready-made blank daily planner template or create beautiful custom daily planners with our free online planner maker.
Document: Word, Google Docs, Fillable PDF, or Excel.
Scroll down to see the templates below.
Online Planner Designer: add any border, any combination of planner inserts, stickers, titles, or images.
Customized Planner Maker: select the items you want to include and your PDF planner is instantly created for you.
If you prefer your planner to be in BuJo style then see the bullet journal daily spread.
We also offer a blank planner in MS Word, Google Docs, or a typeable PDF format.
Either select a ready-made template below or use our free online quiz to customize your daily planner to your specific needs. Please note that the planner maker produces a PDF file so if you prefer MS Word or Google Docs then scroll down below.
The following templates include a daily schedule to break your day up. If you want to focus on your morning specifically then see our morning routine schedule maker. If you want to break up your day into blocks to improve your productivity then see our free time blocking or time boxing templates. We also have a free productivity planner and a Pomodoro planner.
This daily calendar template has a monthly calendar on the top of the page. Go to monthly calendars to select the month you need and then print a daily calendar for that month.
It has space for a daily schedule, mood, to-do list, notes, meals, hydration (8 glasses of water), gratitude list, and reflection.
This daily calendar printable has space to add the date on each planner page. You can also mark the day and month.
If you want to make journaling a part of your daily routine then this daily journal is for you!
Eat the Frog
If you use the “Eat the Frog” productivity method then you might find this template useful. We also offer a free Eat The Frog planner.
Our free daily planner template is totally customizable. Create your own personal planner by selecting a border and choosing the widgets that will appear on your planner. You can either start from scratch or customize one of the sample templates. Print each of your planner pages in a different format or make a few copies of the same template. Whatever works for you. You can add any border or background with a click of your mouse or leave the planner blank. You can also select a blank planner in Word or PDF format.
With our planner app, you can select any template, change the border, and change or move the widgets around if you wish. Edit the text or add more text. Here are some sample daily to-do planner templates but since you can choose any task list template and any widget, the possibilities are endless.
To download the planner in PDF format, select download and then click on PDF.
Keeping a daily planner helps you prioritize your time and focus on what you need to get done. When you plan ahead, you define your goals and the steps that you need to take to reach those goals. However, when you don’t plan your day, you get less done or land up doing things that don’t get you anywhere.
There are so many productivity apps out there and some of them are excellent. The problem with these apps is that you use them on your computer or mobile phone. Both devices are full of distractions and make it difficult to focus on what matters. When you use a daily planner printable, you disconnect from those distractions and focus. It is a lot more productive.
Handwriting activates the brain more than typing. When you write things down, you are more focused than when you type.
Because it takes a little longer to write something than to type it, you are forced to spend a moment deciding if it is worth your time. If a task isn’t worth writing down then it isn’t worth wasting your time doing it.
Try to set up your daily organizer the night before or early that morning. This will ensure that you plan your day and don’t go through it on autopilot. Planning your day will ensure that you spend time on the things that matter and don’t waste time on those that don’t. Anyone can fill up their to-do list with things to do each day but your goal is to define the things you want or need to spend your time on. Before you add a task to your daily schedule template, take a moment to consider if it is worth your time.
Planning your day beforehand also gives you an opportunity to schedule the important things and not only the urgent ones. The urgent items make it to my checklist without me thinking. The important items get added during my daily reflection when I spend some time thinking about my priorities and long-term goals.
If you are not sure what the difference between urgent and important is then see the Covey time management matrix.
If you are using the online planner designer, you can add each of the following widgets to your printable planner. Feel free to drag them anywhere. You can also make each widget as big or small as you want. Fit as many as you want on one page. If you are taking the online quiz to create your personalized planner then the following widgets will be included depending on the priorities you choose. Not sure which one is for you? Try them both! They are both free!
Most people agree that you should include a list of things to do but which tasks should you include in your daily to-do list?
Many people think the more tasks you get done the more productive you are. This isn’t necessarily true. The question you should be asking before you write a task on your list of things to do is “is this task worth my time”? Will it bring me closer to my goals? Will completing it make me or someone I care about happy? You might have 20 tasks required to complete a project only to find that the entire project was a waste of time. It didn’t make you feel happy and didn’t give you any sense of accomplishment. Your time and energy are both limited resources. You want to spend them on things that matter. So, each time you add a task to your checklist, take a moment to ask yourself if it matters or if it will bring you closer to something that matters.
Try to set up to three tasks that you must get done each day. Make sure you avoid distractions until you get those three things done.
Your daily task planner should only include the things that you need to get done that day. In addition, make another to-do list for other tasks that you will do another day. Your to-do list should also include things you want to get done to reach your long-term goals. It is important to spend time defining your goals to ensure that you don’t waste time reaching them only to find that it isn’t really what you wanted to achieve. When you are sure that your goals will bring you to a place you want to reach, then start outlining the steps you will need to take to reach them. See how to set goals.
One of the main purposes of a planner is productivity. Your goal might not necessarily be to get more done. You might simply want to spend less time getting things done so that you can have more free time to spend on the things you find meaningful. On this page, you will find many planners that will keep you productive among other things. If you want a planner dedicated to productivity then see our free productivity planner.
At the end of the day, spend a few moments scanning your list of tasks. Which ones did you complete? How did it make you feel? Why did you not complete some tasks? Do they really need to be on your list? If you didn’t get them done, try to understand why? Should they really be on your list? If yes, how can you motivate yourself to get them done? Take a few moments to congratulate yourself for the things you did get done.
Did you spend time on both professional and personal goals? Since I love my job so much, I often find myself spending too much time working and not enough time on myself. I find that spending time for daily reflection each day, forces me to focus on myself and how I feel.
Some of the planner templates have space for daily reflection. Even if you choose a template that doesn’t you can still add it. You can use templates as-is but you can also customize them by adding additional widgets to them with our free planner maker.
During your daily reflection time, you might also want to add something to your daily gratitude list. If you don’t add a dedicated gratitude list to your custom daily planner template, then you can use the daily reflection section for this.
Each day, find at least two things that you are grateful for. Try not to repeat things you have already included in your list. In the beginning, you will write the most common and obvious things to be thankful for such as health, family, friends, home, job, etc. You probably don’t even have to think to list at least 10 things. When you run out of the basic things you will have to start analyzing your life and being more creative. It will force you to start thinking about what you have and what you should appreciate. You will need to be more present and mindful. See things to be grateful for.
During your daily reflection, you can add the things in your gratitude section to your gratitude list if you keep one. This list includes all the things you are thankful for. Keeping a daily gratitude log and a longer list will ensure that you spend time appreciating what you have each day.
Should you include an hourly schedule in your daily planner pages? People with scheduled meetings will probably always want to include a daily schedule in their planner template. It will enable them to schedule their meetings and appointments each day. However, even those who do not have any scheduled meetings will benefit from a time schedule. When you have the whole day to do something with no commitments, you might find that you get less done. I know that when I have a busy schedule, I am more likely to exercise than when I am free all day. Why? Because when I know I will be busy all day, I schedule my exercise beforehand and make sure it happens. I often realize that if I don’t work out first thing in the morning, then I won’t work out that day so I do it. However, when I don’t schedule a workout then I put it off all day and it usually just doesn’t happen.
Use an hourly schedule template to plan your day ahead of time hour by hour. Schedule all of the things you want to do that day. Add workout sessions, yoga or meditation, meetings, work schedule, appointments, and any tasks you want to get done. You will find that you get a lot more done! See hourly planner.
You might also want to try time blocking or time boxing.
When you are trying to eat healthy food or stick to a certain diet, then adding a meal plan will increase your chances of success. Planning each meal ahead of time will increase the probability that you eat what you intended to eat each day. When you don’t have the food that you wanted to eat available then you might land up eating junk food that is always readily available. Motivation is often at its highest in the morning so use this time to plan ahead. See our free meal plan template if you prefer a full-page meal plan instead of including it in your planner.
Most people don’t drink enough water. Including a water tracker in your planner will most likely increase your daily water intake.
Allocating a section for notes or journaling enables you to write down thoughts throughout the day. This brain dump frees your mind and enables you to focus on things that are important. When you are trying to remember things all day, your brain gets clogged with unimportant information. Our brains are designed for processing information and not for storing information.
Recording important information throughout the day can be useful when you least expect it. Some information is difficult to recall. When you jot down some important things throughout the day, you can access them in the future. For example, if I asked you what you had for lunch 3 days ago, chances are you don’t remember. However, if you break out in a rash and want to know if it is caused by something you ate, you can scan your notes and recall what you ate. This is just one example, but recording events can often be helpful. There is no reason to write long journal entries every day but a short note can help you when you least expect it to.
There are many benefits of journaling such as stress reduction, organizing your thoughts, and improving your mood and overall well-being. Not everyone has time to keep a journal and use it every day. However, dedicating a small space for notes on your daily planner template might be all you need. You can use it throughout the day or during your daily reflection. Write about what happened throughout the day, what you did, how you felt, what bothered you, etc.
We also offer free journal templates if you want to focus on journaling.
There is an option to add ready-made motivational quotes such as planning quotes or goal quotes to your planner with our free planner app. You can, of course, simply type a quote if you don’t see it in the quote gallery. Quotes are motivational and inspiring. They can boost your confidence and uplift your spirit.
I love to include a monthly calendar on my daily calendar template. With our free daily schedule maker, you can insert a weekly, monthly, or yearly calendar with one click of your mouse. The daily calendar printable shows you the entire month, which is very helpful when you have a deadline. If you print many copies of your template, then make sure you use them during the specific period. You don’t want to land up with planner pages for 2023 that are not relevant anymore in 2024. Undated planners can be printed in bulk since they always stay relevant.
Some people like to track their mood on a daily basis. We offer mood trackers that you can add and mark your mood each day. You can write about your mood in the journal or note section if you add one. If you take the online quiz to create your custom planner then there is an option to add a cute mood tracker to your planner.
We strive to offer the best customizable planner available, so if you have any suggestions for improvement, then please leave a comment.
