Naturally, since people use all of these planning devices to organize tasks and information, there is bound to be some overlap in functionality. But what are the differences and which will serve you best?
I’ll break down the similarities and differences between daily planners, bullet journals, and digital journals, and leave it to you to decide which you like best.
Day Planner
How did daily planners begin? A to-do list? A calendar?
Examples of simple planners and diaries can be found throughout history. Perhaps the first planner similar to what we use today was created by Morris Perkin in the mid–1960s.
As lives became more complex, so did the ideas for pages one could add to planners to organize everything from daily tasks to long-term projects.
Day planners usually consist of a combination of:
- A monthly calendar for recording upcoming and recurring events
- A weekly calendar for weekly planning closer to the actual date. Used to organize and coordinate specific days and times for meetings, appointments, tasks, etc.
- A daily calendar for planning a step-by-step list of things to be done that day, using the monthly and weekly calendar to fill in day and time slots.
- A page for creating lists, recording ideas, or even journaling
- A contacts list for addresses, email addresses, and phone numbers
