Best 2021 Daily Planners For Busy College Students

An academic 2021 daily planner is a must-have for every college student and an amazing organizational tool for everyone, regardless of whether you are in school or not. These options allow for efficient record-keeping and planning, so if keeping track of and following a planner has always been a struggle for you, I recommend taking a second look! Oftentimes you just are not getting what you need out of your planner. Some people use blank bullet journals to create their own space, others prefer a completely laid out fill-in-the-blank style. Whatever you prefer, the options listed below each comes with unique features and oftentimes beautiful designs so there is sure to be a good match for everyone!

Passion Planner

This is one of my personal favourite planner designs, as it remains elegant and easy to use despite incorporating several growth-oriented features. Passion Planner doesn’t offer 2021 daily planners specifically; instead, they sell undated daily and weekly planner options, so you can begin at any time or start and stop use without worrying about the dates.

Inside, the planner offers several unique features to help orient you towards goal planning and making your dreams come true. Each daily planning page includes sections to mark down your daily ‘gamechanger project’ goal, a personal and professional to-do-list, several mindfulness questions about your day, and a blank, bulleted section labeled ‘space of infinite possibility’. That leaves the perfect section for anyone who would like to make journaling a daily activity as well. In addition, each 2021 daily planner comes with a passion roadmap page, which is designed to help you determine your goals and a course of action to meet them.

Passion Planners contain two attached string placeholders to serve as bookmarks and can be sealed together by the attached elastic band being pulled to cover the front cover. They offer a variety of color options, as well as special designs for their partner companies. Check out the planners that were made with another organization, as the proceeds will go to a good cause (and the designs are so amazing!) If you want to try it out for yourself before purchasing, head to Passion Planners website to download a free daily or weekly sample page. Daily options are between $25 and $30 and only come in one size, while their weekly planners offer a larger variety of options, including 3 sizes and a weekly start date option of Sunday or Monday for only an additional $5.

Day Designer

Featuring pockets, monthly tabs, and a golden spiral as the spine, Day Designers are a classic 2021 daily planner option for anyone looking for a simple, but fully inclusive planner. Each day has hourly scheduling from 5 am to 9 pm, a to-do-list, dinner/meal planning, a gratitude section, inspirational quotes, and more! In addition, there are goal setting worksheets, weekly and monthly overviews, and a holiday list.

Since this 2021 planner is specifically marketed for academics, all weeks start on Monday rather than Sunday, as in most other typical planners. This 2021 daily planner comes with 2 sets of gold foil sticker sheets and a bookmark ruler as an added benefit! There is an original option which is sized at 9” wide x 9.75” tall for $60 or the Day Designer Mini, which is only 6.6″ wide x 8.3″ tall for $50

Blueline Academic Daily Planner

Blueline offers a straightforward, meticulous 2021 daily planner which has been stripped down to its bare minimums and is designed entirely around an academic schedule. The planner itself holds calendar information for 12 months, beginning in August as school preparation is starting and ending in July. Each day has been split down into half hour increments starting at 7 am and continuing until 7:30 pm. There is also a monthly planner included at the beginning of each month.

While there are not many bells and whistles added to this simple 2021 daily planner, it does come with 4 differently colored sticker selections to help correlate visual reminders. This 8’ wide by 5” planner is by far the cheapest option at $19 and comes in a variety of adorable design options!

Erin Condren Coiled Life Planners

This is the most customizable option prior to purchase, ensuring you can get the experience that is right for you. However, this planner is actually dated, so it must be used for the 2020-2021 school year if you purchase it now. The normal daily planner gives you the choice of three different interior layouts, (hourly, horizontal, and vertical), and 2 interior designs, while the academic planner has a set layout and 2 entirely new interior designs. Both options can be purchased in 12 or 18 months form and are produced with a specially durable paper. The academic planner also has the option of coming neither a spiral back or softcover, while the original always uses a spiral spine.

The planners include goal setting pages, a contacts page, 4 sticker sheets, a snap-in ruler, 4 sticker sheets, and most importantly, a storage box for your Erin Condren LifePlanner. These 2021 daily planners are 7” by 9” and cost $55 apiece, with the exception of a few special premium designs for an additional $5, while the academic options are slightly cheaper, ranging from $30 to $42.

Panda Planner (Via)

For a 2021 daily planner focused more around personal growth and self-oriented goals, as opposed to simply keeping track of dates in a calendar, the Panda Planner is the perfect option! The classic style of this design comes in only a 3-month format, though there is a 6 month and 12-month format with a slightly different layout and design. Panda Planner is undated to allow you to start whenever you are available and to give you the chance to start up again without wasting pages if you get off track and miss a few days (or weeks). This planner is scientifically designed to increase productivity and happiness, and has even been tested and proven to do so.

While the Panda Planner Classic is amazing as is, the Panda Planner via has a ton of added qualities to focus specifically on self-improvement and personal growth, with a customized approach to your character strength. The purchase of this product even includes a free VIA character survey to help give you personalized advice and 11 free information-packed ebooks related to self-help topics. The Via is my personal favourite 2021 daily planner, and its 3-month format makes it the perfect sample trial for anyone who is unsure of whether using a planner is right for them. Depending on which option you choose, Panda Planners come in the classic 5.25” by 8.25” size and a larger 8.5” by 11”, ranging only $25 to $37.

Which of these 2021 daily planners was your favourite? Let me know in the comments below which option you liked best and what your favourite feature of it was! Please share this article with any friends who could maybe use a little more organization in their life.