Best Planner for Women in 2026: Honest Reviews of My Favourites

Do you ever buy a planner full of promise, only to abandon it by February? I’ve been there. Here are my honest reviews of four planners I have used and loved—and the pros and cons of each one. Find the planner that will work for you in 2026.

My Instagram feed is full of beautiful planners, ready for the new year. There are so many options on the market, and they all look amazing. But rarely does my life fit into the neat little boxes provided. I end up either feeling discontent and frustrated that my life is somehow wrong, or with half a book full of features I don’t use and additional notebooks full of the information I wish were in my planner.

But all is not lost. There have been a number of planners I have used and loved over the years. Here is a quick review of my favourites.

**This is not a sponsored post. These are planners I have purchased and used for myself.

Emma Kate Co.

For the last couple of years, I have been using the Emma Kate Co. weekly horizontal planners.

Things I love:

• The layout. Each day of the week has a dated section on the left-hand spread, and then there is a blank dot grid page on the right-hand spread. It is a good combination of structure and flexibility.

• Every day of the week has the same amount of space.

• There are monthly calendar spreads at the front of the planner.

• There is a stack of plain dot grid pages at the back. I use them for my Bible reading tracker, meal planning, blog planning and cleaning schedule.

 Things I don’t love:

• I prefer the first day of the week to be Sunday, but I know I’m in the minority there.

• The cost. This year’s 2026 planners are $69 AUD

Traveler’s Company – Traveler’s Notebook

My Traveler’s Notebook was my best friend during the three years we lived on the road. It is more of a notebook system that includes a planner rather than a planner per se.

Things I love:

• The flexibility. I have a beautiful leather cover that comfortably holds up to four insert notebooks. I used to have a planner, a journal, a blog planner and a commonplace book in mine.

• There are so many different notebook inserts available, I could easily customise it for what I wanted. I usually used a dot grid for my planner and used it like a bullet journal, a lined notebook for journalling, and a grid notebook for blog planning.

Things I don’t love:

• The size took me a while to get used to. It is the height of an A5, but slimmer. I got used to it over time and learned to make the most of the limits.

PowerSheets Goal Planner

A few years ago I read Lara Casey’s book, “Cultivate: A Grace-Filled Guide to Growing an Intentional Life”, and I jumped into the Cultivate What Matters world. It is an inspirational and encouraging place to be. The PowerSheets Goal Planner is not an everyday planner for appointments and to-dos; it is a goal planner to help discern how to spend our one precious life and how to achieve the things that are most important to us.

It has been a few years since I’ve used them, and there are a lot more resources available now, including journals, planners and loads of pretty accessories.

 Things I love:

• It is beautifully set out.

• The vision questions and guidance through the process of how to set goals is very thorough, and very helpful.

• The simple monthly layout of tracking monthly, weekly and daily steps toward our goals is very good.

• It worked. I accomplished more in the years I used the system.

Things I didn’t love:

• It’s quite big and bulky. And real estate on my desk is precious.

• It organises the year by seasons in the Northern Hemisphere, so here in Australia it was always opposite. Or, I started in the middle of the year and used the sections out of order.

Simplified Planner

One of my all-time favourite planners is the Simplified Planner by Emily Ley. When life was at its busiest, this is the planner I was using.

Things I love:

• Every day has a page split in two – time blocking on one side and to-do list on the other, and a space for notes at the bottom of each page.

• There are heaps of pretty colours and covers to choose from, and even a minimalist look Dapperdesk option.

• Every day has the same amount of space. As a busy family and someone in ministry, weekends are just as busy (or busier) than weekdays, so having a full page each for Saturday and Sunday is a treat.

Things I don’t love:

• Now I’m not as busy, I don’t have a use for all of the features.

• US holidays are printed in, which are irrelevant to me here in Aus.

• The cost. This year, the Dapperdesk planner is $111 USD. That is $150 AUD before postage. It is unaffordable unfortunately, even though it is beautiful quality.

There are more and more amazing-looking planners on the market. I’m not sure what I’m going to use next year. It is going to be a toss-up between another Emma Kate Co. and a Bullet Journal. I’ll let you know what I decide.

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