I find that it’s the perfect size to chuck into any bag and deceptively durable. As New York Magazine deputy editor Alexis Swerdloff wrote in her initial ode to the cult Japanese planner, “The leather-bound book is hefty and feels like I’m actually holding something substantial (unlike a Moleskine) while still being incredibly compact: It’s little bit taller than an iPhone 6 and about the width of a Kit Kat.” Strategist associate editor Louis Cheslaw praises the planner’s “hard-wearing cover, thin (but quality) pages for a slim profile, lie-flat opening, and compact size.” He has already placed his 2022 order and looks “forward to critiquing colleagues’ alternative planners” in the New Year. It definitely falls into the “if you know, you know” category of stationery. This long-term testing and devotion has earned it the top spot here. The Hobonichi Techo is a longtime Strategist favorite, used by three of our staffers (all three of whom have used the planner for years to stay organized). Layout: Daily | Size: 4 by 6 inches | Cover: Softcover Any of the 33 planners recommended below will surely go a long way toward keeping you on track this year. I’ve also included my own thoughts on our best overall planner, which I’ve been testing personally for the past five years. So to find the best planners, I talked to 32 productivity experts, life coaches, and people who love stationery (including a few Strategist staffers) about their favorites, then culled our archives for standout styles we’ve written about before. (I have, after all, updated this list faithfully every January and was tasked with selecting the best 100 notebooks for our massive notebook-testing story.) While I’ve been devoted to Hobonichi Techo for most of my adult life, I’ve covered the Strategist’s stationery beat long enough to know that finding the right planner out of the very vast and very particular world of paper goods can be overwhelming. Leafing through the well-loved Hobonichi Techo planners I’ve used over the years brings me almost as much pleasure as scribbling in them did. And once the calendar year is complete, a physical planner becomes an artifact - a time capsule, if you will - of its happenings. There is plenty of research that shows how actually writing down your to-do list and schedule for the day - rather than typing it out on a laptop or iPhone - makes you feel more engaged in the task at hand. Instead of an app or gadget that claims to jump-start your productivity, consider investing in a good paper planner.

Moleskine notebook