Choosing the Perfect Paper Planner – 7 Essentials to Your Perfect Planner

 One of my absolute most favorite things. In the entire world, and no, I am not talking about my iced coffee. One of the things that I use every single day, and that goes absolutely everywhere with me. My absolute favorite and most reliable accessory, and the thing I look forward to purchasing the most every single year. Yes, I am talking about my daily planner. Sharing with you the secret to choosing your perfect paper planner in order to actually live the life of your dreams. 

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The Importance of a Daily Planner 

If you are anything like me, then you understand the love and connection with a good daily planner. Now, I have tried them all, and while there are so many amazing daily planners out there. What is of the most importance, of course, is finding a daily planner that works for you.

A daily planner that can help facilitate you in your everyday life. As well as support you in going after the life of your dreams. I am so excited to share with you the paper planner that I have been using over the past year and a half that has absolutely revolutionized everything for me.

The Perfect Daily Paper Planner

I’m talking about a daily paper planner that truly helps keep me organized, stay consistent with my habits, and holds me accountable in reaching my goals and my dreams. And if you are thinking that there is no way one particular planner can do all of that, well, you have not yet met the dream planner from Horacio Printing.

And as a special treat for you, I do have a special discount code, in order for you to get your hands on your very own copy of the 2024 Horacio Printing Dream Planner. As you are definitely going to want to equip yourself with this super powerful and amazing planning tool for the upcoming year ahead.

The History of My Love for a Paper Planner

Now, ever since I was a very little girl, I have loved writing down dates and things on paper. At the beginning of every new year, I would sit at the kitchen table with my mom as she would take her wall calendar, and I would take mine. And we would sit down next to each other and I would watch, mesmerized as she would take all the dates of the family birthdays and anniversaries.  

All the scheduled events and write them down on the family calendar. I would do the same. Writing down the birthdays of every aunt, uncle and cousin. I looked forward to it. There was such an excitement as eight-year-old me writing out dates going towards the future. 

My Love for Daily Planners as a Student

Fast forward to high school. While, my academic planner didn’t look nearly as organized or beautiful, and simply was the school provided agenda. It was definitely something I always carried with me and always took a lot of great detail in.  Making sure I was following through with what was in the planner and such. Writing dates of practices, rehearsals, tests and things. 

Journey through college and the same thing. Except this time, my obsession with monthly planners reached a whole new level. Especially when you had ALL the dates to every course assessment from the very beginning of the semester. It’s hard to describe and to admit truthfully, how much joy I feel being able to organize and write down all the different things through a daily planner.

My Love for Daily Planners as a Teacher

Then, finally, there’s the young teacher version of me, turned into a blogger version of me, as well as a full-time, working mom version of me. Therefore, myself, as a person who uses a paper planner, has definitely evolved throughout the years.

Even the perfectionist me. The stories I could tell of the daily planners that I didn’t complete, when moments felt too much or life got too chaotic.  The guilt that I would feel inside when a planner sat quiet for too long. Or empty. Followed by the personal consequences I would have to deal with having empty weeks in my beloved daily planner.

Freedom from Perfectionism in Using a Daily Planner

Earlier, old perfectionist Haley didn’t know how to deal with those big feelings. Thankfully, I can share that I have fully recovered from that. Now, if I find myself not touching my paper planner for a week or two because life gets too much. I am so happy to say that I no longer purchase a brand new planner. 

Sadly, there was a time in my life where I fell out of the habit of using a paper planner. I felt like all was lost and I had to buy a new one because that one, by goodness gracious, was ruined. Instead, I can gladly just move on from a new date and… not feel this overwhelmingly disappointed feeling.

The love and the passion that I have runs deep for paper planners. And I truly find myself feeling so incredibly excited, enthusiastic and joyful when it comes time to determine which paper planner I want to use. As well as the reasons why I want to use it, and how I use it throughout my daily life. Which brings me to YOU. And the essential components of the perfect planner in order for you to feel encouraged and enthusiastic about using your paper planner in your life, as well!

The Essential Components of the Perfect Daily Planner

In all of the joy of choosing the perfect planner, I want to share with you the key components of the perfect paper planner. Often times in life we think, well, nothing is perfect and you’re never going to find something that works completely for you. Instead, you have to adapt and make use of what you can in any situation.

And while that is absolutely true, I’m here to tell you that there actually is a daily planner that can work for you. Additionally,  there is a daily planner that has everything that you need to be able to do the things you want to do and do them well. And that way, as you think through which daily planner you want to make as your 2024 perfect planner, you feel equipped to be able to do so in a way where you feel supported and encouraged. All so you can really find the daily planner that’s going to help facilitate you living the life of your dreams.

The 7 Necessary Components of The Perfect Paper Planner

And so the necessary components of the perfect paper planner. I have seven necessary components, things that are super important that I believe each paper planner must have in order to really help you live this life you are desiring and Really give you the tools to walk in confidence. 

Daily Planner Essential #1 – Space to Dream

The very first thing that you want to have in a paper planner is space to dream. You absolutely want to make sure that your daily planner gives room for your ideas to grow and your visions to be established. To really give yourself the moment to be able to dream big. Dream with excitement and eagerness and dream from a place of joy. 

What I love about the dream planner by Horacio Printing is in one of the very, very first pages, there is a bucket list for the year. This perfect planner allows you to actually take time to sit down and think through your dreams. Think through what you feel like is placed on your heart and what your ambitions are. To create this really powerful vision statement for what you want the next year to look like. And I love that that is actually provided within a space in the Horacio Printing dream daily planner. So definitely when you choose your perfect planner, be sure that you have a planner that gives you space to dream. 

Daily Planner Essential #2 – Plenty of Space to Reflect

The second necessary component is a space to reflect. An important essential component to your daily and monthly planners is having plenty of space to reflect and dream. It’s so important in life in order to move forward and to move on. To take time to dig deep and to reflect. To think through how are things going. Specifically, what’s working well, what’s not working well, and what can be improved upon. 

What I love about the Horacio Printing Dream Planner is that the founder of the planner, Polly Payne teamed up with the incredible Chelsi Jo from ChelsiJo.co and Systemize Your Life podcast to incorporate her fundamental needs program. If you are not familiar with Chelsi Jo and her Systemize Your Life podcast, it is truly revolutionizing. An absolute game changer. Through Chelsi’s programs she will take you from your to-do lists and overwhelm to a confident and organized life. Chelsi Jo’s fundamental needs defines eight components that are needed within your life.

Establishing Your Fundamental Needs

And everybody has different components. Everybody’s fundamental needs slightly look different, but she really takes you through a very powerful process of identifying what those fundamental needs are. And in this space within the dream planner, there’s this beautiful workbook section that allows you to reflect on each of these things and to establish little tiny goals for how can you move forward so that way you can achieve what you really want to achieve in certain areas of your life, such as professional goals and relationship goals and home related goals and fitness wellness goals, financial goals.

It’s a really cool process and vision. Again, just something that I’m very familiar because I’ve worked with Chelsi Jo closely for the past two years and love supporting and sharing her and her brilliant brain. So number two defining characteristic of your perfect planner is plenty of space to reflect. 

Daily Planner Essential #3 – Space to Dig Deep

The third essential component of your perfect planner is space to dig deep. A space that allows you to go beyond the surface and to dig deep into your heart. Included in this daily planner is a quarterly heart check. Every quarter has a few pages that allow you to take notes, reflect, and assess yourself. 

Additionally, it asks some pretty powerful questions that I love, really giving you a moment to surrender what needs to be surrendered, and to let go of things that are holding you back. All to find the root of what’s holding you back in order to move ahead with more of a pretty solid purpose.

I love that is a part of the monthly planners because so often we allow our daily planner to just hold our to-do lists and our appointments. A house for the many different parts of our busy life. However, the perfect planner is way more than that. The perfect planner is a fabric to help you actually get to where you want to go. And the dream monthly planners by Horacio Printing do just that! 

Daily Planner Essential #4 – Encouragement

Now, the fourth key component of a perfect planner is prompts of encouragement. Encouragement to speak to you and to pour life into your dreams as you are laying it all out there. As you’re planning and organizing and building your week and your month. Moving through your busy life, you absolutely need to feel encouraged along the way.

Through every single full page of the Dream Planner, there are beautiful quotes and biblical scripture to speak this calm confidence and sense of purpose over your busy life. And I think that’s really important in any planner is to have that encouragement. 

Daily Planner Essential #5 – Monthly & Weekly Layouts 

Finally, the fifth necessary component of the right planner is having both monthly and weekly view. It’s so necessary to have a planner that allows you to look at the entire month in a view. A 12-month weekly planner, including every single month that allows you to view the entire year at once. As well as the weekly view. 

That way, not only can you plan big dates for each month, but then each week you can go through and provide more of a structure and a purpose. And the same can be done within each day. I love that about the Dream Planner by Horacio Printing. There’s two different options you can choose, within the weekly layout. The vertical layout and horizontal weekly layout. 

The first paper planner I purchased from Horacio Paper Printing, I did the vertical layout this past year. The last year, I used the horizontal weekly layout. My personal preference is the vertical style as it works better for how I schedule my day. But both layouts are absolutely beautiful. With additional space alongside the margin for random notes, to-do lists, and more! The dream paper planner is a weekly powerhouse. That’s so important for planning the big picture, but also planning out your week. 

Daily Planner Essential #6 – Plenty of Space for All The Things 

Number six, the sixth necessary component of the perfect planner, is plenty of space. The right planner has plenty of space  to write down everything that needs to be written down. To help you organize your thoughts, to be able to dream, and brain dump. Simply all of the things.

That’s exactly what I love so much about this best selling planner by Horacio Printing. Regardless of which layout you choose, there is plenty of space for your to-do lists. Room for establishing weekly intentions. Additional space to write out habits. Plenty of space to host all of these routines and words of encouragement and random things that need to get done. And in addition, throughout the different quarters and throughout the end of the planner, you have plenty of note taking space.

One of the really cool things too, is that the actual organization of the planner is dotted lines, which I love. I find that to be so fun and such a neat way to organize the planner itself. And then at the very end of the planner, you do have a little pocket. So that way, if you have anything else that you carry around with you, any other little notes that you need to keep up, you can easily keep that there and not lose it. 

Daily Planner Essential #7 – Organization & Aesthetics 

Finally, the seventh necessary component of the perfect planner is a planner that is organized and aesthetically pleasing. Of course, you need a planner that makes you feel good. But you also need a planner that looks gorgeous.

Something that you can get really excited about. Something that when you are having a challenging day or a big task, something that is really stretching you, requiring you to take a chance to step out of that comfort zone. You want a planner that can help you by looking the part. Looking that part of excellence.

And the Dream Planners by Horacio Printing are absolutely stunning. A brand new collection for the new year, four options of paper planners. With the choice of leather bound, hard bound with coil. Absolutely beautiful. 

There’s also a blush cover with the gold accents. Stunning planners that just look incredible and are so professional and just captivate such a desire for the aesthetics, a desire for joyful things, to really allow a place of creativity to flourish and dreams to blossom. I cannot recommend the Horacio Printing Dream Planner, as the right planner for you to use this year, any more! It simply is the perfect planner. 

The Best Monthly Planners to Use in Your Life 

Again, I’ve been using this daily planner for three years now and I could not be more happy. Therefore, if you are also finding yourself in need of wanting to try something new, especially as you plan ahead for the new year, looking for the new right planner, this could be it! 

I hope you feel excited and encouraged to view your day, your week and your month with the awesome anticipation of what’s to come. Full of the excitement for the changing of the seasons. The excitement of the turn of a new year. Allow yourself to feel that hope swell up within you and just give you a joy and a purpose greater than yourself!