Top Planners for 2021

It seems this year, earlier than ever, I'm starting to look ahead to... next year. And it seems I'm not the only one awaiting the coming year with great hope that everything in the world will settle down and life will return to familiar tracks. Local planner makers haven't been sleeping either - it's only mid-October and 2021 planners are already ready to find their owners. I'll start exploring too. Once again I'll remind you that the order in the Top doesn't matter. What matters is convenience, functionality and uniqueness.

1. BALTA eko PRIVATE plan

This year's first planner that caught my attention. I inspected and studied it thoroughly at the BALTA eko stand at the growth and inspiration forum "Līdere 2020". Alongside the colourful and flowery notebooks, there was this businesslike, restrained, gender-neutral one with a wonderful inscription that resonates with the introduction I had just written: "If the Plan Doesn't Work, Change the Plan but Never the Goal". I sign under that.

It is a planner-notebook without attachment to a specific year. Therefore, plenty of space for notes. The planner is created and produced right here in Latvia, from eco-friendly paper. It includes both monthly planning pages and plenty of space for notes, where you just circle the month and date when they are made.

What has always appealed to me - planner convenience and lightness. This planner has flexible covers with rounded corners. A pocket on the inside back cover and an elastic closure band. The only caveat: the planner is in English.

@BALTAeko - price in online store €9.79

2. Oh My Days planner

A visually pleasing creation. Tasteful cover design (dusty rose, rusty and black-and-white tones), slimmer and lighter than before. Suitable for both gentlemen and ladies. 12 photographs and inspiring texts on monthly title pages. Hard covers with metal corner pieces.

New: matching pens with a clip attachment - option to choose one of three tones - gold, rose gold or black - to complement each cover design.

@ohmydaysplanotajs - price €20 + pen with clip €3.00

3. Dream Light Planner

Already presented on its FB profile on 4 August. Hats off to the planner's creators for that! Exclusively for ladies. Hard fabric covers in a pastel clay blue and pink tone. The promise: "Darling, 2021 will be your amazing year!" - as they say, from your mouth to God's ears!

The interior is fairly standard - weekly spread with date, day and times. Hmm, interesting that the first appointment slot starts at 07:00 in the morning but the last at 20:00. Ha ha - judging by that alone, this one definitely won't work for me.

@dreamlightplanner - price in online store €17.00

4. MY TIME MANAGER

Another planner for ladies only, in light blue and burgundy. Hard covers, weekly spread, monthly activities and tasks. Otherwise it can now be called classic and conventional, with no particular emphasis on considered design, selected photographs, and so on. Possibly the creators focused on content and neglected form. Excuse me - I just don't see the effort.

@mytimemanager - price €20.00

5. Day Planner PADOMNIEKS (The Adviser)

As always, comes with its refined style. A small stylish somewhat thick little book with 365 specially selected tips for every day of 2021 + space for notes. I like the description from creator and designer Alīna Dukāte: "PADOMNIEKS was created with the aim of inspiring, improving and motivating yourself to realise your dreams. The day planner will serve as a beautiful anchor point in the daily rush, for reflection and inspiration. Its content and design are suited to both women and men who want to dare and do."

Hard covers in three colours - Royal Gold, Pure Copper, Classic Black. Would I choose it as an everyday planner? Probably not. But as an inspirer throughout the year, definitely.

@pavasara.design - price €18.00

6. Planner - "Court Garden Notes"

A newcomer to the planner Top - a bright pink planner for ladies, but one that has presented itself with a distinctive style, which is pleasing. Very sweet, romantic, poetic, just as a flower-abundant court garden should be. It is special not only for its feminine design, but also because it contains 12 poems composed by the planner's author - about twelve flowers (women) - which will allow you to look at yourself, and at your closest ones (girlfriends, sisters, colleagues) with a positive touch.

"In the royal house there is a splendid garden... Its expanse of flowers is immeasurable. No single flower is more beautiful than another, each given its own beauty... We women are like flowers - we bloom every day..." (quote from the planner's FB profile) Beautiful, what can one say! It will certainly find its audience.

galmadarzs.lv - price €25.00

7. BigPlan 2020–2030 planner

Also a newcomer to the planner Top - noticed at Jānis Roze bookshop because the "poisonously" vivid glossy hard covers in bright green and blue caught my eye. This planner stands out from the others with a completely wild idea - to make the most important notes in one place over ten years. Author - Ilvija Melne - website, magazine and social media editor, journalist, mother of 3 children (4 years, 2 years and 8 months).

The planner incorporates astrology and numerology advice - for those to whom these topics are dear, it will certainly be valuable. Otherwise, design-wise fairly robust, but presumably due to the attractive price, content and audacious idea, it will find its buyer.

@bigplan2030 - price €10.00

Updated 18.12.2020.

8. Manilla planner

The 2021 planner is available with 4 different cover designs and a weekly inner page layout. In limited quantities this year. "The Enchanted Forest" particularly caught my attention - beautiful. As is now customary, quality and characterful.

My choice for this year - this time ordered and collected from a parcel locker.

@Manillalv - price €19.50

9. Purpurs planner

In previous years I hadn't noticed Purpurs making planners. But, lo and behold - there IS one: nothing superfluous, practical material and minimalist design. Slim, light, ascetic, very reminiscent of my beloved Moleskine planner. Four cover tones - light blue-grey, grey-brown, dusty rose and anthracite black. Mmm, and those cool dotted note pages.

@purpurs - price €17.00

10. Letiņš planner

A true Latvian to the bone. Two cover design options - meadow and forest. Spiral binding and hand-drawn black-and-white illustrations decorating the edges of each inner page.

@smarzeklis.lv - price €17.00

11. Piparmētra planner "Shine with Joy"

PIPARMĒTRA "Shine with Joy" planners are available in three hard cover tones: minimalist white; brilliantly vivid; and ascetic black. 200 thick pages, coloured page edges. 2 bookmarks for more convenient planning, plus a pocket containing 2 different cards and one Polaroid-style card to inspire a joyful perspective on a moment, as well as stickers for the most important events. The planner comes in a beautifully designed box.

@piparmetracom - price €23.00

12. Small Planner for Big Goals 2021

Despite the planner's purpose being plans and goals, the cover tone makes you think of a delicious slice of berry cake. The two visual design options are named accordingly - plum and blueberry colour. Small, compact, easy to slip into any women's handbag. Yummy.

@HannaAnnaplanotajs - €18.80

13. Cloudberry planner

A wide range of choice - a full 14 different planner versions, in graphite, silver, sky blue, soft pink, deep red burgundy and airy white tones. Hard and concise or elegant, soft covers with a gilded page-holder. The planner's creators have really carefully worked on both the external and internal design.

@cloudberrydesignlatvia - €27–35

14. I'mperfekt planner for 2021 "Today Is the Best Day"

This year in two cover colours - gold and silver. Beautiful artist-created illustrations and inspiring words on spreads. Also available together with an annual journal subscription at a more favourable price.

@ImperfektLV - €27

15. Z planner

A newcomer to the iinuu Top. A practical and compact planner in dark grey velvet covers. Ascetic and simultaneously artistic. With large black-and-white and colour photographs on spreads. I haven't held it in my hands, but I imagine the cover delights the tactile receptors.

@Zplanner - €17.00

16. ZIB* planner

This year too, in its consistent and now well-recognisable style, the dreams and goals planner has arrived with the motto: "Your personal book whose content becomes more fascinating with each passing day." Beautiful, elegant, colour-rich and colourable.

@ZIBstore - €20.00

17. ISSP planner

As is customary - light, compact, stylistically consistent weekly planner for the coming year. Supplemented with works by Latvian and foreign artists (53 photographs), the theme being "NATURAL PHENOMENA". The planner is in English.

@issp.lv - €18.00

The IINUU planner Top has been compiled since 2015 and keeps getting longer and more colourful, thanks to the creative planner makers right here in Latvia. I would be grateful for feedback in the comments section just below this article - is this kind of planner overview useful to you? How, in your view, could it be done better (what is currently superfluous, or what information is missing)?