The best free digital planners
Whether you’re somebody who considers your weeks to be swamped with tasks, you’ll be relieved to find that there are several free digital planners you can incorporate into your life as an everyday tool. Even if you don’t think you’re markedly busy, or feel you can remember all of your weekly tasks simply by jotting them down on a pad of paper, you’d be surprised to see all of the ways you can benefit from using a free digital planner. No matter what kind of planning you want to do each week, read on to discover our top free digital planners and tips on how to narrow down the best one for you.
What are the benefits of using a free digital planner?
A digital planner is an ideal choice for any student or working individual who wants to utilise and personalise a planner to help them stay on top of tasks. When compared to a physical planner, a digital planner is much more accessible and convenient – since you can update and edit it all from your phone or desktop. This is particularly beneficial for those who are on-the-go, or who switch between devices throughout the day.
A digital planner can usually be customised to include personalised reminders, to help you prioritise and sort tasks and to give you a glance into your upcoming days and weeks. It also allows less room for error. While mistakes are always possible, seeing a date/time/task laid out on a screen (or directly imported from an email or app), along with reminders, may help you realise immediately if a time is incorrect. When using a physical planner, mistakes can happen as soon as you jot down a task in the wrong time slot or date, and you won’t have any reminder to indicate otherwise.
When searching for a free digital planner, keep in mind that sometimes certain apps and websites do offer free products, however, they have premium features and planners available at a cost. Regardless, the best free digital planners include basic features for calendars, goal setting and appointment reminders and are often enough for individuals looking to organise their tasks and create a more seamless work and personal life balance.
The best free digital planners available now
Google Calendar
If you have a Google account, you already have access to Google Calendar. If not, a Google account is free to create and worthwhile for business and personal use. Not only will you have access to Gmail, Google Docs, and Google Calendar (among many other free and useful features), but you’ll easily be able to incorporate your schedule, appointments and tasks through your email into your Google calendar. You can also set reminders for your desktop and/or your smartphone.
Trello
Trello is best for team management, however, if you’re somebody who freelances or works with several different clients looking to balance a multitude of tasks, Trello is a great platform. Trello helps you organize, assign, move tasks, prioritize and communicate with other team members in a digital workspace/planner. Trello is a good tool for those craving a visual outline of their to-do list.
Habitica
If you have trouble staying motivated and focussed on your daily tasks (whether personal or at work) Habitica is a great free digital tool to help you plan your life using a game-inspired theme. When using Habitica to track your habits and tasks, you can treat your life like a game; you’ll be able to work toward in-game rewards–or avoid punishment–by completing your tasks and tracking them successfully.
Notion
Notion can be used for personal planning or for small teams. Notion is a free digital planner (with the option to upgrade to ‘pro’ at a small cost) for busy professionals who need to record tasks, assignments and appointments in one space. Your personal Notion space can be created to reflect your style and preferences and can be used on your desktop, or on any Android or Apple devices, as with most free digital planners.
Todoist
Todoist acts as your digital ‘to-do list’ planner that aims to reduce stress and feelings of being overwhelmed during the workweek by keeping your tasks–no matter how small– organized and laid out clearly for you to observe. Whether you’re adding ‘quick tasks’ to your planner throughout the day or routinely scheduling recurring appointments, Todoist can be utilized by anyone for free.
Friday
Friday acts as a personal and professional planner, for individuals and small teams alike. With Friday, you’ll be able to see an outline of your daily and weekly tasks clearly, and utilize free features such as To-Do Lists and Posts (posts can be used as a personal agenda or to make announcements if used to communicate with other employees). Friday can also access and incorporate information from other workplace-related apps, such as Slack and Google.
Final Words
Many free digital planners can import information from other apps used for professional purposes (such as Google or Zoom); this means all of your weekly tasks can be shared, stored and tracked in one organised space. What’s your favourite free digital planner? Let us know in the comments below!
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