You don't need another PLANNER. You need a PLANNING SYSTEM.

Our modular planning tools offer a full kit to help you build a truly personal planning system that supports your goals.

Planning is About Action

We don't plan for the sake of planning. We plan to help us take action on things that matter.

Effective Planning Needs Systems

Consistency in planning comes from having tools and processes that support a planning habit.

Planning is Personal

The system that works for you is unique based on your lifestyle, preferences, and planning style.

Friction is the Enemy

Friction caused by planning tools misaligned with your needs undermines effectiveness and consistency.

THE PURSUIT OF PERSONAL EFFECTIVENESS

We all want to be effective.

We all want to feel like we are able to direct our time and effort towards things that matter and have a sense of control in the chaos of daily life.

A consistent habit of planning for the near-term and long-term helps us increase this effectiveness and the key to building that planning habit are tools and processes that work with our unique needs.

Your goals, lifestyle, preferences, and productivity style are all personal to you—yet most off-the-shelf planners are sold as one-size-fits-all solutions that never fit quite right.

We started BETTER MADE PLANS based on our own frustrations trying to find planning tools that that supported our goals in school, work, and life. What we found is it not about finding a new planner, it is about building your personal planning system designed around your goals and productivity style.

Not another planner—start with modular planning tools.

Our focus is on creating modular planning tools that support your personalized approach to planning. Whether you use them as the foundation of your productivity practice or to address specific gaps with your existing process our modular planning tool system is designed to work with how you work best so you stay effective, directed, and motivated.

WHERE TRADITIONAL ALL-IN-ONE PLANNERS FAIL

Traditional planners are built around an assumption that there is one "right way" to plan that can be packaged for all people the same way. While there are planning best practices, how they apply to individual circumstances will differ.

As a result, traditional planners—by trying to be all things for all people—often end up meeting few individuals' needs well.
  • One-Size-Fits-All

    One planner does so much that keeping it up-to-date feels like a job... The other planner is basically a to-do list that drives motion without real progress... They all market themselves as the 'ideal system,' but none fit your life quite right. It ends up being a lot of trial and error... and a lot of frustration.

  • Rigid Linear Format

    Flipping back-and-forth between pages to look at calendars, daily summaries, and notes disrupts focus. Even binders require deconstructing the whole thing to see everything you need at once. Linear planners prevent you from easily visualizing the elements of your current planning task.

  • Planner Shame

    Life happens and sometimes planning takes a back seat. Empty pages after missing days or the messy tangle of crossed-out notes and lines after plans change are demotivating. Both situations make it feel like the planner is ruined and money was wasted while leading to frustration and feelings of shame.

  • All-or-Nothing

    Bound planning notebooks mean you are stuck carrying weeks or months of notes with you each day, regardless of what you actually need. It gets worse as one planner runs out and you need two planners to cover the transition or risk missing critical information. There is no option to tailor what you carry.

  • Form Over Function

    Beautiful paper that ink bleeds through as soon as you write something. Delicate binding that falls apart in two months. Layouts so focused on minimalism they become hard to quickly reference. Pretty is nice, but it is useless if it doesn't perform. Aesthetics should not get in the way of delivering results.

MODULAR TOOLS FOR TAILORED PLANNING

The alternative to all-in-one planners building a personal toolbox we can adapt to whatever situations life brings us. BETTER MADE PLANS planning tools are designed with a focus on modularity and the ability to use tools separately or together to address planning needs. As a set, they form a comprehensive kit and alone they can fill critical gaps in your existing planning process.

Our planning tools come in multiple formats to meet a range of preferences and needs:

PLANNING CARDS

Compact, portable, visually-oriented planning tools built around providing succinct summaries of critical information so you can lay out and arrange information you need while planning and only carry what you need.

PRINTABLE PLANNING SHEETS

The same modular toolbox with lay-flat tabletop and portable versions along with full color and black-and-white options to allow you to further customize your planning tools with the formats that work for you planning style and preferences.

PLANNING CARDS: Compact, portable, personalized toolbox for your planning needs

Our signature line of planning tools are our TIMECARD SERIES and TOOLKIT SERIES planning cards. Compact, portable, durable, and designed using the power of color-coding for ease of reference—planning cards allow you to physically lay out and visualize the information you need.

  • Complete Modular Toolbox

    Whether you are a student balancing coursework and extracurricular or a professional managing multiple projects along with a household, our modular planning cards present a full range of tools that can be used on their own or in combination to address a full spectrum of planning needs.

  • Built for Your Planning Style

    Planning cards mean you aren't limited to a single calendar in the front of your planner or a tiny space for notes each week. Whatever the situation, you can choose the right planning card or cards to meet the need so you remain agile and adaptable (and without needing to compromise).

  • Shame-Free and Guilt-Free

    Life happens. When it does, your planning cards are ready to pick up where you left off. With planning cards, every new card is a new start. No shame if you miss a day. No feeling like your planner is "ruined" or pages wasted. Just grab a new card and continue forward.

  • Simplify Your Daily Carry

    Reduce bulk and noise by carrying only what you need for the day ahead. Planning cards allow you to bring the essentials and leave the rest at home or the office. Your planning can be as detailed and comprehensive as you want while your daily carry remains as agile, efficient, and minimalist.

  • Premium, Portable, Effective

    Compact and portable 4x6 inch cards allows you to physically lay out information how you need to visualize it. Ultra-thick 130# card stock offers durability and premium feel. Our signature color-cues leverage the power of color to direct focus to make referencing information easy.

TRY PLANNING CARDS

Ready to try modular planning cards for yourself?
We offer a five-week ESSENTIALS planning kit with our entire line of TIMECARD and TOOLKIT planning cards and also offer bundle options.

ESSENTIALS PLANNING KIT

Explore planning cards with a five-week supply of our TIMECARD and TOOL KIT series for only $19.95.

BUY
BEST START

PLANNING CARD BUNDLE

Save up to 20% with a mix-and-match bundle of our full line of planning cards including UTILITY CARDS and the ESSENTIALS kit.

BUILD YOUR BUNDLE
BEST VALUE

PRINTABLE PLANNING SHEETS: Modular planning tools from your work or home printer

Our printable Planning Sheets are a complimentary toolbox to our signature planning cards offering the same modular options in a range of formats available from your home or office printer.

Whether you want a lay-flat tabletop version or a folded version to tuck in a backpack—full-color or high-contrast black-and-white—we offer a full suite of options to meet your needs precisely.

  • Composite showing all the covers of Better Made Plans printable Planning Sheet color versions on a kraft background.

    Same Modular Toolbox

    Our printable planning sheets mirror the format of our signature planning cards so you can choose the format that works for you for the specific planning need. Mix-and-match or find the specific format that works best with your planning style.

  • Tailored Layouts

    Our tabletop versions are optimized for work at a desk and long-term reference while our folded mobile versions tuck into bags or the back of notebooks for life on the move. Choose the tool to meets your moment and aligns with how you work best.

  • Color Options

    Printable planning sheets come in both our signature color-cues as well as high contrast black-and-white versions to support a range of printers and printing preferences. Widely compatible, our color options work with your technology to meet your needs.

  • Print for Your Preference

    Stationary people know that the paper you choose matters. Whether you prefer heavyweight cardstock or are happy with a quick copy on plain printer paper, printable planning sheets allow you to choose the paper that meets your needs and preference.

  • Ready When You Need Them

    Never worry about being without the right tool for the moment. Printable planning sheets allow you to print planning tools on demand. For dynamic schedules and demanding lifestyles, printable planning sheets provide optimal flexibility.

TRY PLANNING SHEETS

Ready to try printable Planning Sheets? We offer complete toolboxes with both full-color and monochromatic versions. Each set includes both lay-flat tabletop and folded mobile versions for a total of twenty different planning tools.

Full COLOR or MONOCHROMATIC Planning Sheet Toolbox for $30.00
Save 40% over purchasing individually.