I said I wasn’t going to do it.
I told myself that several times.
But with stress from work, school, life, I decided to repeat that mantra that has never done me wrong (my wallet begs to differ)
So, in an effort to get control back in my life…
I went for planners.
I am 100% the type who seeks out things to control when I feel out of control. I am easy with rolling away from plans to plan B but having plan A in the first place gives me an illusion of stability. Other things that also work include highly ritualistic methods of making tea and coffee or shopping.
As something new, I did an unboxing video!
But here’s a text version also if you’re like me and would rather read through.
The Haul
Hobonichi Techo
Planners
- Ochitsuke Cover
- Japanese Original Planner
- 5 Year Diary — A6
- Search and Collect Cover for 5 Year Diary
Accessories
- Hobonichi Plain Notebook (5)
- Hobonichi “Ochitsuke” Mug (2)
- Basic and Schedule Stencil
- Rivet Bookmark Conesso Black (for Planner) and Black + Red (for Cousin)
- Cover on Cover for Planner (3) and Cousin (1)
- mt Washi Tape Red/Yellow and Blue Mix
- Hobonichi Pencil Board “Arrival” for Planner
- Hobonichi Pencil Board “Astro Boy” for Cousin
Yoseka Stationery
- Midori 2021 Diary A5
- Himekuri Sticky Calendar 2021 — Cat
Anderson Pens
- Hobonichi Planner (English)
- Hobonichi Cover — Summer Lemonade
2021 Setup
I went against my previous planner… plans.
None of my previous plans carried over.
The Techo is in Japanese and not English. Reason being, I enjoyed the colors of the months using the Cousin planner this year and wanted it to carry over into next year. I’ll miss the quotes but I can always use Google Translate or come up with an excuse to buy the English planner too Oh ho ho I did.
Ochitsuke and the explanation of the meaning behind that term really stuck with me. I decided I wanted to get the planner cover after all in order to have it out in front of me so when I feel stressed I can look at it, read it, and internalize the meaning and hopefully bring calmness.
The mug was a sort of impulse purchase, but the thinking was I could have it whenever I drank my morning tea and internalize it that way. Oddly, my current coffee mug is a Cookie Monster mug and this year Hobonichi had a Sesame Street collaboration… I just love the shape of the mug itself. It’s modern yet classical, the way it curves and the elegant curve of the handle… Not to mention it is a shade of mint, one of my favorite colors.
Hobonichi Techo Original is entirely personal. I will probably end up doing the same things I currently do in my Cousin — a mix of memory keeping, health tracking, sticker collaging, and things to do. Hopefully some day I will get to actually plan get together and the like in the monthly like I used to…
Hobonichi Techo Planner is for creative work. The monthly boxes will have my daily word counts for novel projects. The individual pages will have a vocabulary word and definition for the day as well as any creative work I feel like doing, such as freewriting or scene sketches, things that wouldn’t normally fit into my regular idea book. Even though this may be better suited to a larger A5 size, if my schedule is anything like it is currently, there will be missed pages that I can easily continue working through without a problem. In this way, I can chronicle the days I work heavy and days I work light in an easy to digest format.
For the Midori A5, I switched from the TN style to the A5 style from sheer desire to use the Cousin covers I have. I like that it is still what I wanted — a Monthly and Weekly. The month boxes are a little smaller than I anticipated, but the margins are wide. I think I am going to develop a color-coding system (use all those Mildliners) and use the color coding system and margins to detail coursework. The weekly is still meal planning. While I cannot do the meals on the left and grocery list on the right like I would in the Traveler’s Notebook, writing out grocery lists is an exercise of joy for me and well… currently I order my groceries to be delivered so I have no need to make store lists at all.
The calendar is something I just learned about this year! It’s very cute~ All of the illustrations will change and they’re sticky, so I want to put one in every day of my Hobonichi Techo. 🙂
Five Years I thought about where I would be in five years. Hopefully, I will complete my undergrad degree. Then, I would be en route to getting a graduate degree in either psychology or library science and either complete it or in process of completion. Five years is a short time, yet a lot of things would have changed.
I watched a video from Hobonichi from the designer of the Five Year daily diary and her mix of hopeful sentimentalism sold me on getting it. I am going to be a different person in five years, so having a record of that will be something to look at and say “This is where I came, this is where I am, and this is where I will be”.
The Search and Collect cover looked elegant to me, far more than the other covers available, and though I think the Bloom box set is the best deal… I chose the S&C instead. If I’m going to have it for five years or more, may as well get the one I adore! The brass button gathering patina over the five years to transform into something new is also appealing.
My Unicorn Notebook is the “Noble” from Kinokuniya. Hardback cover. Tomoe River Paper. Grid. Not so thick that it becomes too heavy to carry around daily. A5 size. The problem? Well, like unicorns it’s not exactly easy to get. It retails for $35. The closest physical store is 6 hours away, and I usually only visit that place once a year. It does sell online, but to make up for shipping costs, I’d have to buy two at once and dropping $70+ on just two notebooks is a very difficult pill to swallow.
The Hobonichi Notebooks may be a compromise. They’re A5, TR paper, grid, and thin enough to be portable without being cumbersome. They’re not hardback but I have a plethora of A5 notebook covers I can house them in. I bought five because… well, I heard the Hobonichi this year were printed on old TR paper and so I assumed that would extend to the notebooks.
The other accessories are useful but not really worth rambling about IMO. I liked the “Arrival” and “Astro Boy” covers and the pencil boards were a compromise. The rivet bookmarks will help me flip through my idea book.
And that is the story of how 2021 became 4 planners.