All planned out…
How’s 2025 going for you?
I ask because I’m severely suffering from SAO (stationery acquisition OVERLOAD).
is it just me, or am i sensing a bit of general journal/notebook/planner burnout? i suppose i can only speak for myself, but i do get a strong impression that i am not alone in feeling overwhelmed and drained by the sheer quantity of stationery on offer. truth be told, i started feeling this way last year.
i was abandoning systems left right and centre. selling and donating unused notebooks and unloved pens. feeling frustrated and restless. i decided that 2025 would be the year of research and discovery. what actually works for me? what actually serves me? i allowed myself space to get it wrong and reserved judgement. let’s just give things a go. if they work, they work. if they don’t, no biggie.
perhaps “scarier” still, i had to also be open to and willing to accept that i might not be a planner person AT ALL! Yikes! what would i do with all that extra time?!
for the most part, i remained focused. i kept to myself, did my thing and got on with my day. but every now and then i would catch a glimpse of a you tuber doing something notebook related and i would just be like “ooooooooohhhhhhhh heeeeyyyyy, what you got there, cutie?”
no, no, no. NO! stick to plan.
i invested in a few different options, some new and some tried and tested. i mixed things up, i chopped and changed. was i a “one planner to rule them all” person or a “planner per project”?
as it turns out, i am not a one planner person. that did surprise me. i assumed it was simplicity i was craving, and that is still true, but these things are not necessarily mutually exclusive.
eventually i landed on two planners being the magic number. i realised that having a separate planner for work served me the best. I could keep track of meetings, tasks and deadlines. i felt calm and in control. messy and functional was also essential - for my home planner as well as work. space to doodle. space to brainstorm and reflect. i hate waste, so my pile of planners are still in use for other things. poems. ideas. random stuff. ultimately, the most important thing was not looking at anyone else. inspiration is great but comparison is hindering.
I am using my A5 Hobonichi planner for work and quite frankly, it has totally nailed my everyday needs. Interestingly, i always purchased a Hobonichi and always abandoned it after a few months. but i kept making the same mistake: this year will be different, I would naively tell myself.
but it never was.
so what changed? well, me.
in previous years, i had approached the Hobonichi with one intention: make it beautiful. it must be perfect.
and guess what, i could never uphold such a ridiculous commitment. as much as i tried, i could not consistently take the time to write slowly and craft artistic to do lists which would be paired with perfectly drawn icons that beautifully captured the task. because sometimes, you just have to write things down QUICK! before you forget them. and who wants to spend a whole day at work only to get home and neatly copy out all the tasks and minutes from several meetings? I didn’t. i salute those who do and i am no longer envious, instead i celebrate their unique style with them. they still inspire me, they always will but in the end - i just gotta be myself.
And when it comes to planners, size matters!
For home and life, things became overly complicated before they became simple. it took me a while to figure out the natural overlap between work and life. although i did live in my Hobonichi for everything at first, having my life admin mixed in with my day job was messing with my peace of mind. so although i settled into a comfy work routine pretty quickly, my personal planner took a lot longer and a lot of hits and misses - and being totally honest, I’m not sure that i have entirely found peace.
i am a pocket notebook kinda girl, a fact i finally discovered eighteen months ago. it was liberating! i still loved my regular TN for long form, but everything else was pocket pocket pocket. but although i love tiny things, tiny planning wasn’t my bag.
the passport tn started off well but soon i found myself limited by the teeeeennnnyyy weeeeney monthly boxes and lack of notes pages in the horizontal weekly spread. so, like any good scientist conducting an experiment, i switched out some variables.
enter the paper republic pocket planner.
let me start by saying, paper republic are GREAT! I love their products and i also LOVED their pocket planner. i would go as far to say that their pocket planner with horizontal weeks and notes pages was 95% perfect.
The problem? it didn’t have a monthly layout.
damn! i need that layout people! i cannot do without it. i thought that I could but I couldn’t!
could i make one and add it in? yes. Absolutely.
could i be bothered? No. Absolutely not.
So I went back to my old flame. Midori brown leather traveler’s notebook. And you know what? If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. this gives me the flexibility i need and the space without being too big and too bulky. my sweet spot inserts are: Monthly dated, horizontal weekly with notes (also dated) and an extra insert for notes, commonplace, poems, ideas - whatever. I switch the type of inserts, sometimes plain, sometimes kraft, sometimes lightweight. it’s fun to mix it up and not be overly serious and neurotic about these things (she says after writing approximately ten thousand words on her first world struggles of picking a planner).
for a budget option without compromising on quality, I absolutely cannot fault the Muji weekly horizontal planner with notes. this comes in A5 and B6 and I think also A6 (but don’t quote me on that).
I actually kept this planner going as a catch all kitchen planner. it’s covered in stains and is an absolute MESS to look at, but it does the job I need it to do (and it has fountain pen friendly paper). I was using this for work and if it had more notes pages it would have won hands down! but alas, Hobonichi took the golden crown.
although this experiment has been hugely overwhelming and often left me wanting to throw the whole sorry lot into the recycling bin, it’s proved beneficial. I’m no longer peering over at my neighbours test paper and wondering if she got the same answers as me. I still borrow ideas from others, but never to buy more stuff, only ever to improve my existing system.
the experiment also gave me an idea. every year in this amazing stationery community, we buy new planners and journals and notebooks we make mistakes because we haven’t listened to the little voice inside our head telling us to be true to ourselves. wouldn’t it be great if everyone in the community came together and swapped their abandoned notebooks, journals and planners? “Hey, this Hobonichi techo didn’t work out for me, but I’d love to try your passport insert - wanna trade?” I actually wouldn’t mind something that has already been used, I think that I would prefer it. a planner with a story. seeing someone else’s chicken scratch would make me smile. it would remind me that I’m not alone in this crazy pursuit. There are others out there who, just like me, are seeking clarity and, ultimately, planner peace.