my 2025 planner/journal retrospective
you might be wondering why i'm doing a planner retrospective for 2025 in september! this is because a lot of planner companies (e.g. hobonichi) release their planner lineups for purchase around this time, so it seems fitting to do this retrospective now as i think of what to purchase for next year :)
what did i try this year?
in 2024, i used a hobonichi weeks on and off to remind myself/plan what i needed to do especially heading into final high school exams, so i repurchased it again this year. my setup however, was a bit different and consisted of mostly to-do lists:
last year, i really just used the weeks to track due dates. for this year, i instead focused on to-do lists only, with anything with a "due date" going on the left and everything else put in a weekly master list on the right page.
i really wanted to seriously try daily journaling this year as well, so i also picked up a hobonichi cousin a5. last year i tried to use an a6 but i found that i usually have a lot more to say than what a measly a6 page could hold (hence the upgrade).
um... it didn't work (sorta)
at the start of the year the system was working really well! i found myself being able to keep up with the daily journaling for about the first three months of the year or so, and i was using both the cousin and the weeks very heavily at the start of the year.
however, i moved interstate for uni in february and i lost that post-high school holiday freedom (and time), and became super busy not just with classes but with the added responsibilities which came with living alone for the first time. journaling quickly became a very very low priority for me as classwork and assignments took over, and would often be the last thing i'd do in the day (but i'd be tired, and it ultimately would not happen at all).
one of the ways i tried to combat this was by bringing the cousin with me throughout the day and doing little bits of journaling as free time popped up. this worked in theory, but my daily bag is somewhat small and the a5 cousin is pretty bulky - on days especially in my first term of university that i had to bring in extra stuff, the cousin was the first thing to be left behind, and it wouldn't be touched once again.
this sort of brings me to the issue of blank pages - if i missed a day of journaling i begun to feel as if i had a "backlog" of pages which needed to be completed, and filling in this backlog meant writing ~2-3 a5 pages in one sitting. at one point, i didn't touch the cousin for months either, meaning i have many unused pages. i feel that i can't really use these pages well, as they are somewhat spread out throughout the book and it's not like i can change the dates for them and reuse the planner next year, as i still used a significant chunk of it this year and it isn't fully empty :(
moving on from journaling and the hobonichi cousin, using the weeks as a way to just dump tasks worked really well until i put it away on a shelf in my closet while cleaning at the end of my first term and promptly forgot about it (oooops...). for my second term of uni, i tried using the reminders app on my phone, but i learnt really quickly that i need to write down my tasks on paper. i believe this is because it is very easy to put away or hide your tasks when they are digital - you just don't open the app or the note. i didn't have notifications for most of my tasks either, as they often didn't have a strict due date. this meant that my reminders became pretty easily forgotten as i stopped opening the app.
additionally, i was using a caldav server for my reminders so i could use the base reminders app on ios and sync between my pc as well. however, this meant that i lost a lot of features such as sub-tasks, which was part of the reason as to why i began to just stop using the reminders.
looking at my experiences this year, i've decided on the following criteria for what i want to try in future:
for journaling:
- an undated notebook
- this means there will be no backlog guilt as there are no blank pages which havent been filled
- it also alleviates the pressure of having to write one whole page per day
- must be a5, so i can reuse the hobonichi cousin cover i bought this year
for to-do lists:
- literally anything that is small enough to bring with me anywhere
going into 2026
no more hobonichi
buying a hobonichi planner every year is definitely a luxury - the a5 hobonichi cousin runs for about ~100 aud in physical stores (in australia), and the weeks is about 60 aud. recently i've been trying to invest in things i only have to really buy once, and last a lot longer than a planner which i have to repurchase every year. i'm finding it harder to justify spending this much on planners every single year, and would rather just spend once and be able to use over multiple years, or switch to a cheaper option.
for an undated notebook, hobonichi does have options like the day-free but that still has monthly pages so i still consider it to be "dated" - i don't want to be tied to dates at all so there's less chance of that guilt i get when i simply can't get around to something. additionally, i find it difficult to do monthly plans in an a5 size notebook as its not something you can just whip out super easily when you're out. i found that just using the calendar app in my phone was more effective for this purpose (i mentioned previously that i've been experimenting with using my own caldav server, which i might talk about in more detail at a later time).
additionally i had some issues with ink bleed through in my hobonichi weeks this year with some of my favourite inks :(
here i used a pilot vanishing point with a fine nib, using diamine earl grey - not crazy bleed through, but still disappointing for the price i paid in my opinion
there was also some discussion around the new "tomoe river S" paper used in the hobonichi lineup this year, which is also another reason i'm somewhat reluctant to repurchase.
as i order my japanese planners through a proxy shipping service in order to save money (hobonichi only offers fedex as a shipping option, which is crazy expensive), i'm reluctant this year as if i do have an issue with the paper, i can't send it back.
(lowkey this is so sad because why do they have to do a tamagotchi collab for 2026... it's so cute)
trying something new!
the new setup i'm going to try is an a5 midori codex for journaling + a plotter mini 5 as a notebook and wallet hybrid for my todo lists.
obviously, its still september and some of the things im considering might change between now and 2026, but the ideas will be similar enough :)
todos - plotter mini 5
the plotter system is basically just a leather binder with a bunch of paper inserts + other fun accessories such as a card insert and a clear plastic pocket. it's definitely on the pricier end but, again, i want to start investing into things which will last me longer and that i can just refill, instead of spending 100-200 dollars on planners each year.
my idea with purchasing the mini 5 is that you can use it as a notebook and wallet hybrid with their accessories. i think this would work super well for holding things like my todo lists and random fleeting ideas - if i have to pull out a card, e.g. for public transport, i can be immediately reminded about the current todos that i have to complete at that point.
additionally, it being so small means i can take it everywhere (and it being a wallet sort of means that i have to). the hobonichi weeks did fit in a lot of my bags but the mini 5 will actually fit in everything. this is also good for places where i can't bring my larger traveller's notebook for taking ideas down.
journaling - midori codex
the midori codex has 368 pages and they're all undated! the first reason i really decided that i wanted to look at the codex is because i was using a clear midori codex cover for my hobonichi cousin this year before switching to a cloth cover, so i'm pretty sure the codex would fit almost perfectly inside of the cover so i can reuse it.
it being undated means there's no pressure to write a full page every day, and i only have to write when i want to, and not for a full a5 page. i think this hopefully will make the journaling process less daunting for me as there will also be no "backlog" if i miss a day, or a month even - meaning no wasted pages.
where my ideas came from
- my life changing notebook | plotter mini 5
- i first watched this video a year ago when it was released and it sort of implanted that idea of having a notebook and wallet hybrid into my mind
- i watched it again this year and i was sold...
- also, the video is just really nicely made, i recommend it as just a good experience for the eyes :)
anyway i'm excited for everything to arrive (which is why i wrote this) and will definitely try to follow up in a few months to see if it all works for me.
this post was last edited 2 days, 22 hours ago