I started ‘23 with the best intentions. The A5 Hobonichi Cousin was simply too much planner for me. While there are some aspects of the Cousin that I enjoyed (daily check-off page, prompt & lists in the back), ultimately I just don’t keep track of my time as much as the Cousin would prefer me to. Moving into 2024, I have devised a plan to sort of meet myself in the middle. Using a combination of formatted, unformatted, and versatile platforms, I’m hoping to have a planner system that works for me throughout the entire year. Here is what I’m using.
Plotter, Personal(Bible Size) – Scheduling & Notes
Having used a Plotter in the bible/personal size for the better part of a year, I’ve come to a few conclusions on the pros and cons of a ring-bound system.
One – Where old three-ring binders would fail, Plotter does not (yet). One of my main worries was the integrity of the rings themselves. Looking back on my time as a binder-carrier, I recall the pain (both figurative and literal) of rings so dented and contorted that they no longer bind. They had ONE job! The Plotter has not had that issue but, let’s face it, this thing doesn’t exactly get tossed around in a book bag. It lives on my desk and vacations to my office a couple times a week at most. Time will tell, but so far so good.
Two – Less of a “system” more of a “platform” – While Plotter does offer a few pre-formatted weekly and monthly planning pages, there isn’t any prescribed “system” in place. The System we talk about when we talk about Plotter is really just discardability. Where a planner like the Techo or Cousin was built to hold and store your memories/dates/entries, Plotter keeps those moments as long as they are needed and no longer. When a schedule page is passed, it leaves the binder. No archive, no ephemera gallery. It is a forward-facing system.
Three – It isn’t particularly unique, and that’s a good thing – Binders have been around for a while, even in this size and 6-ring format. Plotter is not the first to market with this idea, and components of those brands that came before are compatible with the Plotter platform. What they do have is beautiful build quality, a story behind each product line, and a personal connection with the stationery community as a whole. These are products built with care and intention. You get what you pay for with this kind of thing.
In 2024, the Plotter will continue to serve me as a versatile organizer for scheduling, notes, and all the random notions that merit notation. Using the stock Plotter inserts as well as some Raymay Davinci inserts has me feeling pretty confident in my paper scheduling for the year ahead.
Cafe Note B6 Slim – Personal Journal
By the end of the yeah my A5 Cousin was little more than a daily journal, but daily journaling was a hobby that I had let slip considerably in recent years. In 2024 I will be using a Cafe Note B6 Slim notebook with Tomoe River paper as my daily personal pages. Memory keeping, idea tracking, personal goal tracking, these will all be kept here. The Cafe Note has a simple 4mm grid formatting that is not exactly useful to me on its own, but is small enough to disregard when I need to. I took some time to add some simple daily date formatting to the book, with a monthly calendar up front for marking important events. The B6 slim pages are about the size of a Plotter Bible size, which is great for my tastes; bigger than an A6 but not as much intimidating open space as the A5.
What I like about the Cafe Note is it’s overall feel. These days it’s pretty simple to find (Sanzen) Tomoe River Paper in a notebook. I even spotted a journal in Barnes & Noble recently, alleging to be filled with Tomoe River Paper. But what a lot of brands tend to do, western brands in particular, is weigh down that airy, lightweight paper with bulky, chonky, hard-bound covers. The Cafe Note uses a lighter-weight binding style with thick paper covers. Very similar to Hobinichi planners in look and feel.
Hobonichi Techo A6 – Business Journal
I had a plan. I had committed to pulling one of my (many) blank notebooks off the shelf, the Cafe Note B6, and use it as a custom minimally-formatted planner for 2024.
Then Anderson Pens had a sale.
The A6 Techo hits a good balance between size and pre-formatting. Most of you reading this will be familiar with the layout of Hobonichi’s most famous export, but for those who aren’t: The Hobonichi Techo A6 is a premium planner that is basically the platonic ideal of a book. It uses Sanzen Tomoe River paper, which provides a unique balance of performance and weight. Most pens will work well with this paper, those with water or gel based inks especially. Sanzen Tomoe River is also incredibly light and thin, which helps the nearly 400 page book feel compact and manageable.
Inside you’ll find simple formatting; a box-style monthly calendar, a list-style monthly calendar, a one page-per-day main section, and some additional assorted sections to fill it out. Each daily page uses a 4mm grid with the day’s date, moon phase, minimal time tracker, mini calendar, and quotes around the margins. I’d prefer dot grid or even a blank layout, but a 4mm grid is easy enough to ignore when I want to.
So that’s it
My three-book system for 2024 is underway. Admittedly, I do have other notebooks on my desk; a Leuchtturm1917 A5 book I use for D&D planning, a GLP Creations “The Author” notebook for creative writing, and an Olive Traveler’s Notebook in the personal size standing by to plot trips and adventures, and of course the Plotter Mini 5 (my gateway Plotter) that I use as a wallet and notepad when I’m on the go. Not quite up to the seven-book system of other more prolific planners, but I feel good about where I am.
What planner(s) are you using in 2024?
The Poor Penman 