The great planner/journal question.

Yesterday was Hobonichi day! And, while I don’t partake, the final third of the year has encouraged me to take stock of where I am planning and journal-wise and where I want to go. Let’s review what I’m using and what I love.

For weekly and daily work planning:

I have to say it: I love my Effin’ Birds planners. While the humor may not appeal to some (I get you, I really do), the format is what works best for me. I’ve got my month-at-a-glance up front, and then my weekly days along with a new Monday pick-me-up illustration each week. The paper is excellent and fountain pen friendly, and the price is extremely reasonably (I got a 2026 version for $16.73 at Bookshop.org)

For work meeting notes:

I’m still chugging along on my Odyssey A5 Cosmo Air Light notebook that I bought when I started my job over two and a half years ago. The dot grid is perfect for me – light enough not to distract from my notes, but enough of a guide that I don’t write all over the place. The paper is fountain pen friendly and I’m only 70 pages in (with 230 more to go – it started as a 300 numbered page book!)

For journaling:

I can’t say enough how much I love my Notebook Therapy Tsuki Bullet Journal. The pages are thick enough to withstand lots of ephemera and writing in fountain pens, and the book itself is beautiful. I have this idea that one day I’ll have a bookshelf lined with journals. And, as much as I love this one, it’s the one I seem to struggle to use sometimes. Sure I’m collecting notecards and things I’ve received in the mail, but two weeks go by with no entries sometimes. I want to record more, and more artistically in form (I love looking at Ana’s notebooks), but that just doesn’t appear to be my style. I will likely finish out the book’s pages this year, as a record of 2024 and 2025 combined, so I need to order another one to start 2026.