A few weeks ago when I was browsing JetPens, my attention was captured by the Daigo Tea & Diary Time diaries ($11.50-12.50). These looked like the perfect little books in which to record a few simple thoughts of the day. Since I’ve written many times about how I struggle with daily journaling, I wondered if this might be the key!
I ordered three versions: a Morning Diary, an Evening Diary and a Weekend Diary. I chose to test out the Weekend version for myself.
All the books are A6 size which translates to 5.75″ x 4″ (15cm x 10.5cm) which makes them somewhat pocketable, and definitely purse friendly. The covers are cardstock. They come encased in a thin plastic which may just be for packaging, but I decided to sticker mine up and leave it on to protect the cardstock. Inside the books are filled with Daigo Diary Paper which is ivory and lined. While I can’t find a GSM for the paper, it is thicker than Tomoe River, but lighter than most of my preferred papers. Page amounts vary – for the weekend there are 110 sheets (for 2 years worth of weeks), and for the morning/evening there are 192 sheets (for approximately 6 months of days).
How is the paper? I enjoyed writing on it. I was using a Pelikan M205 Fine, which is a wetter writer. I didn’t see any bleeding or feathering. The writing did show through the opposite side more than I would like, but that could be fixed with a lighter touch and a slightly finer nib. Or it would likely be perfect for gel pens.
I’m kind of charmed by the fact that the writing spaces are so small that I really only have time for a few important thoughts. Like knitting with friends is super fun, but sometimes you will make mistakes and have to rip out your work later. Or being seated at a table next to a couple loudly breaking up next to you in Panera is quite awkward. Or that early voting has opened in your state, and it’s time to go! Clearly the deepest thoughts!
Ok it’s too far down the page and I haven’t even mentioned the giveaway. Let’s do this!
THE GIVEAWAY: You are entering to win a Tea & Diary Time Diary. I have one of each: Tea & Diary Time Evening Cafe Au Lait/Calming and Tea & Diary Time Morning Coffee/Blue. I will select two winners; each will win one journal plus a few SWAG items from me and The Desk.
TO ENTER: Leave a comment below and tell us whether you’re a morning pages or a night owl journaler? Play along and type in something. It makes reading through entries more interesting for me, okay? One entry per person.
If you have never entered a giveaway or commented on the site before, your comment must be manually approved by our highly-trained staff of monkeys before it will appear on the site. Our monkeys are underpaid and under-caffeinated so don’t stress if your comment does not appear right away. Give the monkeys some time.
FINE PRINT: All entries must be submitted by 10pm CST on Sunday, July 26, 2026. All entries must be submitted at wellappointeddesk.com, not Instagram, Tumblr or Facebook, okay? Winner will be announced on Monday, June 1. Winner will be selected by random number generator from entries that played by the rules (see above). Please include your actual email address in the comment form so that I can contact you if you win. I will not save email addresses or sell them to anyone — pinky swear. If winner does not respond within 5 days, I will draw a new giveaway winner. Shipping via USPS first class is covered. Additional shipping options or insurance will have to be paid by the winner. We are generous but we’re not made of money. US and APO/AFO only, sorry.
DISCLAIMER: The items included in this review and giveaway were purchased from JetPens using my own funds. Please see the About page for more details.
I use my diary as a tool for paying attention to my day so I do that in the evening.
I’m a mid-morning journaler: I’m on my second 5-year Leuchtturm, which sits next to my work desk, and I update the previous day(s) after checking email each workday. I consider this my “for public consumption” journal, a mixture of life events, interesting birds/bugs seen in the yard, and yelling about US politics.
Tough question, but I prefer morning pages to get my day started on a meditative note. That being said, I love a nighttime journal sesh to reflect on the day 🙂
The journals look nice and you only need to record a few thoughts for the day. I would consider myself a night owl journaler.
Nice review! I am a morning journaler and I love that these are not overwhelming! Thanks.
Tough question, I’d say morning pages to start my day off in a meditative state…although, I love a good nighttime journaling session to reflect on the day 🙂
These are both beautiful and my tea and coffee drinking wife would be thrilled to receive them (and I promise to advise her that they came from you). And she is a night owl journaler. Thank you for considering.
Night owl, here! It helps me review my day, and wind down before bed.
I’m definitely a night owl journaler. I barely know my own name before noon! Thanks for the giveaway.
I’m such a night owl journaler. The only thing I prefer to do in the mornings is sleep. lol. Thanks for the chance and I hope you have a wonderful day!
I am a morning journaler. I get into the office, check my emails, grab a cup of tea and then recap the day before and start a page for the new day. I also mark up my habit tracker, review my calendar and my to-do list. I find writing everything down keeps me organized and I have an alibi should I be brought in for police questioning.
Used to be a morning journaler. . . now an evening one!!
I’m a little bit of both, but particularly a morning journaler, as if helps me start my day productively.
I’m definitely a night journaler. I use it to decompress if needed and to describe what went on in the day.
Gosh it really depends. Sometimes I’m a morning journaler, many times I will close out the day with my journal, and then there are times when I’m on a business trip and know that my mornings and evenings are packed with work commitments, at which point I’ll probably journal during my lunch hour or between work sessions. If I had to pick, though? Evening. Then I will write pages and pages and pages!
ohhhh, these are lovely! I’m mostly a night owl journaler myself, though I do often spend time with my planner at the start of the day, making sure I know what’s ahead of me; haha, I contain multitudes, as do we all. But night is generally my catch-up, gosh-I’d-better-write-this-down-so-I-don’t-forget-it time.
I’m a morning journaler for weather and gratitude, and an evening writer to capture the day. These little notebooks are so cute!
I’m a morning pages journaler. I like to get my thoughts down for the day and enjoy a cuppa of caffeine.
I am definitely a night owl journaler. I write about my day.
I’m a morning pages writer but absolutely a night owl of a person
I would consider myself a night owl journaler but would love to be a morning pages kinda person.
Hi there, I’m mostly an early morning, “when all the thoughts are mine to think” journal writer. However, I also always have a notebook and pen with me because I never know when something will occur to me. I wrote about this here: https://bradberens.substack.com/p/thought-flavors
I enjoy your blog. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Brad Berens
I’d like the evening journal, even though I prefer my coffee just plain black. I’ve always been a night owl, much to the consternation of my wife (and my parents when I was still in school). I read sometime back that as a general rule, those born in the morning/afternoon tend to be morning people, while folks born at night tend to be real night owls. I was born at night (just not last night, as I’ve often told my stepkids), and I am a huge night owl. Staying up late reading followed by trying to stay awake in class did not a good week make. As an unofficially disabled adult, I tend to go to bed around 4 or 5 am, on average. But I don’t sleep an inordinate amount of hours, still only 7 or 8. But still to my wife’s high levels of dismay and consternation.
These are adorable. I am better with night journaling. Part of my bedtime ritual is to write in my journal just synopsis of my day, or if I had some high emotions I might journal about that. So I would say I prefer the Night Journal. Thanks for the great giveaway.
I write in my journal at different times of the day, whenever I have time. This mostly works, but I do get a day or two behind from time to time 🙁 These look like useful little books.
Any more, it’s Any Time I Can Find a Minute Journaling. But evening/late journaling is more my preference.
I’m an experienced fountain pen and stationery person, but haven’t really tried much journaling yet. These lil books might be a good nudge for me to start!
I am generally a night owl! But I journal whenever I have the time, which usually means mid-afternoon exhausted pigeon…. haha
Most often I’m a night person. If I get up early I can get busy concentrating and being productive. But more often I get involved in tasks in the evening and stay up later than I plan.
Night owl all the way!
Definitely I’m night owl. Usually I catch up with my diary (i’m doing the 5 year journal which is also very short & deep minded) in the evening after everyone went to bed.
I have also tried a graceful diary, but i’m not good at it. I’d like to try any of these (i can use the morning one in the evening, right?)
Like you I am a serially failed journaler, in part due to blank page intimidation. I’m intrigued by the small page option. I do creative work and would try using it as an evening brain dump of ideas.
I’m definitely a morning pages girl, but the weekend one you tried out sounds intriguing, too. I may have to throw it into my cart when I next order from Jetpens. Thanks for the giveaway and the review.
On weekdays, I am totally a morning person when it comes to journaling. Nighttime is for dinner and TV, showering and sleep. On the weekend, I journal whenever, especially if I have new stationery or a pen to use for the first time 🙂 So, naturally, I would be delighted to try this morning diary and to spill over my reflections since tomorrow’s plans are for tomorrow morning (I wake up early).
I love quiet reflective mornings before the world wakes up when I can sit with a cup of coffee and my journal to collect my thoughts and ideas.
I would be both morning person and night owl journaler if the world would let me. Most of the time it’s only late night journaling for me when all the wife/kids are asleep.
My morning notebook is tied to my fiction writing, but I’ve always wanted to incorporate an evening journaling ritual as part of the transition from work to rest. The small spaces and the tidy layout of these journals make that seem manageable and satsifying.
So I actually do a bit of both. My local coffee shop is inside an independent bookstore and less than 5 minutes from where I live to depending on the day, I go for a drink (either coffee or they have an amazing basil lemonade) and sit and write or I even update my reading journal as I sit and read.
No mornings for me, don’t even know what happens at that time of day.
It honestly depends on when I’m awake and not actively doing something else. The nice thing about night journaling is I can write everything down at once, after it’s already happened, instead of having to think about that during the day. By nighttime, I’ve got a sense of what’s important and deserves to be noted down.
Morning, with my Irish breakfast Tea. The calmest soul setting moment of my day