Journals and Planners for 2022

[lunabee34]

Hello, comm! It's been quite awhile since we've seen any activity in this community, but hopefully that can change.

It's the start of a new year, so many of us have begun new planners and/or journals. Many of us are using other new stationery items since the comm was last active.

Tell us all about it in the comments to this post or make a new top-level post to share. We'd love to see this comm get more active in 2022.

Comments

[lunabee34]

Since the comm was last active, I found Jetpens.com and have gotten into Japanese stationery. I've also fallen down the rabbit hole of fountain pens, but that really deserves a top level post.

This year, I've been using the Kokuyo Jibun Techo Biz Diary for my planner. I love it. It is seriously awesome. It has so much functionality and the paper is amazing and will hold up to fountain pen use. I'm treating it as a journal/planner to be kept rather than as a planner which I always get rid of when the year is done. The gantt chart habit tracking is off the chain in this planner. *chef's kiss*

[vriddy]

Oh that diary looks awesome! I love the bilingual aspect, haha. I looked at the screenshots but I'm not quite sure what you mean with the gantt chart habit tracking?? That sounds interesting!

[vriddy]

I've been struggling to keep both a journal and planner, although I'm more interested in figuring out the latter at the moment since there is so much stuff to keep track ooofff, in so many areas of life 😂 My problem is that they tend to quickly become endless to-do lists and utterly joyless to use, so I give up after 10 pages or a couple of weeks. I'm looking to set up something electronic next time around, since acquiring a e-ink writing tablet which is incredibly pleasant to write on.

I'm looking forward to being inspired by people sharing how they organise themselves, and other tips and discussions! I was very excited to hear about this community during the snowflake_challenge.

[finch]

I misread this comment and thought for a minute you were somehow doing a snowflake_challenge about journaling, and now I want that to exist.

[lunabee34]

I don't have any experience using electronic planners, so I hope someone with experience using them will chime in.

Welcome!

I hope we can get some regular activity back in the comm; if this first post is any prediction, signs look good. :)

[annofowlshire]

The Hero’s Journal I was doing sells a PDF version that has a layout for use in a notes app for those using stylus/etc. I don’t know if it’s the planner you need, but might be worth looking at.

https://theherosjournal.co/

[sheafrotherdon]

A thing I've learned to do to battle the never-ending to-do-list situation is to keep an Achievements! list too. One one side of a two-page spread I have the to-do stuff, and on the other I write down everything single thing I achieve, whether it was on the to-do list or not. It's so handy. I get a sense of how much stuff I've done, and how much progress I've made on various things, even if I'm only part of the way toward striking something from the to-do list entirely.

[annofowlshire]

I started the year with my Urban Writer’s Writing Planner, a Moon Diary, and a Hero’s Journal (Magic Academy Edition).

At the moment I use the Writing Planner mostly to track daily word counts, and have set aside the Hero’s Journal for now because it’s very mono-focused on a single goal which is great if that’s what you’re doing, but I have so many bits of my life to keep track of (mum things, work things, household things, gardening things, craft things) that it wasn’t quite cutting it and I didn’t want to add something else. The Moon Diary has barely been touched.

*sigh*

So I ended up resurrecting some half used A5 Leuchttrum notebooks and I’ve been using them in a sort of BuJo fashion to track daily schedules (family, household, outdoors, work), Big Lists of Things To Do This Month or Week (all), and various other things that crop up along the way.

Less elegant, but it’s working for the moment, though, so I guess that’s what’s important!

[severina]

If you move beyond daily word count tracking in your writing planner, I hope you'll share! I've thought of starting one so many times and I've even looked up what some people put in them, but I just can't seem to get my head around it for myself.

[lunabee34]

I think something focused on a single goal wouldn't work very well for me either.

What works is always the best, I say!

I really love my Kokuyo Jibun Techo, but I think next year, I'm going with the Leuchtturm Monthly Planner. In my heart of hearts, I really want a planner to toss and a journal to keep. Trying to combine the two functions in the Techo just doesn't work for me. Also, the Techo is really built for people who write small, and I am learning and have come to embrace the fine point in a way I never thought possible, but I really just need more room in a planner.

[used_songs]

For work I'm using an undated Trees Planner - one page per day with slots for each hour, a to-do list and top 3 goals for the day. I've tried many other planners, but for work I needed something incredibly simple or I just wouldn't do it. It also has a meals and notes section at the bottom of each page and I use those spaces for notes from my meetings and a short précis of what we did in class each day (since nothing ever works out the way you assume it will in a lesson!).

[lunabee34]

Ha! So true. I keep a file called Things to Do Different which is a running tally of all the assignments and etc. that didn't work and need to be revised at the end of each semester.

I've never used an undated planner, but that's such a useful concept. No page ever gets wasted.

[spikedluv]

Hi! I'm new to the idea of journaling, though not to daily planners. I have three different planners, one for fandom things (I mod several comms and if I don't write it down I forget to do the thing), one for paying household bills, and one for tracking my walks (and other things, because I want to spread out).

This is the planner I purchased to keep track of my walks (times and distance) as well as a summary of steps, walks and miles. I went bigger because I wanted to also keep track of my meals/snacks (I'm trying to get back to low-carb eating because of diabetes), but I also want to use it for other things.

Some ideas of gotten are a) gratitudes and b) books read. I'm hoping to find more ideas that click with me. I don't really want to make it into a to-do list journal. After I started keeping this journal in January, I realized that perhaps a bullet-type journal would be better for my needs. I've seen some really cool set-ups that folk have shared. That said, I paid enough for this that I'm not going to toss it, so I'll have some time (11 months!) to figure out if the bullet journal will really be for me.

ETA: I also meant to say that I just placed an order for some stickers that I'm really excited to get and use!!

[lunabee34]

I love stickers. Love love love. YMMV, but I have found that I like using stickers made of washi paper best because they are so thin and don't bulk up a journal. If you plan to throw the planner out at the end of the year, it doesn't so much matter.

I love gratitude journaling. The beginning pages of my Techo have a column for each month of the year with a small space for each day, really just enough space to write a small phrase. So each day, I write down the best thing that happened the preceding day (the thing I'm most grateful for) in that column. I like doing it the day after because I really have to think about what happened rather than being rote about it.

I will be no help with bullet journaling, alas. It looks and sounds so cool, but I can't wrap my head around it. I've never been able to make it work for me. That being said, there's a ton of resources out there, and I can point you to some if you're interested.

[annofowlshire]

For a while I used a Traveler’s Notebook system (I mean sometimes I still do) which had a few small notebooks inside of a reusable leather journal that bound them together. One of the notebooks was “Life in Lists” where I did things like track my books read, interesting quotes, new places I visited (I’d just moved to a new city/country), and probably other things I’m forgetting. It was quite a nice way to keep a “review” the year. I don’t know why I stopped really…

I don’t gratitude journal regularly, but I find it helpful when I need to remind myself that actually things are good and I’m just having a grump XD

[althea_valara]

I started bullet journaling in January! When I did, I posted a photo in my journal of the supplies I bought. Here's that photo again, click to embiggen:



Description of pic: On the right are three green and pink journals with "great ideas start here" on the cover; below that is a pink and black journal with "good vibes only" on the cover; to its left is a black and pink journal with "goals" written on the cover; above that is a basket to store everything in; and on the left are an assortment of glitter pens and colored pens.

I would have liked to get a journal that's made for bullet journaling, but I have very limited income and those types of journals are just too expansive. I bought these supplies at the $1.25 store. I was a bit hesitant about the journals because they don't lie flat when open, but they're very flexible so I can bend the pages all the way back which makes it easier to write in.

So far, the bujo experiment is going great! I've been keeping up with writing in it daily. Sometimes I do plan out ahead what I want to tackle that day, but other days I write things as I do them.

One thing that's not working for me is the Monthly Log pages; on the left hand page you're supposed to write the dates for the full month and fill in any appointments you have, and on the right hand page you list the monthly goals. Well, because I don't work I just don't have that many appointments, so I keep forgetting to look at those pages, which means one of my monthly goals for January slipped through the cracks because I forgot about it.

So I think going forward I'm going to borrow a page from lassarina who shared with me her layout; she does do a monthly overview spread but the left side is a habit tracker, which sounds like it'd be better for me than an appointments page.

[severina]

I think it's smart when you're starting out to just buy cheaper supplies. I know I went through at least 2 journals that I ended up using for other things because I didn't like the layouts that I tried or made some big mistakes in them. I call mine not-really-a-bullet-journal because I don't generally follow any of the logs or little codes that you're supposed to use in a bullet journal.

[lunabee34]

I love the pink pages on the journal with the green cover. Little details like that are *chef's kiss*.

I agree with severina's comment below that starting out inexpensively until you know what you like is so smart. Then you can commit to more expensive materials.

[severina]

I made a whole big post here the other night and then didn't remember that I had to change all my photo links so none of the photos showed up, so I just angrily took it down. I'll put it back up eventually to share what I do.

I have 5 different journals: one for reading challenges and tracking, one for book reviews, one for yearly planning things, one for monthly planning things, and one now for my new Lets Gets Healthy tracking. Yes, I'm a little obsessed. Looking forward to sharing and hopefully learning a lot!

[lunabee34]

Please do! I'm interested in seeing your process.

I have so many notebooks going myself. They're not all planners, but I've got a password notebook, a notebook where I balance the checking account, a to-do list notebook, my journal, my Jibun Techo planner, my nature journal, a notebook where I'm taking notes on what I'm reading, a notebook I'm keeping committee notes in, my prayer notebook. Maybe that's it? I have a notebook habit. LOL

[justanorthernlight]

I've been using bloom planners Vision Planner for a little over a year now. (Mine is a different cover/color scheme, but that particular one is sold out).

It has a page for setting goals and breaking those goals down into actionable steps at the beginning of each month, which I have found really helpful. I'm not saying it was responsible for me finishing a fanwork for the first time since 2017 last year, or responsible for me going back to college, but I find the structure works really well for me :)

I also like the goal setting worksheets at the front of the planner- I don't do all of them at once I work on them off and on when I need the inspiration.

Downsides with it are the daily columns are kind of narrow, there's no habit tracker (although I do draw one up myself in the 'notes' column of the weekly spreads), and the paper is kind of midrange. Not terrible, but not premium either.

[lunabee34]

Ooooh breaking down goals into actionable steps. That is so so important. I'd love to see a top-level post about that at some point if you're up to it.

Also congrats on accomplishing so much!

The daily columns are narrow in the Jibun Techo I'm using as well. I need more room. I think I'm moving to the Leuchturrm Monthly Planner next year.

[finch]

This year I went back to Benebell Wen's Metaphysician's Day Planner because it's the only planner I've ever had long-term success with.

[lunabee34]

That is a work of art.

*admires*

[thistleingrey]

Not so much as a planner but for handwriting practice, so that my hand doesn't forget how to do things with a pen :) I've been enjoying the Kokuyo Jibun Techo Lite so far. My previous paper planner was a Stalogy 365Days A6, which I used for dayjob notetaking, variable length per day. Lately I don't take notes by hand much, but having monthly and weekly overviews of things that I don't need to add artificially to a web-based calendar/schedule has been very pleasant. The webcal is to remind me to go places as needed; the paper journal is sort of the reaction-shots version. :)

[lunabee34]

I haven't used a Stalogy before, but I hear really good things about the paper. The next time I need a notebook (probably won't use it as a planner), I'm going to get a Stalogy to try. Unfortunately, I have enough notebooks to last me until the next decade, so might be awhile. LOL

I'm using the Kokuyo Jibun Techo this year, and I love it love it. Such a fantastic planner. I am continually in awe of the amount of functionality stuffed in there.

[sargas]

Simple planners work best for me, so I'm using a monthly + weekly planner again this year. It helps track my work schedule, but most of what I write down are achievements and gratitude. I can easily over-plan for my week and it's too discouraging to look back on all the things I didn't actually get done; so I limit my tasks to a primary weekly goal, and put smaller task reminders on a sticky note that I can trash later.

Most of my daily entries are Done tasks like routine chores (put away laundry, ran the dishwasher) that I normally wouldn't put on the to-do list in the first place. When the week is over and I feel like I haven't done enough, it helps to look back on all the maintenance tasks I've spent time on, and see that I'm doing okay after all. Listing a gratitude or two with the achievements can help me also--for example, maybe I didn't get much done at work, but I had a nice time socializing with a colleague a bit more than I normally would, and that matters too.

I use my planner in part for motivation, so finishing the day on a positive note with what *did* go well is a big help when moving into the next day.

[lunabee34]

I love that! Your planner becomes a record of how awesome you are. That's a wonderful way to use it. :)

[gwaihiril]

I'm still using a Hobonichi planner, but have gone from the A5 cousin in 2020 to Weeks in 2021 and this year the A6 original. This has primarily been driven by changing jobs - I am shifting away from tracking work and more using it as a journal. I didn't think I needed as much space as the A5 to write with the new job, but then I didn't end up using the Weeks much at all, so am experimenting with something in between tracking tasks and journaling. I tend to be pretty minimalist, but I just ordered some washi tape from JetPens and we'll see if I end up using it. Still mostly using a Pilot Metropolitan EF as a daily carry pen, though I was given a TWSBI Vac 700 for Christmas that I like.

[lunabee34]

I wanted a Hobonichi Techo so badly, but I realized after my experience with using a Cosmo Air Lite journal that the paper is just too fussy for me. Like, I love the way ink looks on the paper, and I adore all the functionality of the Hobonichi, but having to protect the page from hand oils or risk fountain pen ink beading up means that I would only use it at my desk with a sheet under my hand as I write, and I'm tired of doing that with the Cosmo.

What washi tape did you get? I love washi tape!