Multi-year diaries

[octahedrite]

An example is the Hobonichi 5-year techo.

Have you used one? What does a random page look like? What have you found it most helpful for over a page-a-day diary or undated diary?

I am considering getting one. I'm just afraid of, you know, using it for 2 weeks and forgetting about it. I think it would be helpful for tracking long term goals and doing bite-sized journaling.

Comments

[bluedreaming]

I have the hobonichi 5 year and I got it for writing a daily haiku (for which it’s perfect). I kind of keep falling on and off the wagon with writing them but I now decided to ignore the year and just write on the correct day when I manage (noting the year), and the parallel of having the spread for each day is really nice and will be even nicer when I get it more filled out. I think the benefit of this kind of layout is that it’s the analog equivalent of journal or social media apps that tell you “these are some things you did in the past on N day”.

[yhlee]

Oh, what a beautiful idea! I love it.

[pasta]

My husband used it for two years, just filling up the space with happenings of the day, and then just gradually stopped. It was nice while it lasted, haha.

[lunabee34]

I haven't used one yet, but I am really enamored with the concept and will probably get one at some point. I love how many beautiful options there are. I am really taken with the Midori options, but there are other really nice ones out there, too.

[gumbie_cat]

I have a 3 year one with enough space to write two or three paragraphs about the day. This is the second year, and I've been keeping up with it fairly well for the most part. I don't use it for any sort of goal setting/tracking, just a summary of what my day was like.

It's also a good way to use more of my fountain pens and ink. I pick a different pen and ink combo for each month, which looks very pretty when flicking through. And in December, I wrote the first line in the Inkvent ink for that day. Sometimes, I'll add a countdown to a specific goal or event.

It's interesting to read about what I was up to a year ago, and sometimes I'll add commentary to the previous year's entry. If I don't have much to say on a given day I'll write a quote that fits my mood or pull out the stickers.

Overall, I like it enough that I'm almost certain I'll start another when this one is full.

[octahedrite]

A bit literal :P But thanks!

[octahedrite]

Thanks for sharing! Daily haiku sounds like a perfect use case honestly.

[octahedrite]

If only our budgets matched our desires... I need to block jetpens from my entire home wifi lol

[octahedrite]

That's probably what I'll do if I get one (write about my day, not the gradual stopping part, hopefully). Thanks for sharing!

[octahedrite]

This is very helpful, thanks! Putting down a quote/sticker is a good way to avoid empty gaps.

[pasta]

I got his mom one too, and she's been doing it for 2 years. She doesn't always fill up the space, sometimes it's just a sentence or two!

[octahedrite]

After I posted this I watched a YT video of a guy flipping through his nearly-filled 5year diary. He sometimes wrote only 1-2 words for a day (e.g., sick day, anniversary, video editing, etc). Similar to your MIL, just a bit!

[pasta]

I was so tempted to get one this year, but I ended up going with the HON. Weeks is my memory keeper of choice. https://www.instagram.com/p/CmRm46guHz9/

[octahedrite]

Cool video!

I considered the Weeks for planning (not recording). Was going to buy from jetpens but the one I wanted is $34.5 and free shipping starts at $35. (ノಠ益ಠ)ノ彡┻━┻

[pasta]

Haha, buy a pen or something to just get right there!! Or maybe a pencil board as an accessory! The HON is for my planning this year, I think. I don't know if I'll keep up with it, we'll see. It's my 10th year in Hobonichi!

[lunabee34]

OMG, I know. I currently have an order on the way from them. LOL

[feast_of_regrets]

I haven't ever had one (I always looked at the tiny space available per day and thought 'Are you kidding me?') but I just got a Hobonichi A5 5 year this year and I'm going to make a sort of textbook out of it. If I like it a lot, my daily Tarot pulls might move in there next year. I think it's well suited to off label uses, especially ones that make it so you don't actually have to check in with it every day.

[octahedrite]

A textbook? Do tell.

[feast_of_regrets]

Gladly :) I have a book (Chang's 36 Secrets) that walks through the minor arcana of the Tarot in their astrological seasons per the Golden Dawn (which is not an organization I'm wild about, but I want to learn the associations anyway). None of my other books have enough room to do the cards on the dates and also fit my notes on the astrology itself (which I know nothing about). It finally occurred to me that a Hobonichi 5 year has a full A4's worth of space per page layout if you cross out the other years, and it's still dated for the walk through the seasons. So I'm going to dedicate the whole book to a 2025 study of Tarot + astrology, and I have about five books that I want to work through and note in this one book (different authors' takes on the various cards, plus some exercises for me to do to consolidate my own thoughts). I'm still figuring out the layout (and whether to print pictures or not), but I should end up with a nice reference book by the end of the year. I just got the book in hand Monday afternoon, so I'm excited to start laying things out a bit more this weekend.