I think it isn’t wrong to claim that Christmas does start in September because I always feel that way whenever Hobonichi starts to put up their new releases on sale. Do you not feel the same?
People who follow brand talk about the excitement and share the items they plan to get for the following year on social media, which isn’t really hard to miss. A few days after the first three days of official release, that’s when we start seeing unboxing videos on YouTube and it even gets more exciting, extending that feeling until the following month when we are all just excited to setup the items we expected to get and eventually how we all plan to use them.
I didn’t dwell much on the unboxing this year as when I did for the first time last year. I did, however, put up several chatty videos leading to how I plan to use four Hobonichi notebooks. Yes, you read that right FOUR notebooks, 4. It wasn’t my original intention to be honest, I only really really intended to use one main planner for planning but I ended up with four because this year’s releases seems to be too good to pass. Besides, I find that I could always think of ways to use stationery by watching how other people try to use it. It always seem like a good idea to experiment to see what works and what doesn’t, right?
First off, the only one thing that I thought I needed for the following year was another Hobonichi weeks notebook. I’ve found a system of using it on planning and scheduling, together with my micro 5 system planner, for anything that involves life as it happens.
It is the first time they released a week’s version of the Liberty Fabrics and it was what got me interested in getting the Joanna Louise design for this year. But lo and behold, they also released a Loft collaboration which feature an Eric Carle special edition, particularly on his popular storybook called The Very Hungry Caterpillar.
So now, I thought of using these weeks notebook for tracking children’s growth and development, one for each kid. Somehow, I’m glad that they had the weeks version because I’m most comfortable using this layout. In addition, they also had the original cover but because Loft exclusively sells it with the original techo. Since I wanted the cover for future use, I unintentionally have a Hobonichi original notebook.
For what use I have with this unexpected purchase, I thought of starting a daily gratitude journal instead. I’ve never started on one before although I did have something similar previously, might as well try to start on one. I wanted to keep it simple and dedicate the notebook for writing without any embellishments and kept it covered with the Galen Leather slim notebook cover in A6, perfect fit. But then, this isn’t necessarily a planner but an addition to my daily notebook routine. Plus, I also wanted to experiment on this weekly supplement as a self-care tracker which was a perfect partner for the journal. Let’s see how that goes…
Last but not the least is my daily to-do list notebook, which also doubles as a brain dump and anything to write on. It isn’t necessarily a Hobonichi notebook (I could have used the Hobonichi orginal one but it would be such a waste), but the cover is a current release that I first hesitated on getting.
Ta-da! It’s a design from my all-time long time favorite video game, Animal Crossing!!! This game became quite popular last year when Nintendo decided to release it on the Switch console but it has been available since the DS way back 2013 or earlier. it has gotten better of course, with the improved graphics and technology and what better way for them to promote it with collaborating with Hobonichi.
I don’t necessarily do dailies but I find this way of just dumping an everyday to-do list less overwhelming especially when things get a little out of hand. It’s more like bullet journaling which isn’t completely one. I find it really working for me since I started such to-do list writing and brain dumps simply at first on tiny memo pads several years back until I experimented with bullet journaling when I started working. However, I find it troublesome to prepare the BuJo layouts every time so I opted for a dated planner and somehow forgotten about the daily to-do list habit that actually worked for me. And so now that I’m back at it, the cover and the pencil board makes it motivating for me to quickly write what needs to be done no matter how monotonous it may be.
My current challenge now is how to maintain four notebooks daily, yes everyday! The other journals that I have for memory keeping, probably except for the gratitude journal and self-care tracker, I could do away without having to write an entry everyday but planners, I don’t think so. Otherwise, I could lose track of doing them and it won’t do me good especially if I’m trying to make it a habit. But of course, we all try our best and so will I 😉
How about you? What planners will you be keeping for 2022? Let me know of any ideas you may have by leaving a comment in this post. It’s always good to know how people use these things since as well all know, planner systems isn’t always constant LOL. If you want to watch a video of me showing these goodies, you can check out the YouTube upload in this link >> Hobonichi 2022 Lineup
~ヾ(＾∇＾) Happy brewing!
-Louie
I love the spunky orange color and geometric design on the box. You’d know it’s really a good quality product if the packaging speaks for itself. 
You’ll find the “ONLY IS NOT LONELY” written where your address is written as you peel if off and shred it for privacy. As well the monkey character, both of which was on their book covers in their early releases. 
As you open the top cover, there’s a flap that covers the product and this quote written on hope. Very lovely and inspiring 🙂
As you remove the flap, you’ll find a brown paper cushion to cover the goods inside.
In addition to the techo, I also got my sister her Hobonichi weeks and a cover on cover as a late birthday and very early Christmas present. After setting up my techo on the dual cover in forest green and mint, here it is!
I also pimped it with a plastic cover on cover in this forest-y design in white and gold.
Welcome to my Hobonichi techo~!!!
Then there’s this monthly pages where I jot down appointments and scheduled events or activities and I mark the current month with one of the threaded bookmark.
Finally, there’s the daily entry where I bullet journal my to-dos, ideas, thoughts, etc. like how I usually do and I mark the current day with the other threaded bookmark.
There’s a lot of talk in SNS on how people colorfully and beautifully decorate each page on their techo but I’m not the type to do that. So I’m just showing you here an scheduled gas check on the apartment and a reminder to my self to buy toothpaste as we are almost running out. I didn’t write one on here but I usually do record what I had for dinner on that day and some thoughts that I don’t write on the Midori 3 years diary if they’re remarkably long. I won’t go into further details on what’s on the techo but what I really considered on choosing the English or the Japanese version was the daily quotes you would find on each page. I thought if I get the Japanese one I may not enjoy reading them especially if the meaning is just beyond me. Unlike the English version, this to me is very straightforward and enlightening.
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