My Hobonichi Lineup: What Works, What Doesn’t, and What’s Changing

[ninagobragh]

I love a good planner. I also love having many planners. In my defense, they all serve a different purpose—at least, that’s what I tell myself every time I justify adding another one to the collection. Thanks ADHD!

Right now, my Hobonichi lineup consists of four (soon to be five) planners: the Day-Free, the Cousin (A5-size), the Five-Year, and two Weeks. Each one has its own role in my daily life for a while now. I've found that some work better for me than others through trial and error.

Day-Free: My Everyday Companion

The Day-Free is my commonplace book. It stays in my bag and I carry with me all the time. I use it for long-term notes, thoughts I want to keep, and things I know I’ll want to reference later. It doesn’t have a daily structure and that works in my favor for this purpose.

I don’t bother with the monthly calendar at all, so those pages just sit there untouched (sorry, purists). I tried to use it as a media tracker -- when Netflix released movies and TV shows, for instance, and it didn't work out that way. Instead, I pair it with a Midori A6 notebook for more immediate, scratch notes—some of which eventually make it into the Day-Free, some of which just stay in the Midori and never see the light of day again (think therapy notes). That notebook is about halfway full, so I'll probably purchase another one shortly.

Five-Year: The Unexpected Journal Habit

This is my first year using the Five-Year, and honestly? I love it! I didn’t think I’d be consistent with it, but it turns out that keeping daily notes and small observations has become a natural part of my routine. It’s the closest I’ve ever come to a true daily journal habit, and I really like that I’ll be able to compare entries year over year.

It also has that green tweed cover, which makes it feel even more like a treasured keepsake. That fabric is nice to hold. And that little bee snap? Cuuuute.

Weeks #1: Tarot Tracking

I have two regular-sized Weeks, and the first is completely dedicated to Tarot tracking. (Yeah, I know. Blah blah Tarot tracking blah blah. There's a method to this meshugas that I'll talk about way in the future, but even still, so what? Let people enjoy Tarot cards.)

• The daily pages: where I write my daily card pulls and any reflections
• The monthly calendar: used to record my full Tarot spreads for each month (the square days look like little cards!)
• The index: makes it easier to reference past readings quickly

I love how compact the Weeks is, and the layout just makes sense for this kind of tracking.

Cousin: A Love/Hate Relationship

Now, let’s talk about my Cousin (A5-size)—the planner I have the most complicated feelings about.

I use it as my daily planner and journal. I love parts of it, but some things just don’t work for me.

• Monthly & weekly pages: I use these for appointments. No complaints here.
• Daily pages: Each day’s layout is the same:
  • The top check boxes track my daily routines.
  • The left sidebar lists my daily tasks (which change depending on the day).
  • The large space is for journaling—sometimes just reflections, other times I pull a prompt from the 3000 Questions About Me book.

My problem? Flipping back and forth. I love the structure of the Cousin, but constantly jumping between the daily pages and the weekly/monthly spreads makes it feel a little tedious. I'm over a month in and I'm already tired of this.

Weeks #2: The Cousin Alternative

I finally caved and admitted to myself that the Weeks layout makes more sense for me. I grabbed another one from the new Spring lineup when it was released last week. (I got a cute quilted cover from the same Etsy seller that made the one for my other Weeks, too.)

At the end of the month, I’ll be shifting my daily planning into the second Weeks. The Cousin will still have a place in my routine, but it’ll be used solely for journaling with the 3000 Questions book, while the Five-Year will continue to be my space for quick daily reflections.

Final Thoughts

Hobonichi Techo planners are incredible, but they’re only as good as your workflow. Over time (and because I've used paper planners consistently forever), I’ve learned that just because a planner is well-designed doesn’t mean it’s well-designed for me. The Cousin is beautiful and functional, but I need something that I don't have to flip through, which is why I’m excited to see how the Weeks fits into my daily planning going forward.

Will this be my final lineup? Probably not (otherwise, I wouldn't have written this). But for now, I think I’ve found a balance that works.

There's also one other planner I use daily that isn't part of my Hobonichi lineup. I'll write about that one another time, too.