A few months in and I finally got to sit down and write about my current planner system. Ohh how I love my current system. A lot changed since declaring I achieved planner peace. Forget planner peace – it doesn’t really work. For me that is. I easily get curious with pretty. Well it is achievable but good luck with that one.
My setup last year was solid but this year I decided to ditch my trusty weeks to try the Jibun Techo. I won’t review this planner because there are numerous comparison videos on YT that can do it justice. But here’s a few reasons why I decided to go with the JT this year:
Planner size
I prefer a system with lots of space, for obvious reasons, but didn’t like how spacious the cousin was. I don’t have much going on my daily life and I rarely journal. The JT has an A5 sized planner but a slimmer version of the cousin – A5 slim. Enough real estate for the not so busy me.
Preferred format
The various configuration of the cousin – weekly, daily, monthly, etc etc. – was very hard to keep up. It was daunting. Seeing my daily pages unloved was painful. I also didn’t want to waste my time leafing through each section. I wished for a planner that only had monthly and weekly. Achievable with a bullet journal system but didn’t have the time. Don’t get me wrong, the JT also has numerous sections however it’s not as clunky as the cousin.
Type of paper
I love my tomoe river paper but the mio paper that the JT has is a dream. Its smoother to write on and quite resistant to fountain pen ink. It’s not indestructible but its comparable to tomoe river paper.
The only con I can think about the Jibun is the availability. I had to purchase mine via Etsy because Kokuyo doesn’t have international shipping. It’s a hassle unlike purchasing a Hobonichi. Wished they’d cater to use international folks. Enough with all that. Now, I want to share my current setup ~
I’m the type of person who plans in the morning before I start my day. My usual spreads are empty. Here’s how it usually looks like.
As the week progress, I slowly jot down everything I need to accomplish. Top most part is for sleep tracking and then work. At the bottom part are tasks for the day and meal tracking.
I do the bare minimum of bullet journaling. List down task for the day/week. Mark off status when complete. Tasks that are not done gets migrated next week. I also have a memo pad weeks (those you can buy 3/pack) for dumps and extra note taking.
I used the first three months to experiment. Do I decorate or not. Used different pens and highlights. Washi tape + sticker combination or bare.
Unlike other users, I decorate lightly and will ALWAYS use black ink. Little highlighting as possible. I only highlight the sleep section and time block for work. I did however discover stamps and Versamagic inkpads!
Some of the pages that I don’t need, I either repurpose or collage over. Still not done with majority of them . . . and I suck at collaging. I love it and it is an interesting hobby but so challenging to find a style.
Here’s some template pages that I re-purposed to fit my needs.
Tools
Also got to give love to my favorite inks. I’m a leftie so choosing the right ink is important. It needs to dry quickly and it needs to be vibrant. My favorite inks are:
Platinum Carbon Ink
Kyo No Oto Nurebairo
Parker Quink Black
I also utilize different planning supplies – if I want to be extra that week. I’ll talk about it on a different post since I have a few in rotation. I’m still using my Atoma notebook for blogging notes. I still love the versatility but found a few issue that bugs me. After I’m done with the pages, thinking of trying a different notebook. Lets see. That’s it for me. I’m loving the current setup but also know that something will change next year. For now, this is my current 2019 planning system. What are you using this year?
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