This is awesome thanks for sharing! Late last year, i realized I had completely neglected my commonplace book (a Stayology notebook). I also had a separate personal life planner, which I never used (Ink + Volt has been awesome for work). Then I realized I could do more monthly/weekly planning in the commonplace notebook! It has been great, I track my workouts, plan memory keeping spreads, track what I read, keep to-do lists, break down home and personal projects and keep interesting quotes or nuggets of info. I bring it with me to museums to document things or take notes from books or events I attend. I love it and I’ll definitely fill it up by early 2025 and get a new one!
New for me for 2025 will be the Hemlock and Oak Daily Flex Duo for Memory keeping. ( I like what Heba does in her H&O). I am still going to use a Hobonichi Cousin but I’m going to move it from memory keeping to document health; fitness and self-care. ( I’m still going to use the weekly section to add my laundry list of my actual daily activities). For craft planning, I am going to use the Golden Coil with the project sheets that you previously used. The layout has worked out awesome for me since I just want a simple “month at a glance” categorized listing of what I want to accomplish with the ability to highlight and check off completed items,
This sounds like a great plan! The H&O books are great quality, I am not familiar with that particular layout, but I used the daily one before and loved some things about it. The Golden Coil one is a great option too. I probably would've stuck with that if they used different paper, their paper is nice quality, but it's just not the type I like for the pens I use (I'm a tomoe river paper girlie ha).
I too am a lefty and have a hard time with the smaller books. I have tried multiple times to use the smaller sized books but i tend to dump them pretty quickly. A5 is the smallest i will go. I feel comfortable in that size. I have also tried larger books including 8.5x11 and thats just too big. Too much space to fill in. Right now i know that i will continue using the Hobonichi Avec for my everyday carry, I am switching to a hemlock and oak vertical weekly for my memory keeping, hemlock and oak daily for journaling. And a Makse vertical planner for goal setting and basically catch all planner for life. And i will continue to use the Hobonichi day free for crafting plans, which i started because of you and LOVE IT!
HI FELLOW LEFTY! (I also struggle with page bottoms). 2024 to 2025: I have a daily gratitude practice where I note 3 gratitudes for every day. I have been 100% consistent with that in both 2023 and 2024, though I do sometimes play catch-up with it on the weekends. I decided to break that out into its own book for 2025 where it's just gratitudes, so I got an A6 Hon for it. My plan is to use different pens and inks and play around with the lettering part more. Right now I do them in the daily pages of my Cousin. 2024 that did not work great: Weeks as a carry-around. 2025 solution: Sterling Ink 2025 N1 horizontal (TN size). I'm going to make that my everyday carry and then actually carry it around with me. I basically used my 2024 Cousin as a planner and it worked OK but too big to carry around with me. I basically think I am going to try to segment out the functions I used in 2024 into separate books and see how I like it, plus I added a Paddington Weeks to keep track of my BRAND NEW TRIPLET GRANDBABIES' milestones and photos and stuff. I have that all set up and ready to go. I bought way too many hobonichis but I'm okay with it. I wanted to try some of the different ones I've never used before, like the day free and the little A6 original.
Sounds like a fun line up! Totally get the dilemma of A5 being great for use but not for carrying around. I hope your line up works well for you. And congrats on the triplets, that’s so exciting!! ❤️
In 2024 I used Hobonichi weeks and in April, following your inspiration, I bought Hobonichi Cousin and I would say that I found the perfect combination for me. So for 2025 I have already purchased Hobonichi Cousin Avec because it's getting too chunky for me too.
Thanks for sharing! I LOVE the idea of doing a 5 year journal that starts on your birthday and ends on a big milestone! I also am similar to you in loving memory keeping but not the chunk. I’m still trying to figure out my system but also feeling the pull of an overflow journal.
I am hoping the avec solves my chunk issue and my plan is my overflow journal will be mostly just writing so hopefully it won’t bulk up too much. Happy you enjoyed my video! ❤️
I'm curious why you didn't like the common planner? Or is it just that you need a switch up. Rings are so pretty, but as a lefty I could never use them. I love the idea of the flexibility with that system though!
I have a lot of floating papers in my life and rings allows me to punch those babies and always know where they are at😂 Also I have a lot of forward planning which I found harder to keep under control with the common planner, just not enough room for all my stuff What I really, really love about a hobonichi or common planner is flipping through the whole year at once and seeing where I was and where I am. All my notes, thoughts, pictures-for whatever reason that part I don’t like in rings. I am torn, but productivity/organization has to come first as my sanity goes with it😊
@@cassandrascott2613 totally get this!! I think people have archive binders for their ring planners to store the completed pages to flip back through, those seem like a good solution.
Hi lefty sister! I love your videos! I like your idea for the 5-year Hobonichi journal as a home journal. I just might try that. I’m struggling with how to organize my 2025 lineup. I also didn’t keep up with my media journal this year. I have so many different planners and journals but not sure how to use them. Can’t wait to see what you will be doing for next year!
Hi, it's always fun to see other lefties in the community! The home journal has been working really well, especially because it's just so functional but, because it's also fun, I'm more likely to keep up with that boring stuff that needs to be taken care of (negatives of homeownership!). Good luck figuring out your 2025 line up, my video will be up next week sharing what I landed on, so maybe that will help.
I have a family calendar that is on my fridge so my husband can follow it (no digital for him). I have a LV mm agenda that is my walk around/purse planner. I reconcile the 2 about twice a week. In 2024 I am using a Prayerful Planner daily & love it. For 2025, I will be “frankenplanning” a weekly @ daily Prayerful Plamner. I’ve done so many - Erin condren, Franklin, Happy Planner, Fox. Is there a 12 step program? Oh & all the stickers. Please!!!!
Ha! I love trying different planners and journals, it can be so much fun to come up with a new system. As long as whatever you're doing works for you, that's great.
I don’t journal (yet) but I do have multiple books. For 2024 I was doing my family/home planning(sits open on the kitchen counter) in a eclp- hourly. It’s an academic year and until dec23 I also did some monthly memory keeping in it as well. Then Ali Edwards found me and I decided to get back into full sized memory keeping for 2024 and now have my separate project life albums for that. I’ll keep that eclp/project life for 2025. My everyday carry has been a plum paper a5 vertical priorities for a while having bounced around from hobo weeks to pp notes/days…. But with the project life community interest also came your channel and a few others that PL and hobo cousin. I had been considering cousin for 24 from other influences but bit the bullet at launch this year and will use cousin as my edc for 25. ❤ don’t think I’ll have chunky problems in 25 but if I stick to it I can see the avec being a thing in 26 🎉 thanks for sharing and can’t wait to see your 25 stack
Oooh I hope that you love the hobonichi cousin as much as I do! I think it works well in conjunction with Project Life, especially how I use my weeklies. My daughter has loved the ECLPs for the past few years, they look like really great quality too. I hope your 2025 line up works well for you!
I’m loving my Soft Paper Studios Weekly as an everyday carry and will continue with that (just started in late August). For my main journal, I’m honestly not sure. I’m researching A5 daily journal options outside of Hobonichi. Thinking about maybe going to a Hemlock & Oak which will also allow for stamping but IDK.
I'm happy the Soft Paper Studios weekly is working so well for you! I personally couldn't make the H&O work. I tried it in 2023 for my daily journal and ended up switching to the cousin. It is just massively thick, like a huge hardcover book, which makes it impossible to take anywhere and made it difficult to write in. It's a shame, because the page layout is great and the paper quality is amazing.
I am so excited I just ordered my first Hobonichi cousin planner. My question is do you have any bleedthrough with the pens you use. And can you also please tell me which pens work best? Thank you love your inspiration as always!
I do not have any bleed through, but there is slight ghosting. That is standard with TRP and you will get used to it. My favorite everyday pen is the Sarasa Mark-On 0.5: amzn.to/3HtzaeA. I also love the Tombow Fudenosukes for titles/bolder writing: amzn.to/4cjAFKp. This paper is also fountain pen friendly and works with a lot of pens and markers. I would suggest starting a pen test page towards the back of the book (maybe one of the random pages they include at the back that don't really have much purpose, especially if they're in japanese) and testing out pens there to see what works for you.
Linda, can you please identify the one you use as a work planner? I am an attorney also and I think this one would really work but I don't see it listed.
Oh, sorry about that! It's the Papertess Designs Yearly Notebook (I have the undated version). Here is a link to the one I have: papertessdesigns.com/products/tn-the-yearly-notebook-2-0-undated-1?variant=45157556224266 in the TN size. There also is an A5 version.
It’s so hard to see your notebooks because you have everything zoomed out so far. ☹️ Kindly, it would be great if you could get a closer view of the notebook you were talking about versus ensuring all the others around it that aren’t even open are shown in the frame.
Thank you for the feedback! Sometimes I do this because I don't want people reading my personal writing, and want to show the overview instead. But I will keep this in mind for future videos.
This is awesome thanks for sharing! Late last year, i realized I had completely neglected my commonplace book (a Stayology notebook). I also had a separate personal life planner, which I never used (Ink + Volt has been awesome for work). Then I realized I could do more monthly/weekly planning in the commonplace notebook! It has been great, I track my workouts, plan memory keeping spreads, track what I read, keep to-do lists, break down home and personal projects and keep interesting quotes or nuggets of info. I bring it with me to museums to document things or take notes from books or events I attend. I love it and I’ll definitely fill it up by early 2025 and get a new one!
This is great! I love that you found a system that works for you. ❤️
New for me for 2025 will be the Hemlock and Oak Daily Flex Duo for Memory keeping. ( I like what Heba does in her H&O). I am still going to use a Hobonichi Cousin but I’m going to move it from memory keeping to document health; fitness and self-care. ( I’m still going to use the weekly section to add my laundry list of my actual daily activities). For craft planning, I am going to use the Golden Coil with the project sheets that you previously used. The layout has worked out awesome for me since I just want a simple “month at a glance” categorized listing of what I want to accomplish with the ability to highlight and check off completed items,
This sounds like a great plan! The H&O books are great quality, I am not familiar with that particular layout, but I used the daily one before and loved some things about it. The Golden Coil one is a great option too. I probably would've stuck with that if they used different paper, their paper is nice quality, but it's just not the type I like for the pens I use (I'm a tomoe river paper girlie ha).
I too am a lefty and have a hard time with the smaller books. I have tried multiple times to use the smaller sized books but i tend to dump them pretty quickly. A5 is the smallest i will go. I feel comfortable in that size. I have also tried larger books including 8.5x11 and thats just too big. Too much space to fill in. Right now i know that i will continue using the Hobonichi Avec for my everyday carry, I am switching to a hemlock and oak vertical weekly for my memory keeping, hemlock and oak daily for journaling. And a Makse vertical planner for goal setting and basically catch all planner for life. And i will continue to use the Hobonichi day free for crafting plans, which i started because of you and LOVE IT!
I agree that A5 is a good balance in size! It sounds like you have a good line-up, so happy to hear you’re enjoying the day free for craft planning.
HI FELLOW LEFTY! (I also struggle with page bottoms). 2024 to 2025: I have a daily gratitude practice where I note 3 gratitudes for every day. I have been 100% consistent with that in both 2023 and 2024, though I do sometimes play catch-up with it on the weekends. I decided to break that out into its own book for 2025 where it's just gratitudes, so I got an A6 Hon for it. My plan is to use different pens and inks and play around with the lettering part more. Right now I do them in the daily pages of my Cousin. 2024 that did not work great: Weeks as a carry-around. 2025 solution: Sterling Ink 2025 N1 horizontal (TN size). I'm going to make that my everyday carry and then actually carry it around with me. I basically used my 2024 Cousin as a planner and it worked OK but too big to carry around with me. I basically think I am going to try to segment out the functions I used in 2024 into separate books and see how I like it, plus I added a Paddington Weeks to keep track of my BRAND NEW TRIPLET GRANDBABIES' milestones and photos and stuff. I have that all set up and ready to go. I bought way too many hobonichis but I'm okay with it. I wanted to try some of the different ones I've never used before, like the day free and the little A6 original.
Sounds like a fun line up! Totally get the dilemma of A5 being great for use but not for carrying around. I hope your line up works well for you. And congrats on the triplets, that’s so exciting!! ❤️
Really great video and so helpful to reflect this time of year on what's worked and what hasn't 😊
Thank you! ❤️
In 2024 I used Hobonichi weeks and in April, following your inspiration, I bought Hobonichi Cousin and I would say that I found the perfect combination for me. So for 2025 I have already purchased Hobonichi Cousin Avec because it's getting too chunky for me too.
I am really hopeful that the Avec will be the solution I need to the chunk and otherwise it's perfect! I hope it works well for you too.
Thanks for sharing! I LOVE the idea of doing a 5 year journal that starts on your birthday and ends on a big milestone! I also am similar to you in loving memory keeping but not the chunk. I’m still trying to figure out my system but also feeling the pull of an overflow journal.
I am hoping the avec solves my chunk issue and my plan is my overflow journal will be mostly just writing so hopefully it won’t bulk up too much. Happy you enjoyed my video! ❤️
I am with you... The smaller books are so so cute but I just can't make them work for me
Happy to hear it's not just me!
I used a common planner for 2024, but will go back to my rings for 2025
I'm curious why you didn't like the common planner? Or is it just that you need a switch up. Rings are so pretty, but as a lefty I could never use them. I love the idea of the flexibility with that system though!
I have a lot of floating papers in my life and rings allows me to punch those babies and always know where they are at😂
Also I have a lot of forward planning which I found harder to keep under control with the common planner, just not enough room for all my stuff
What I really, really love about a hobonichi or common planner is flipping through the whole year at once and seeing where I was and where I am. All my notes, thoughts, pictures-for whatever reason that part I don’t like in rings. I am torn, but productivity/organization has to come first as my sanity goes with it😊
@@cassandrascott2613 totally get this!! I think people have archive binders for their ring planners to store the completed pages to flip back through, those seem like a good solution.
Hi lefty sister! I love your videos! I like your idea for the 5-year Hobonichi journal as a home journal. I just might try that. I’m struggling with how to organize my 2025 lineup. I also didn’t keep up with my media journal this year. I have so many different planners and journals but not sure how to use them. Can’t wait to see what you will be doing for next year!
Hi, it's always fun to see other lefties in the community! The home journal has been working really well, especially because it's just so functional but, because it's also fun, I'm more likely to keep up with that boring stuff that needs to be taken care of (negatives of homeownership!). Good luck figuring out your 2025 line up, my video will be up next week sharing what I landed on, so maybe that will help.
I have a family calendar that is on my fridge so my husband can follow it (no digital for him). I have a LV mm agenda that is my walk around/purse planner. I reconcile the 2 about twice a week. In 2024 I am using a Prayerful Planner daily & love it. For 2025, I will be “frankenplanning” a weekly @ daily Prayerful Plamner.
I’ve done so many - Erin condren, Franklin, Happy Planner, Fox. Is there a 12 step program? Oh & all the stickers. Please!!!!
Ha! I love trying different planners and journals, it can be so much fun to come up with a new system. As long as whatever you're doing works for you, that's great.
I don’t journal (yet) but I do have multiple books. For 2024 I was doing my family/home planning(sits open on the kitchen counter) in a eclp- hourly. It’s an academic year and until dec23 I also did some monthly memory keeping in it as well. Then Ali Edwards found me and I decided to get back into full sized memory keeping for 2024 and now have my separate project life albums for that. I’ll keep that eclp/project life for 2025. My everyday carry has been a plum paper a5 vertical priorities for a while having bounced around from hobo weeks to pp notes/days…. But with the project life community interest also came your channel and a few others that PL and hobo cousin. I had been considering cousin for 24 from other influences but bit the bullet at launch this year and will use cousin as my edc for 25. ❤ don’t think I’ll have chunky problems in 25 but if I stick to it I can see the avec being a thing in 26 🎉 thanks for sharing and can’t wait to see your 25 stack
Oooh I hope that you love the hobonichi cousin as much as I do! I think it works well in conjunction with Project Life, especially how I use my weeklies. My daughter has loved the ECLPs for the past few years, they look like really great quality too. I hope your 2025 line up works well for you!
I’m loving my Soft Paper Studios Weekly as an everyday carry and will continue with that (just started in late August).
For my main journal, I’m honestly not sure. I’m researching A5 daily journal options outside of Hobonichi. Thinking about maybe going to a Hemlock & Oak which will also allow for stamping but IDK.
I'm happy the Soft Paper Studios weekly is working so well for you! I personally couldn't make the H&O work. I tried it in 2023 for my daily journal and ended up switching to the cousin. It is just massively thick, like a huge hardcover book, which makes it impossible to take anywhere and made it difficult to write in. It's a shame, because the page layout is great and the paper quality is amazing.
@@LindaLovesCreatingIf I try it, I would probably go for the soft flex binding.
I am so excited I just ordered my first Hobonichi cousin planner. My question is do you have any bleedthrough with the pens you use. And can you also please tell me which pens work best? Thank you love your inspiration as always!
I do not have any bleed through, but there is slight ghosting. That is standard with TRP and you will get used to it. My favorite everyday pen is the Sarasa Mark-On 0.5: amzn.to/3HtzaeA. I also love the Tombow Fudenosukes for titles/bolder writing: amzn.to/4cjAFKp. This paper is also fountain pen friendly and works with a lot of pens and markers. I would suggest starting a pen test page towards the back of the book (maybe one of the random pages they include at the back that don't really have much purpose, especially if they're in japanese) and testing out pens there to see what works for you.
Linda, can you please identify the one you use as a work planner? I am an attorney also and I think this one would really work but I don't see it listed.
Oh, sorry about that! It's the Papertess Designs Yearly Notebook (I have the undated version). Here is a link to the one I have: papertessdesigns.com/products/tn-the-yearly-notebook-2-0-undated-1?variant=45157556224266 in the TN size. There also is an A5 version.
I was coming to ask the same question! I like the look of it as well & the layout would work for my job also, but didn't recognise the brand.
It’s so hard to see your notebooks because you have everything zoomed out so far. ☹️ Kindly, it would be great if you could get a closer view of the notebook you were talking about versus ensuring all the others around it that aren’t even open are shown in the frame.
Thank you for the feedback! Sometimes I do this because I don't want people reading my personal writing, and want to show the overview instead. But I will keep this in mind for future videos.