Tag Archives: Planners

Pocket Planner Freebie

It’s been awhile.  A lot has changed and not much has changed.  My Hobonichi Planner is still my main planner to keep my life together.  However, I added a friend to the system.  I use a pocket planner from Van der Speck or a passport size notebook.  I like both of these because they fit in my pocket at work.  I often have patients ask me when I will be out of the office, or I need to refer to some info.  This little book is perfect.  It keeps a monthly calendar, which is a must.  I also include a weekly calendar.  Many shops on etsy create amazing inserts, but the weekly just wasn’t what I needed.  I also wanted one that would allow me to add graphics so my pages are pretty and don’t “require” decoration.  Now I consider myself a functional planner, but I want my planner pretty.  This isn’t new, I’ve been this way since high school.

Pocket WO2P InsertPocket WO2P

So , I made an insert that will allow me to make weekly pages that work for me and allow me to change the theme as often as I would like.  So, I wanted to share them with you.  This is a blank Word file.  It is yours to manipulate as you see fit.  I do ask that you are respectful and do not take credit for the work.

To add graphics, I place the picture on the week in the location I like.  Then using the “Format Picture” function, I change the transparency until the image is the way I desire it to be.  Once my images are placed, I then right click on the grid, select “Arrange”, and bring to front.  This allows the picture to be in the background, but visible.

Enjoy!

 

Hobonichi Planning Resources

I belong to several groups on Facebook and these groups are great resources for learning what is new and what is out there.  Although I see that people tend to ask the same questions and we want to see examples of how people use their Hobonichi as a planner.

While many English users of the Hobonichi state they do not see the Hobonichi as a planner, they see it as a journal, I happen to think it is the best for planning.  You get plenty of space in a lightweight, compact format.  At the end of the year, if you keep your planners, you have one book to archive.  All the pages are bound together so you don’t have to worry about loose pages that can be lost.  The format really is a shell, so you can change the format to one of your dreams, and if your needs change the next day, you can change it again.  It is beautiful with just words on the page and it is beautiful when artistic elements are added.  As the Hobonichi developer said, it is a park and each person can make it specific to them.

Hobonichi on Social Media

Hobonichi on InstagramSocial media is a great resource for gather different ways of using the Hobonichi as a planner.  Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube are my go to choices.  Tumblr and Pinterest are other places to look for inspiration.

The three groups on Facebook that I really like for inspiration are: Hobonichi Strictly Planning, Hobonichi Users, and Fauxbonichi Journalers.  Since I use somewhat of a bullet journal format in my Hobonichi, Bullet Journal Junkies is another group where I gain inspiration.

Instagram also has a pretty developed community of users and you get to see the range of Hobonichi uses.  Tags to search for: #Hobonichi, #Hobonichisp, #HobonichiCousin, #HobonichiPlanner.  I’m @momofcurt on Instagram and I use my Hobonichi as my planner and that is how I feature it when I post about my Hobo.  @choosingbliss has great posts on how she uses her Hobonichi.  Other users I recommend: @tinkerworld, @kristinatheengineer.

YouTube is a great resource for Hobonichi, though it is difficult to find channels that use the Hobonichi as a planner.  I really like how the VeganOrganizer, FroggiesTN, TheSassyPineapple, ScrapJoy, OhaiJoy, BiancaNDM, and PoochieBaby display the use of their Hobonichi as a planner.

Personalizing the Hobonichi

The Hobonichi can be whatever you want it to be.  It can be thin or chunky.  It can be sophisticated or whimsical.  It can be moderate or expensive.  It can be decked out or plain.  It can house journaling, art, or planning.  It can even house all three.  It can be used as a notebook, project planner, or tracker.  The options are endless and are only limited by your imagination.  This really is a book that can be all things to all people (I am bias of course.  Some people have not fell in love with the Hobo as I fell in love with mine).

Covers for the Hobonichi are more numerous than the uses.  Hobonichi sells covers for their Hobonichis that change each year.  This means there is an endless line of designs and styles for all sizes.  etsy and eBay are other places to look for Hobonichi covers.  You can get covers made of leather or fabric.  You can even find covers that are no longer being sold on the Hobonichi site.  AliExpress sells covers at relatively inexpensive prices.  Searching for refillable A5 journals on Amazon will present you with some options.  Traveler’s Notebook designers are also starting to design covers for the Hobonichi.  I have one from FoxyFix that I am anxiously waiting to receive.  Even your local stores have options: Barnes and Nobles, Staples, Walmart, and Meijer have refillable planners and journals that can house the Hobonichi Cousin.  Midair MD, Filofax Flex, and Franklin Covey wire bound are other places to look.  You can even leave your Hobo naked.  The Hobonichi Planner (English version) is especially amenable to this idea with its gorgeous black cover.  While the cover of the Cousin isn’t visually pleasing, it can be made into something beautiful through painting, Modge Podge, or contact paper.

Tools for the Hobonichi

Many tools and toys are created for the Hobonichi, but all you really need is a pen or pencil.  What is amazing about the Tomoe River paper is it can take almost anything that you can throw at it.  While many pens may shadow, few actually bleed through. Copic markers are notorious for bleeding through the page.  The paper can withstand a variety of inks, but patience (or a blotter) is essential due to longer dry times to prevent smudging.  I recommend using one of the pages in the back as a ink test page.  This is where you can really see what your Hobo can handle.  If you search ink test, you will find many people that have already done much of the testing for you.

Hobonichi makes some great “tools and toys” for their books.  The stencils for me are a must have.  As a matter of fact I now have two complete sets of stencils for both of my Hobos and a third green stencil for my Traveler’s Notebook.  The Midori Brass rulers are another great option.  If you search for Bullet Journal stencils on etsy, you will find some options that may work for you (be careful, sometimes the stencils are actually quite large-think wide ruled notebook paper).

A search on etsy will present you with unlimited options of tools for the Hobonichi.  Atelier Dreams makes wonderful stamps.  Sweet Kawaii Designs makes fabulous stickers. You can find washi tape in every size and design you could imagine.  Other places you can look are the stamps from Studio l2e, Sakuralala, and Marion Smith Designs.

My go to items: Coleto four barrel pen in 0.38, mechanical pencil in 0.38, TWSBI mini with extra fine nib, Noodlers xfeather ink and Diamine Ox Blood ink, Hobonichi clock stamp, Studio l2e and Atelier Dreams stamps, Prima chalk ink, and skinny washi tape.  My planner is my planner.  The washi tape is functional, it visually divides the two sections of my Hobonichi.  The stamps are functional, they are how I track certain items.  The pens and pencils, they are what brings me joy while writing.

Types of Hobonichi

The Hobonichi site does a great job of explaining the differences between the various Hobonichis.  I have the Hobonichi Planner (x2), Hobonichi Cousin, and Hobonichi Weeks.  I will start with the Weeks.  It is a great size and great format, but it just isn’t me.  Two years ago this would have been perfect.  Two years ago I had less responsibilities.  Now I use a separate work planner (Filofax Malden) that I will do a review on someday.  So until two years ago, I mainly just had to keep track of a few meetings, Bible Study, and my son’s practices and games.  I have more that I am responsible for that isn’t specific to work, so I need a different format.  The A6 Hobonichi comes in the original and Planner.  The Planner is the English version and the grid is a little larger than the Japanese versions.  Note, the green stencil does not line up perfectly in the English version, but you can still make it work.  The Cousin is the only Hobonichi that has the yearly view, monthly view, weekly view, and daily view.  It has the same grid size as the original, so the green stencil works perfectly!  If you want to split up your years, Hobonichi also has the avec versions.

My use

My last blog post about my 2016 setup I go into detail about how I will use my Hobonichi Cousin.  Two weeks later and this setup is still working quite well.  I chose the Cousin this year because of the additional responsibilities that will be added to my year.  The A6 works perfectly for me as well with the addition of the A6 Weeks book.  I do have artistic elements in my Hobo.  They are mostly function (washi and stamps).  However the extra space I will use to practice drawing, stamp images to color, or practice watercoloring.  Outside of my monthly pages, I do not decorate in advance, all decorative elements are added after.

For now, I have found my planner love.  This is of course always subject to change, but I am on my third month and I am still pleased.  Fortunately in today’s planner world, we have many options for when our tastes and needs change.

 

I am sorry for the exceptionally lengthy post.  My goal is to help anyone that is looking into the Hobonichi.  I am still somewhat of a newbie (2016 is my second year), but hopefully the newness helps me remember the questions people ask.  Have a beautiful day and week.

Danyel

My 2016 Setup

That’s a pretty bold statement!  I feel I can be bold because I do feel like I will at least use the same book all year.  Now the layout may change as my needs change or when I get bored with the current layout, but I do feel confident that I will use my Hobonichi Cousin all year.

Daily layout 2016v1

Daily Layout in the Hobonichi Cousin

Why am I focusing on planning and planners.  Simple, while my house is organized, my brain is not.  I’m not sure what changed last year that I could no longer remember anything or why my old methods simply were not working.  I teach my patients all the time how to augment their memory (our meds cause short term memory loss), so it was time for me to put into practice what I continually teach.

Planning

Anyone that know me is stunned that I don’t use my iPhone as my planner.  It is great to add appointments on the spot.  It is always with me.  It has nifty reminders for when I arrive and leave.  I can color code to my heart’s content.  If I don’t like the native calendar app I have thousand more options in the App Store.  With all of these neat features, it has one significant drawback for me, I don’t use it.  I’ve tried a couple of times over the years (going back to my Palm Pilot) to use an electronic calendar exclusively.  The problem isn’t putting in all the data, the problem was I just didn’t look at it.  So I fell back on the one method that has worked since middle school, I wrote things down.

Things changed in the last couple of years; I gained more responsibilities and my son got busier.  Where a monthly calendar was sufficient before, I needed more space for more details now.  Also, with my workload increasing with my home activities, I could no longer depend one book to keep it all. (I will write about my work changes in a future post).

I need a monthly page.  I need a daily or weekly page.  With my Hobonichi Cousin, I get all three.  To be honest, I don’t look at all three pages every day.  I look at my monthly page when I need to glance what is coming up in the next couple of weeks.  Each Sunday I plan my following week using the weekly layout.  This gives me an idea of what my week will look like (or should look like) so I can plan routine tasks for less busy days.  I do include work meetings and the clinic schedule in my weekly pages.  If I have a lot of patients in clinic, I know I will be tired that evening and not productive, so I will need to plan tasks for a different day.

Cousin Weekly 52.15.2

Weekly view for a slow week

Then each day I focus on the daily page.  I do write down the appointments on my daily page.  If I don’t have any appointments, I celebrate by using that space for a quote or to stamp an image.  The right side of the appointment section I use like I used my monthly plan books or the A6 Hobonichi.  I write everything down, what I did, need to do, tasks I want to accomplish, thoughts, ideas, everything!  At the top where the section for top tasks are located, I use this for gratitude.  This is something I missed when I moved from my bullet journal to the monthly plan books.  The bottom section of the page is my free for all.  It isn’t for my private, daily journaling.  That goes in a separate A6 Hobonichi.  Some days I may use it for journaling, I could use it for notes or ideas, or I can draw.  I like having a section that will allow me to play as I see fit.

Daily layout put to use
Hobo 1.1.16

Daily layout

So that’s it, one book, my Hobonichi Cousin.  I personally don’t like combining my journaling with my planning.  I don’t want to take that part of me outside the house where someone would have access to it.  My planner I like to leave open on my desk and and I don’t want my deepest, darkest thoughts exposed to the world.

I will chronicle my experience with using my Hobonichi Cousin.  If you search the web, YouTube, Instagram, or Pinterest for uses for the Hobonichi, you will find a lot about art journaling.  I wanted ideas to how to use it as a planner.  Layouts that work, ideas for the Remember This page, using a monthly, weekly, and daily.  I wanted to see how people used the blank pages at the back.  The Facebook Group: Hobonichi Strictly Planning has been a great resource, but the amount of info out there is still lacking.  Hopefully this will be a topic that expands as more people in the English speaking areas of the world become more acquainted with how amazing Hobonichi is.

Managing my time and To Dos at work

I’ve talked about how I manage myself at home, but really, that is the easy part.  What has been difficult has been managing myself at work.  I am a lung transplant coordinator responsible for taking calls about potential donors, taking patient calls, seeing patients in clinic with the physicians, following up on consult notes, labs, and other testing, refilling medications, obtaining any necessary prior authorizations for medications, completing forms requested by the patients, teaching patients, supporting families, advocating for patients, updating the protocol book, compile and request data, teach healthcare professionals, and document everything I do while maintaining a positive image for myself, my profession, and my organization.  BOY, was that a run-on sentence!

With all the responsibilities that I am given a a transplant coordinator, I needed a system that I could record everything, whether it be for reference, to do, or an appointment to keep.  For 13 years I floundered trying many systems, both electronic and “analog”.  I learned that having the paper in front of me really kept tasks in the forefront, however I didn’t have my schedule in front of me, so I had to use two or more systems.  So in 2014 I bought the Moleskine weekly calendar with the week on one page and a notes page for every week.  This method is just what I’ve been looking for since I started as a transplant coordinator.  So on the weekly pages I listed every lab, test, and dictation I needed to follow-up on the date it was scheduled.  On the notes pages I recorded all of my patient phone calls and calls pertaining to patients.  If I didn’t complete a task or call for that week, I would attach a page flag to alert me and I would leave the flag attached until everything for those two pages were done and complete.  This method worked  very well for my brain and how I think.

The method worked well, but the format did not.  I was finding many weeks I was taping in additional sheets of paper to record phone calls.  I did this a few weeks the previous year, but now it was occurring half the time and it seemed my book was getting fat and not looking clean.

So then I tried the bullet journal format and this certainly works, but I found myself rewriting frequently and things were falling through the cracks.  I love that the bullet journal allowed me to have all the room I needed and not more for each day.  What I didn’t like is I couldn’t see my week at a glance.  I used a traveler’s notebook to keep my bullet journal, reference book, and phone list.  I loved the book and the portability, but it still wasn’t quite right.

Now I brought out my personal size Filofax.  I have six tabs in my Filofax:

  • Calendar: yearly and a week on two pages with blank pages inserted between the weeks to record that weeks phone calls
  • To Do: List of actions to be completed, but not patient related
  • Inpatient Review
  • Clinical Review
  • Meeting Notes
  • Notes for some protocols and practices

What I love about this method is it is a combination of the two methods I tried before.  I still have my weekly calendar to list items that need follow-up, but the blank notes pages allows me to have the pages I need to record calls.  I also keep an extra binder in the office to archive the weekly pages and notes for the long term so my Filofax doesn’t become extremely bulky.

Note:  I would love to show pictures of this system, but the pages are basic pages for weekly planning, To Dos, and blank note paper.  I don’t want to show pictures of the pages in use because of the amount of confidential information.

The perfect planner

Planner peace, unicorn, the perfect planner, all things that we dream about to organize our life.  Well, I am going to talk to you about the perfect planner.  What I am not going to do is tell you what is the perfect planner.  I’ve read many blog posts and I’ve watched many YouTube videos.  I have a Pinterest board and belong to groups on Facebook.  I’ve used the same system for years, and now I’m lost (or at least I was).

Erin Condren Life Planner

Erin Condren Life Planner

What has the last two years lacking planner peace taught me, my perfect planner is for me only.  What is perfect for me won’t be perfect for you.  So I am going to help you find what you are looking for in your planner system.

Questions:

First and foremost, you have to ask yourself, what do I need to keep track of and what do I need to plan.  Will I keep work and home separate, or will the system be combined.  How do you think? How do you organize other areas of your life?  Do you want to carry your planner with you?  There isn’t a right, wrong, or trendy answer.  This is all about you!  When do we ever get to say it is all about me!

Options:

There is a bullet journal (see Ryder Carroll), daily calendar, weekly calendar, and monthly calendar.  Beyond these categories you will find a multitude of methods to organize them.

Electronic (phone, computer, or tablet) This method is great and can be used alone or with other methods.  Things to consider, are you technologically savvy?  Will anyone else have access to your calendar?  Will you be able to find what you are looking for quickly?  Do you have a backup method?

Bound planners are contained.  They could get fatter if you embellish them, but otherwise, you will know what the size will be at the end.  Depending on the size you buy, you will know where and how you can carry your planner (in your bag, in your pocket, or on your desk).  Bound planners come in endless sizes, bindings, and page formulations.  You can custom order or pick one up at your local store.  They come in every color in the rainbow and just as many patterns.

Midori Passport

Midori Passport

Binder planners (whether rings or arcs) are very customizable and you can change your planner as your needs change.  If your current setup is not working, you can quickly change it.  Binders can come from local stores or from planner companies.  You can get a multitude of sizes with a variety of options.  Now, you can keep adding to a binder, this means it can become REALLY fat.

Color Crush Planner

Color Crush Planner

With paper planners, you can design a planner you love and will match your way of thinking and your personal style.  Whether it is bound or a binder, it can still be customized to your needs.  Etsy, Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube offers many ideas to design the planner of your dreams.  However, if you don’t use your planner, no matter how beautiful and well laid out, it won’t work.

Created planner using Moleskine

Created planner using Moleskine

Deciding your layout:

Do you think in lists, graphs, or pictures?  Do you need a birdseye view?  Do you need details? Are you working for your planner, or is it working for you?  Planners can certainly be a hobby, and a useful one at that.  Getting Organized Magazine has a great post of tips to keep in mind when using a planner. http://www.gettingorganizedmagazine.com/2014/04/29/10-tips-for-using-a-planner-2/

Next post:  What I chose and why.

My new obsession

I have found a new obsession, the Midori Traveler’s Notebook.  I’ve debated for over a year about this product until I finally gave in two months ago.  It has been two months, and I’m in love.  I’m in love to the point I moved my planning from my Erin Condren Life Planner to the Midori Passport.  I love my Erin Condren, but to carry it with me, I had to carry a special bag or purse.  I don’t follow the current trend of big purses, so to have a planner in my purse that I use is perfect.  I use my Midori to plan and keep lists and it is wonderful.  What do I love about the Midori? It is gorgeous.  It looks old and loved and the leather feels and smells wonderful.  I have two thin books and one fat book in my passport.  A kraft folder is the only other insert I use.  My passport is fat and the inserts sit outside the cover a little.  I am a perfectionist, yet this imperfection doesn’t bother me.

I carry my Midori with me everywhere, in and outside the house.  I can’t wait to take it to the Smoky Mountains at the end of the month.  This little gem has kept me entertained for hours by planning, doodling, drawing, journaling, and list making.  If you are debating about a Midori or a Midori style notebook, I strongly encourage you to make the leap.  I love the original Midori and it is my preference.  Before you invest in the notebook, know your purpose and personality.  A fauxdori may be a better option for you than a Midori.  If you do the research and listen to your heart and not outside opinion, you will find the right notebook for you.  Pinterest and Etsy will lead you to additional resources on the Midori.  If you search Midori Traveler’s Notebook in YouTube, you will find a lot of wonderful information.  One of the videos, Midori 101 will give you the basics.

I can even work in my room

I can even work in my room

My set up for my Midori

My set up for my Midori

Calendar

Simple calendar decorations

The sketch on the left was inspired by a post on Pinterest.

The sketch on the left was inspired by a post on Pinterest.

Planning 2015

I’ve accomplished a lot in the last three months that I will write about in the future. I’m going to be a little out-of-order, because I’m going to write about what I will be doing different in 2015. I don’t usually do New Year’s Resolutions, and I won’t this year either. However, my goals are constant, continue working on my relationship with God, my relationship with my family, record my family’s memories, and improve my mental and physical health. Nearly everything I do is because of one of these areas.

I have a Pinterest board called Calendar Pages and Planning. This is where I keep all my ideas to improve my use of my planner. While looking at ideas, I discovered bullet journaling (see bulletjournal.com). What I realized about this system is this is what I do at work already to organize my work life, and it works.

I’ve been a lung transplant coordinator for 14 years. I’ve spent 13 years trying to figure out how to remember to do all that I need to do. I can’t begin to think of the number of methods I tried, both paper and digital. A system only works though if you use it. All of the other systems I felt I spent more time doing the system than the work.

image

Erin Condren Life Planner, Mochi Things Notes case, Moleskine large ruled journal (soft cover)

For 2014, I tried something new, and it works! I bought a Moleskin weekly planner with the week calendar on the left and a blank notes page on the right. For the days I wrote down the tests that I needed to obtain results for each patient. The notes page is where I recorded all my patient calls. At the top of the notes page I would write down anything that would need done at that time (i.e. schedule labs in 3 weeks). After reviewing the bullet journal method, I realized this is what I was doing at work, and it works. Why does it work, it is easy, flexible, and portable.

So I decided to incorporate this method with my Erin Condren planner. I bought a separate Moleskine ruled journal to use as my personal bullet journal. My main goal for this journal is a dedicated space to dump my thoughts. I have a lot of random thoughts at inopportune times. I have sticky notes, electronic notes, and notes pages of thoughts that occurred that I actually wrote down. I don’t write down all my thoughts because I didn’t have a method to organize them. That is where the bullet journal index became an “ah ha” moment for me. So I’ve created my journal for next year and it is ready to go.

As I said, I don’t want to stop using my Erin Condren planner because this is an important tool when I work on my Project Life pages. The bullet journal I hope will allow me to record all my thoughts and To Dos so I can be more effective. I will give my review after I’ve used it awhile. I will also discuss the changes I made for me, which is the real beauty of this system.