Gonna dig into these! Thanks for sharing. Love what you said about the Goldilocks Principle - it's exactly why I can't just have ONE notebook to rule them all!
So helpful! My notebooks have been multiplying like rabbits and I have been trying to determine what would help me streamline this but also develop the routines for using the notebooks I am enjoying most on the best cadence. But my approach to that has not been this systematic. I love that this kind of check-in has a specific name in Japanese!
My notebook rabbits can't stop multiplying too! I try to buy thin ones that I know I can fill up so I don't go too crazy lol. Also, sometimes it's fine to just jump to a new, more enjoyable notebook and call it quits on one we're not jiving with.
Gotta love how dedicated Japanese are about their planners :) and they make such good ones!
I’ve never heard the term Techo Kaigi before! So happy to learn about it. I don’t know why but I am endlessly happy to read about how other people use their notebooks. Aren’t blank pages just magic?
Love this! I only have three notebooks - one for sketching, a five year "line a day" journal (it's more like two-three sentences a day), and the other for everything else. I love the multiple notebooks idea though! I've been using a Kaweco Sport fountain pen for a couple years now, I love changing the ink color every year.
Loved seeing all your notes and thoughts! It’s fun to see what’s working and what isn’t. I am a big fan of fountain pens too, my TWSBI Vac 700r is my favourite, and fountain pen ink looks amazing in Leuchtturm1917 notebooks 😍 Thanks for giving us a peek inside all your wonderful pages!!
I am a total Pilot noob so I get it!! It’s not that much bigger in terms of length but the inkwell is a bit larger because it’s a vacuum fill system instead of the piston fill of the Eco :)
WOW! My friend keeps giving me journals. Thank goodness! I have been at it every day this year. My favorite so far was a mixed media big spiral book with an ugly cover. I used it like a vision board. Covering it cut outs from catalogues and stickers. This month it is going to be a Nature Journal. Love when I have a theme for a book and can keep it cohesive. I love your systems and organization!
Thank you! I love those spiral bound books with mixed media paper - one feels very un-precious with them! And a nature journal is great for these summer months :)
I love this so much! I’m Japanese American and I’m very familiar with Techo-Kaigi! I too have so many notebooks and journals. I love B6! But I’m also partial to A5 and the standard TN size depending on my needs. I recently started a manifestation journal where I write out my intentions and future life goals and it’s been so much fun! Have you ever heard of a Common Place notebook? It’s a place to write out things you are studying or reading notes and it’s all in one notebook. It’s very interesting..
Thanks so much Nzarr! Do you do Techo Kaigi regularly? A5 can't go wrong honestly, it's the most popular for a reason! I love the idea of dedicating a journal to manifestation :o might have to try that myself.
And yes, commonplace notebooks are great! I throw those kinds of quotes and notes into the regular size TN and sometimes transport reading notes to Notion. Do you have one?
I love the idea of a 'techo kaigi', although I had never heard of it before. I like to keep a few notebooks on hand as I go through them quite quickly. However, I'm also pretty good at selling the ones I don't use or don't like.
I find it easiest (and least overwhelming) to have a weekly desk pad, a daily to-do list and a morning pages journal alongside a digital calendar for appointments, etc.
Omg, I’ve never heard of this before and I’m obsessed 🤩 🥹 definitely need to do one. Love your notebooks and pens! I’ve also used passion planner in the past and loved the vertical layout for planning my week hourly, but ultimately transitioned to the Hobonichi cousin. I like how you’ve been time logging in the travelers notebook! I’ve been experimenting with different ways of tracking too and find that it’s helpful to have a separate space for that vs. where I actually plan!
I love posts like this, as I'm a total planner geek! In recent years, I've come to love a plain spiral notebook and washi tape. I will use different colored tapes around the edge of a page based on content ("writing ideas" or "personal lists"), and then on the very front page which I purposefully leave blank, I'll categorize those tapes. When the notebook is full and I'm looking for "writing ideas" I can just flip to each page that has a blue edge halfway down, for example. And if I only have a few pages that apply to a specific project, I'll rip them out and put them in a folder.
- a very flippy-floppy lined notebook (like an exercise book) for morning pages. the lines are super close together so it does ask for more writing per page. don't love it but i have to use a bunch of them up
- a more robust softcover lined notebook with a lot more pages. this is my project book for my next album. has free-writing and lyrics in it, with coloured tabs i've added in.
- a boring page-per-day 2025 diary that i got from a stationery shop that i use to track what i eat in a day and how i feel physically (sore tummy girls rise up!!)
- a leuchtturm knock-off that i use for collaging.
i currently don't have a notebook that i take around with me places or a planner. i was very in the bullet journal stuff back in 2017/18 and have to go back to it but i haven't managed to keep it up. my biggest thing right now is just having stacks of blank index cards everywhere that i can pick up and write a to-do list on or an idea etc.
Great post. This is a new quarter when I swap out my pocket reading log for a new one. Here’s how I review those: https://open.substack.com/pub/armchairnotes/p/reviewing-reading-logs-armchair-method
Here’s how I process Catch-Alls: https://open.substack.com/pub/armchairnotes/p/notebook-processing-catch-alls
Here is yesterday’s post about the Goldilocks Principle and finding just the right notebook for each kind of writing: https://open.substack.com/pub/armchairnotes/p/the-goldilocks-principle-of-notebooks
Gonna dig into these! Thanks for sharing. Love what you said about the Goldilocks Principle - it's exactly why I can't just have ONE notebook to rule them all!
So helpful! My notebooks have been multiplying like rabbits and I have been trying to determine what would help me streamline this but also develop the routines for using the notebooks I am enjoying most on the best cadence. But my approach to that has not been this systematic. I love that this kind of check-in has a specific name in Japanese!
My notebook rabbits can't stop multiplying too! I try to buy thin ones that I know I can fill up so I don't go too crazy lol. Also, sometimes it's fine to just jump to a new, more enjoyable notebook and call it quits on one we're not jiving with.
Gotta love how dedicated Japanese are about their planners :) and they make such good ones!
I’ve never heard the term Techo Kaigi before! So happy to learn about it. I don’t know why but I am endlessly happy to read about how other people use their notebooks. Aren’t blank pages just magic?
I am so with you. I could read and listen to people sharing their notebooks forever!
its my first year with multiple daily journals and now im very inspired to do my own!
please do and report back!
Love this! I only have three notebooks - one for sketching, a five year "line a day" journal (it's more like two-three sentences a day), and the other for everything else. I love the multiple notebooks idea though! I've been using a Kaweco Sport fountain pen for a couple years now, I love changing the ink color every year.
Love your ultra clear system! I am jealous! :P The Kawecos are so pretty - what ink color are you using now?
Loved seeing all your notes and thoughts! It’s fun to see what’s working and what isn’t. I am a big fan of fountain pens too, my TWSBI Vac 700r is my favourite, and fountain pen ink looks amazing in Leuchtturm1917 notebooks 😍 Thanks for giving us a peek inside all your wonderful pages!!
Thank you Emily! I am a TWSBI noob, more of a Pilot pen girlie myself - is the Vac 700r a lot bigger than the Eco?
I am a total Pilot noob so I get it!! It’s not that much bigger in terms of length but the inkwell is a bit larger because it’s a vacuum fill system instead of the piston fill of the Eco :)
WOW! My friend keeps giving me journals. Thank goodness! I have been at it every day this year. My favorite so far was a mixed media big spiral book with an ugly cover. I used it like a vision board. Covering it cut outs from catalogues and stickers. This month it is going to be a Nature Journal. Love when I have a theme for a book and can keep it cohesive. I love your systems and organization!
Thank you! I love those spiral bound books with mixed media paper - one feels very un-precious with them! And a nature journal is great for these summer months :)
I love this so much! I’m Japanese American and I’m very familiar with Techo-Kaigi! I too have so many notebooks and journals. I love B6! But I’m also partial to A5 and the standard TN size depending on my needs. I recently started a manifestation journal where I write out my intentions and future life goals and it’s been so much fun! Have you ever heard of a Common Place notebook? It’s a place to write out things you are studying or reading notes and it’s all in one notebook. It’s very interesting..
Thanks so much Nzarr! Do you do Techo Kaigi regularly? A5 can't go wrong honestly, it's the most popular for a reason! I love the idea of dedicating a journal to manifestation :o might have to try that myself.
And yes, commonplace notebooks are great! I throw those kinds of quotes and notes into the regular size TN and sometimes transport reading notes to Notion. Do you have one?
I love the idea of a 'techo kaigi', although I had never heard of it before. I like to keep a few notebooks on hand as I go through them quite quickly. However, I'm also pretty good at selling the ones I don't use or don't like.
I find it easiest (and least overwhelming) to have a weekly desk pad, a daily to-do list and a morning pages journal alongside a digital calendar for appointments, etc.
Omg, I’ve never heard of this before and I’m obsessed 🤩 🥹 definitely need to do one. Love your notebooks and pens! I’ve also used passion planner in the past and loved the vertical layout for planning my week hourly, but ultimately transitioned to the Hobonichi cousin. I like how you’ve been time logging in the travelers notebook! I’ve been experimenting with different ways of tracking too and find that it’s helpful to have a separate space for that vs. where I actually plan!
Loved this post 💕
Interesting article.. does make me think I should dig out my a4 Filofax from the attic and see if I can still get the inserts..
This is brilliant! Thank you for the inspiration!
I need only two. The main notebook, which is indexed, and the pocket-sized "dog walk" notebook for jotting down ideas while out walking my dog, etc.
I love posts like this, as I'm a total planner geek! In recent years, I've come to love a plain spiral notebook and washi tape. I will use different colored tapes around the edge of a page based on content ("writing ideas" or "personal lists"), and then on the very front page which I purposefully leave blank, I'll categorize those tapes. When the notebook is full and I'm looking for "writing ideas" I can just flip to each page that has a blue edge halfway down, for example. And if I only have a few pages that apply to a specific project, I'll rip them out and put them in a folder.
Super helpful, I have heard of Techo-Kaigi but reading how to conducted one has been really helpful - I’ll do one too as feel I could streamline mine!
my current system:
- a very flippy-floppy lined notebook (like an exercise book) for morning pages. the lines are super close together so it does ask for more writing per page. don't love it but i have to use a bunch of them up
- a more robust softcover lined notebook with a lot more pages. this is my project book for my next album. has free-writing and lyrics in it, with coloured tabs i've added in.
- a boring page-per-day 2025 diary that i got from a stationery shop that i use to track what i eat in a day and how i feel physically (sore tummy girls rise up!!)
- a leuchtturm knock-off that i use for collaging.
i currently don't have a notebook that i take around with me places or a planner. i was very in the bullet journal stuff back in 2017/18 and have to go back to it but i haven't managed to keep it up. my biggest thing right now is just having stacks of blank index cards everywhere that i can pick up and write a to-do list on or an idea etc.