the back & forth love/hate drama of the hobonichi a6 techo…
Okay, maybe I’m being dramatic, but honestly, I don’t know what my deal is with the A6 Techo and why I’m unable to make a clean break away from it.
I’ve made a few videos now announcing my departure from this notebook. I started the year with full intentions of using it as my Commonplace book for 2025, but I quickly realized that I really needed more space for writing. This book with all the extra pre-written text and numbers just make it really difficult to write more than a couple of blurbs, esp if I want to add in a photo. Choosing the right book for the kind of journaling you want to do, requires you to think about how much space you need. In the past with Commonplacing, I felt like bigger notebooks overwhelmed me and so I figured a small book like the A6 Techo wouldn’t be as intimidating.
My mistake in choosing my commonplace book wasn’t really in choosing the A6 size. I think this is actually a pretty decent size for a commonplace book, but the mistake was in choosing a dated Techo. I’m not new to this notebook either. I’ve had an A6 Techo for a few years now. But I’ve always just used it as a planner that never really worked for me. So I figured, if I want to stick with having a new Hobonichi Techo again, I would need to find a different use-case for it.
I’ve been using my custom A6 planner inserts as my main work planner and tbh, I’m surprised I’ve even made it to 3 months. I have always struggled with using a planner. I know that sounds odd because I’ve been using a planner since I can remember. Grade school even? But I start to deviate from my planner and start writing all my notes down on random notebooks. It’s chaotic of me, I know. I’ve tried every method possible. At one point, I thought I had figured out a perfect system for my ADHD-riddled brain. I had a planner dedicated to my job (a trusty little red Muji planner), one dedicated to my hobbies, and one dedicated to my life planning. When that didn’t work out, I tried getting an all-in-one planner. There was too much to write about and I was getting confused. I’ve tried digital planners, just using my phone, a random Dollar Tree notebook even. I’ve tried spiral, ring-bound, bound books, and TN systems. Planners have somehow always been that bane of my existence — even though I love planners and journals. So what gives? What is it about my brain that struggles so much with keeping consistency with a planner?
Also, if you’re reading this thinking ‘here comes the solution’…. I hate to be the bearer of bad news. This is not one of those blogs where I’m trying to be helpful or useful lol. This is basically just my online diary. So I’m sorry to disappoint if you were looking for a solution here. I honestly don’t know what kind of planner will work for me. I have also tried NOT using a planner and somehow that also brings me to shambles, because sometimes I DO actively need a planner. But what solace I can provide for you is that I am experimenting. I am trying out things and sometimes that means going back to what I already have. I don’t necessarily see this experiment as a bad thing!
So I’m dipping my toes back into my A6 Techo and using it as my planner, if only for a little bit. I’m not guaranteeing that it will work out or that I’ll use it until 2026. But I think it’s a good thing to keep trying, even if I’m embarrassingly exposing myself for being indecisive. At the very least, I’m not letting this planner that I paid $40 for go to waste.
As for my current A6 Rings? Well, the beauty of a rings planner is there’s really no harm no foul if you decide to dip in and out of it. I guess the flexibility is why so many people love rings planners. THIS IS ALSO WHY I AM OFFERING DIGITAL DOWNLOADS INSTEAD OF PHYSICAL INSERTS. I think it would be really bad marketing on my end to waste a whole year’s worth of my own inserts lol. With digital downloads, you’re able to download at your own pace. And I only print out a month’s worth at a time. They are also undated. It is extra work to cut up the paper but I prefer it this way, even if it wasn’t my own inserts. I’ve wasted a lot of rings papers in the past because I just couldn’t make my planner work for me.
Also, I haven’t totally stopped using my rings planner either. I plan on seeing it through until the end of March, at the very least. I still like the space for writing meeting notes on this planner and sometimes there’s not really enough space on my Techo to write lengthy meeting notes. That’s also part of the struggle with finding the right planner. Some weeks I have super long meetings and lots of notes to take, but I don’t have the space in my planner to write all of that. At the same time, I don’t want to use a separate notebook just for meeting notes. I think I want a planner that can also house my notes. With a custom rings, I can pretty much customize each spread to have enough space for writing for when I need it. With dated planners, if some days are slow or no notes, then you waste an entire page. When you’re ADHD with some OCD tendencies, it’s sometimes impossible to be satisfied with anything lol.
Thanks for reading everyone and I hope you all will enjoy the occasional blog post as sort of a break or in-between from video posts. Don’t get me wrong, I love making journaling videos! Those will not be stopping anytime soon. But I do miss being able to write out lengthier thoughts that people can read at their own pace. I still think there’s something nice about blogs over vlogs, but maybe I’m just nostalgic about it.
Catch ya’ll on the next one.
XOXO
-L