planner(s) that works for me

After all these years I've dubbed myself as a stationery girl, reviewing some stuffs in a blog which then become outdated in just a couple of years, now I try to find peace.

I can't get rid of all of my collections (or clutter) just yet. But I can now hold myself not to buy any stationery related unless it ran out (like ink / cartridge or glue) or something I really need (not something I want) like yearly planner.

I also tend to be careful in choosing my planner. No more than two kinds. The perfect combination used to be hobonichi A6 planner for diary and pocket weekly moleskine for work related. But then the moleskine wasn't available anymore in my my country. So I tried somekinda bullet journal using an ordinary notebook. It works. But I think next year I'm gonna try something new. I'm gonna use hobonichi cousin (A5) for work related bulet journal and hobonichi A6 day free for personal diary.

Ok. What about the "brouillon" (draft/scratch book) I normally use to note everything? That would be onto the daily section of hobo cousin. As well as meeting notes etc.

What about the schedule, sleeping pattern and meal plan I used to note down on hobonichi weekly supplement? Well, hobo cousin has its own weekly section. Checked.

Habit tracker, period tracker, health symtomps.. will note them on the yearly section.

Birthday, important index and dates (exams, deadlines, etc.) and bill / payment reminders, will be noted on monthly section.

The A6 day-free should be worked as personal diary because sometimes I write longer than a page, or sometimes I didn't write at all for days. I used to journal using A6 hobo english version, but many pages left blank. And it's also more expensive than the original one, let alone the day free. So.. I am stepping out of my comfort zone since 2014 here.

Those planners have arrived few weeks ago. Stay tuned to see how I'm gonna setup, review, and customize them. See ya..

doraemon moleskine in yerevan

Barev !

This is the selfie of my Doraemon moleskine in the Cascade complex of Yerevan, Armenia. The photo was taken in January 2020.

Although there is a moleskine distributor in Yerevan, but I haven't seen much enthusiasm in stationery things. However, I found many Armenians are very artistically talented. I really hope to meet some fellow stationery aficionados next time. It should be very interesting to chat about stationery, writing equipment, swapping some washi tapes, etc. Who knows, maybe we can create a planner which combine some languages and kawaii design / illustration. 

getting back here

OMG, the last time I post something on this blog was two years ago. Can't believe how time flies so fast. 

2020 was not a good year for me, well for most of us, because of the pandemic. Life was hard. Still it's kinda hard for me, but I am getting a grip and carry on.

So, let's start with a review of the planners I planned to use in 2020.

1. Pocket Moleskine - Doraemon (limited edition), English. As usual, pocket moleskine was kinda work for me. I used it 'til the end of the year.

2. ‎Hobonichi A6 - English version. Same here, it's a diary. Some of the pages are left untouched. Mostly during bad times or busy schedule.

3. Agenda Scolaire - Snoopy, French. I have used it to the max, like a bullet journal.

4. Kokuyo Jibun Techo Biz Mini - Sky blue, Japanese. What a waste. When I received it, I got the usual jibun techo instead of the biz. Anyway, I didn't use it at all. I'm so gutted. 

Just like previous year (2019), I only used 3 planners. More planners don't always correspond with more organized life. 

prepping for 2020

It's October. For some of you, 2020 is just around the corner. Three months to go. For me, it's time to prepare the planner. So far, I already have 3 planners. Let's meet them.

1. Pocket Moleskine - Doraemon, English. My sis bought me this weekly planner during her trip to Europe. The local bookstores in Jakarta didn't seem to stock them any longer. I plan to have this pocket planner as my main planner for meetings, teaching plan (and schedule), daily tasks, and even for jotting down some notes or brain dump. This planner shall always be by my side. 

2. ‎Hobonichi A6 - English version. As usual, I bought this planner online thru their official website. I was tempted to buy the A5 (cousin) size as well, but I don't think I will use it yo the max. This planner will be my personal diary. 

3. Agenda Scolaire - Snoopy, French. This agenda is a student planner, for the academic year of 2019/2020. I have it from a friend who went on vacation to France last summer. She knows I am fan of agenda scolaire. So, this agenda / planner is quite perfect for me. Have been using it since last August. Hope it will last until July 2020.

4. Kokuyo Jibun Techo Biz Mini - Sky blue, Japanese. I asked a friend (who went for a trip to Japan) to buy it for me. The price is 2700 Yen (plus 10% tax). Although I don't use my jibun this year, I decided to give it one last chance. This time I will try the Jibun Biz mini. The paper is not the tomoe river.. but I think there are less frill (subtle colour scheme, no japanese watermarks for certain holidays, etc.) so I can use it as my main planner, beside my pocket moleskine. Jibun is good for tracking things. How's my diet, my exercise, my health, my habit.. those kinda things. So let's see about that.

Apart from that, I have also bought a ‎muslim planner; but I offered this as a gift to one of the student in my campus. I bought this because I was curious about the layout and tempted to see what kinda cute things merged with religious related could be squeezed into one planner. It's good if you're really practicing your religion, there are spaces to note down the versets you read, what's their meaning to you, your prayers, etc. However, some of them are too much for me. So I better give it to someone who can use it better than I do.

That's all for now. I hope I won't need any other planner. Enough.

hobonichi cousins pros and cons

I've been trying to find justification for getting a hobonichi cousin. Yup, the A5 size. For me, I need to list the pros and cons before deciding to buy one. Let's start.

Pros.

+ A5 is actually an ideal size. Many compatibilities with other writing equipment, such as binder note, file pouch, etc.

+ ‎Lots of space to write, draw, paste anything you like in day-per-page

+ ‎The weekly section which has similar layout like Jibun

Cons

- It's in original version only. Which means different colors for each month ( I don't feel like writing about work in red-coloured page) and mm/dd format instead of dd/mm format (which sometimes confuse me).

- ‎Too many blank pages need to filled in. It could be intimidating when I'm behind schedule or when I have no time for journaling.

- ‎I have tried Jibun and A6 weekly supplement, which has similar weekly layout, and it just didn't work for me.

- It costs 3780 yen. With that price, I might print out myself a planner designed by me.

Sorry cousin, I think I won't buy you this time.

planner evaluation

Last year, I boasted to start 2018 with these 10 planners. But I have to admit that I didn't manage to use all of them. Let's begin the evaluation..

Dated

1. Hobonichi Weeks. Main planner, mostly for work and study related. - I gave up after a couple of months. In February I couldn't keep up to jot down my schedule in it. Couldn't figure it out why.

2. Hobonichi Planner (A6, English version) planner. I'm gonna use this as my diary. - This is ok.

3. TH Pocket Diary black.  I will use it for my pak boss schedule and everything related to him. - Many things happened in 2018 related to pak bos. Gave up after some months.

4. TH Agenda Schedule blue. This is for home related matters, such as daily expenses, bills, groceries, meal plans, etc. - I just completely forgot about this. Sorry. Perhaps I lost it somewhere.

5. Fancy Taiwanese planner. I have it discussed on my previous post here. To be honest, I haven't use it cos it's too pretty. - Yup, it's too pretty.. I didn't use it at all. It's part of my pretty collection.

6. ‎Daiichi schedule check. Will leave this on my desk. Can be double serve as desk calendar and planner. - Yeaa.. this thing kinda work tho.

7. ‎Starbucks planner. Will use it to record my life with my hubby which will be going ten in 2018. - Another planner I gave up in February.

Undated

8. Kikki K personal size. This chunky planner will stay on my working desk, I'll use it for meeting notes. - Are you kidding me? I didn't even figure out how to use it.

9. ‎TN passport size. This is my idea book or mini bullet journal. - Same with number 8. I just put it aside in my drawer.

10. ‎Seyes generic Monoprix notebook. I'm using this to note down everything related to my dissertation / thesis. - This one is still on duty until today.


Let see.. only 3 planners I used during the year. So I guess I won't need so many planners. Just try to make the best use of what I've got.

In mid 2018, I bought a pink pocket weekly moleskine and apparently it worked for me.

hello again

It's been a while since I left this blog. I'm still passionate about stationery, lunchbox and school stuff.  No doubt about that. But I'm also more rational these days. I realize my stationery are piling up high, and I have no place to store them. There are also things I haven't use for ages, such as many colour pens, and the ink starts to dry out. So I try to write more here, reviewing things, without any intention to get many followers. I am just happy if I could find a fellow stationery geek from around where I live or from other part of the world :)

So, see ya around !!