what's in my planner

a love letter to my hobonichi techo

breaking away from the shackles of google calendar

I was religious about my Google Calendar in college.

Everything had its time slot—classes, workouts, interview prep, part-time shifts, study sessions, meals, and hangouts. My days were mapped out with surgical precision. To be fair, many of my friends were just as obsessed with their calendars, so this level of planning felt normal.

Looking back, I’m grateful for it, not just because that structure helped me survive the chaos of senior fall, but because it left me with time-stamped artifacts of some of the most exciting days of my life.

college schedule, october 2022

Then I graduated and entered a period of pure bliss—a summer at my parents’ house with no plans, no responsibilities—just floating in limbo, waiting for my lease, job, and new life in D.C. to start. With nothing to schedule, I let planning go entirely for a couple months.

Then work started, and I began to feel naked without the structure of a planning system. The lack of organization felt jarring, and out of habit, I turned back to Google Calendar, searching for solace. But unlike college, where I had the privilege of tracking a hundred moving pieces at a time, my corporate days revolved around a single, immovable block: work.

post-grad schedule, november 2024

Adjusting to my new schedule was tough, especially the self-imposed pressure to stick to a rigid before-and-after-work routine to keep my hobbies alive. I carved out arbitrary time slots for my mornings and evenings, but they quickly felt forced and stressful. What I thought was intentional planning was really just overplanning.

I’ve come to realize that, for me, overplanning stems from a lack of trust in myself to make the right decisions in the moment. When I enter a new environment, I rely on routines to remove the mental burden of figuring out what to do next. I think that’s fine, but at a certain point, we need to outgrow that phase and learn to listen to what actually feels right in the moment.

In the midst of trying to break free from Google Calendar’s grip, I found myself at a stationary store near my apartment. That’s where I laid my eyes and greasy little fingers on a Hobonichi Techo Daily Planner for the first time.

my king

I was immediately drawn to its minimal design. It was compact. Great for travel, I thought to myself. The paper was high quality, and the page layouts struck a perfect balance between planner and journal. Despite relying on digital calendars for the past four years, I decided to give this physical planner a try.

Fast forward a year, and I’ve evolved into more than just a satisfied customer—I’m a straight up Hobonichi fanboy.

What has made using the Hobonichi so exciting, therapeutic, and effective for me is that it naturally counterbalances my overplanning tendencies. The pages are small, forcing me to be concise. Time-blocking anything shorter than an hour becomes artistically challenging. And instead of micromanaging every detail, I’ve been able to condition myself to focus on the few tasks that truly matter most.

how i use my planner to achieve my goals

Like most planners, there are daily, monthly, and yearly views, along with spare pages to track other things. The pages I use the most are the following.

1. daily view

I have a separate work calendar which, surprise surprise, lives on Google Calendar. But I like to keep my personal planner separate from work.

was tough to find non-incriminating days to share lol

While I still timebox my day, I now group things more generally. Throughout the day, I jot down notes—my workout routine, passing thoughts, or random doodles. In the top right corner, there’s a to-do list with space for only five tasks. If I write something down, I’m committing to getting it done; otherwise, I have to embarrassingly cross it out.

2. pre-month view

This is where I set my micro-goals for the month. Some are serious, others are just for fun, but having them all in one spot helps me stay accountable. I once heard on The Psychology of Your 20s podcast that the number one most important thing for achieving goals is writing them down.

The second most important thing? Putting them somewhere you see every day.

3. habit tracking

Last year, I struggled with habit tracking. It’s mentally draining to see yourself fail at daily goals because you rushed into them or took on too much at once.

This year, I’ve been more intentional—I only set habits I’m confident I can maintain. Maybe that sounds like a cop-out, but I believe momentum is crucial. Now, I actually look forward to filling out my habit tracker each day.

And if I miss something, I know it’s a small, manageable task I can complete in a few minutes.

Ultimately, what excites me the most about Hobonichi is the concept that in ten years, I’ll have a collection of these little books stacked neatly in the corner of my grown-up home, each one capturing the days and steps that led me to the life I’ll be living then.

What started as an attempt to break free from Google Calendar became a shift in how I approach planning altogether. The Hobonichi has helped me embrace structure without rigidity, goals without overwhelm, and habits without pressure. Instead of planning my life to the minute, I’m learning to trust myself in the moment.