Blog

I have a teensy obsession with office supplies. Staples is my Nirvana — I go there when I’m stressed out and wander the aisles looking at all the wonderful items, all that potential for creating order out of chaos. Folders, files, envelopes, pens, highlighters.

And then I arrive at the aisle that contains calendars and notebooks and very determinedly pass it by. If I don’t, I will leave the store with a yet another notebook that I may use, or more likely, will keep around for a day in that mythical future when it will be just the thing to unleash my creativity, and safeguard my dreams.

Because you can never have too many notebooks.

Calendars have always been another favourite, and it’s taken me years to find the perfect one. Something that has a double-page monthly overview, yet individual pages for each day to list appointments, notes from meetings, ideas, grocery lists, and so on. I used the Brownline Coilpro” (CB634C.BLK-16) for several years, but the more my freelance writing career took off, the less I found I used it. It was also a bit too big and unwieldy for my RA hands to easily grab it off my desk, so eventually, I made the switch to a digital calendar. It has the added benefit of notifying me with a polite *ding*in advance of appointments.

Which can be handy when you get lost in the writing. Yeah, that’s it. Nothing to do with brain fog.

But I missed the act of handwriting. Of gliding the pen across paper, of neatly organizing the day and my thoughts on a piece of paper. Outlook calendar, spreadsheets, and Google Keep are wonderful organizational tools, but they don’t really have soul, do they?

Enter the Hobonichi Techo Planner.

As so many other things that perfectly meet my needs and feed my soul at the same time, it was a gift from The Boy. And it is dreamy perfection. So much careful has gone into creating this and it pays off on all fronts.

It is a perfect size — A6, for those in the know — large enough that there is plenty of room on the individual daily pages, yet small and light enough that I can easily reach out and lift it towards me. And then there’s how it feels. Without a protective cover, it is a perfect blend of texture. The nubbly sensation of the black cover with its exotic kanji signs, and the silky smoothness of the paper.

While we’re talking about the paper, the edges of the book are perfection in smoothness. You might find yourself running your fingers along those edges without thinking about it, and you will not have any paper cuts. And it opens flat without any spiral coil!

Touching this makes my hands happy.

Those individual daily pages are laid out with a grid pattern instead of lines. You this opens us up for using the book was so much more than just simply writing down appointments and lists. You can write, yes, but also do math and draw, and anything else you want at all. It has an inspirational quote every two pages, an overview of the month itself in one corner, and collects my beloved monthly overview at the beginning of the book. The back of the Life Book contains several blank pages, plus lots of useful information and tools, including a ruler. A ruler! 

And then there’s the cover. Now, I will fully admit that I covet a particular cover with an abiding passion, but $80+ is a bit steep. And okay, so I initially longed for this one, because it is unbelievably gorgeous, and will be even more so after several years of use. But I cannot set aside $500 for a calendar cover.

The Boy solved my problem and got the nylon version of that first one, which has handy little pockets in the flaps for business cards, notes, and anything else you can imagine. And this model has something that the expensive version does not, and which makes it much, much better. Something that helps you to easily find the month and the day without having to resort to tearing off the corner of the page, or fiddling around with adding little tabs. Two beautiful strings with a unique tab at the bottom telling you which is which. The act of moving these strings reminds me of luxurious notebooks with gilt edges bound in deliciously smelling leather.

I cannot say enough positive things about this Life Book. It is the perfect blend of calendar and notebook, and has everything you would want of either. It has organization and soul together, and throws in sensory satisfaction, as well. And then there are the accessories. Which I will not peruse in detail out of fear that I will spend next month’s rent.

I know we’re halfway into the first month of the year, and you likely have another calendar already. But if you have an obsession similar to mine, invest in this. You’ll love it. And not in the way that people say they love something that helps them get organized. No, you’ll have actual emotions about this book.

Although you may not go as far as clutching it in your hands as you go to sleep.

Not that this has happened to me. At all.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-49xKdCzGBw]

You can buy Techo online or see the map for retailers in your country. Hoboniche Techo has not paid me for these raptures. I just love Techo and wanted to tell you about it.