Techo Kaigi: A Notebook Meeting
Alternate title: How I went about deciding on a new planner system when the one I had planned on didn’t end up getting produced.
Current status of the 2024 year-long planner stash. You can see how it looked this time last year in this post.
Back in August I had decided that I wanted to do a Sterling Ink planner again, in 2024 they had offered a two book A6. I like the layout of the compact size I’d used this year, but wanted to try out journaling in the same book as well. I eagerly awaited the release. However, it must not have been a big seller. It wasn’t available this year, leaving the Sterling Ink planner options as a “compact” (monthly, weekly, and about 100 notes pages) or “full” (monthly, weekly, and enough note pages for one day per page).
I like to carry my calendar with me and the full year models are just too large. I was carrying around a 520 page Sterling Ink notebook to test out the size, and it pretty much takes up all of the space in my TN. It would be the only notebook I could carry except for very thin inserts.
At the end of October/beginning of November I was carrying all of this in my TN:
Sterling Ink Common Planner Compact
A lined insert that is 3/4 full with a story
A Chicago Planner Conference planning insert from Lights Planner Action (I met Bess at CPC and she was so awesome. I loved her keynote talk about journaling).
A Chicago Planner Conference coloring book from Lights Planner Action
A Lauren Phelps acrylic insert holding stickers and washi tape
That probably doesn’t sound like that all fits, but it does squeeze in. However, any time I find myself with too many inserts they tend to spill out when I take the elastic band off. This gets tricky because I leave some notebooks I reach for frequently throughout the day off the strings so the only thing holding them in is the band that goes around the cover. The CPC inserts are now out since it’s over for the year (I will offer a more thorough recap soon), and during the conference I did get a lot of inspiration for how I wanted my planner to help me get more organized. I need to find a goal setting system that works for me so that I am able to grow.
Thanks to April (The Penguin Post), Dan (The Gentleman Stationer), and several others I decided to do a “techo kaigi” or “notebook meeting” to figure out what I wanted for next year. This was also important to determine if I wanted to buy anything new. I didn’t end up buying any actual planners at CPC since I am very particular about my A6 size and it’s definitely not the trendy size right now (B6 seems to be ruling the planner community roost at the moment). I love reading about how people use their notebooks/planners, it’s a little insight into the uniqueness of how each person thinks.
The 2025 planner/notebook stack as of right now.
One of the big questions I had on my mind was trying to bullet journal again. My previous challenges with bullet journaling was always a “empty page” problem. There were indexes and collections pages that I simply didn’t use and weren’t relevant. The great thing about the bullet journal system is that it can be changed to suit one’s needs, which is also the worst thing about it. It’s a lot of decisions to make. So, I tabled that idea for a little bit after making some test spreads in a 272 page Sterling Ink notebook that I had been saving for “important things”.
I told myself I would decide what I wanted after CPC, and that time has come. I pondered for a bit of what I wanted to be carrying. I knew I needed a monthly planner, something to log my days in, something to write stories in, and then one for notes and other random things that pop up from time to time. So far, this is what the start of 2025 will look like for me:
A monthly planner (I really liked using one this year, it helped me get a bird’s eye view of a whole month and plan some things more effectively). I decided on a Sterling Ink A6 monthly booklet.
A weekly calendar insert (I have gotten this one from Lights Planner Action). I chose a week on 4 pages format so that I have space to do my daily logging and write out tasks for the week/day. I am doing a printable because it’s easy to mix it up. Since it only covered a few weeks, I printed off two copies and bound them together so I could have about 6 months in one book.
A dedicated story notebook (I am in a workshop at the moment that really promotes the use of a dedicated writing computer, but since I prefer writing by hand I am making that a notebook for now. Computer might come later). Basically, this notebook will only contain the actual story I am working on - no notes, no ideas, just pure story. I am using a Hobonichi A6 Lined Notebook (affiliate link) that I picked up at Atlas Stationers last weekend (you can use DIME10 for a 10% discount!) to start out the year.
A “catch-all” notebook with indexes. One of the thing I want to try going forward is creating an organizational system for my inserts so that I can find things in them again easily. I haven’t quite decided what that will look like yet, but this notebook will point to other notebooks that might have the notes or info that I need. This notebook is a 272 page Sterling Ink notebook with page numbers.
A daily journal. I considered including this into the “catch-all” notebook, but I like having the dedicated journaling space. I also have a tendency to fill these notebooks up pretty quickly and love switching out paper with each one for new experiences. I’m going to start the year with an insert I made using Yamamoto Minuet Light Cream paper. I had picked up a pack of that at the 2023 San Francisco Pen Show and haven’t really used it much.
Only missing the monthly calendar (still in the mail)
It’s possible I’ll throw out this plan in the next month in a half, but I am currently feeling pretty good about it. I am also going to be continuing with my Hobonich 5-year journal and picked up Kleid x Life Noble Note A5 to replace my Odyssey Notebooks Song of Achilles book as my weekly/monthly reflection book for next year.
How are your planner plans coming? Do you have any other great techo kaigi resources to share?
Currently Inked (I was having a very chaotic early November, so this is a run down of the inks that I have played with so far this month)
Colorverse Pioneer Container - Kaweco x Galen Leather Sport Carmine 14K BB ‘journaler’ - This muted purple came from the New Horizons box set. I haven’t used this purple probably since I got it and I am really enjoying the muted tone and the shading. It’s been a good compliment to the other inks I’ve been using.
Robert Oster Muddy Wine - Kaweco liliput copper M stub - This is my favorite ink and only bottle from the Robert Oster Muddy series. It falls on the edge of burgundy and purple to me. Great shading and it instantly reminded me why I had to snatch up a bottle after using up a sample.
Colorverse Stars and Stripes - Kaweco liliput fireblue 14K M ‘journaler’ - Funnily enough, I didn’t even think about the name of this ink before I put it in the pen. I was wanting to give another one of my sheening blues a try when I haven’t used it in a while. I was unconsciously hopeful for a return to sanity. The election results make me feel this quote from Edward Abbey (environmental writer/anarchist from in the 1960’s/70’s) - “I despise my own nation the most. Because I know it best. Because I still love it, suffering from hope.” If you’re not familiar with his writing I really recommend Desert Solitaire and The Monkey Wrench Gang. He was very passionate about North American lands and had some pretty strong opinions on choices the US Government was making. He was on the CIA watchlist at one point. Warning: he does say some really dumb things about women at times. He’s a mixed bag of a writer.
Colorverse From Cali - Kaweco Art Sport Terrazzo B ‘imperial’ - One of my favorite purple inks. Where Colorverse Milky Lavender is a warm purple, From Cali is a cool one. I think the inspiration was from classic postcards and the bright and unique colors. It’s a great ink. Do take note that it is a pretty dry one. I usually put a little White Lightning into it for better flow and shading.
Colorverse Chi-town - Kaweco Art Sport Tiger’s Eye 14K BB CSI - I got this ink as a souvenir from Atlas Stationers on my first trip to Chicago. I was headed back so I decided to ink it up. This is a very dark purple with shimmer.
Colorverse Laplace Resonance - Kaweco liliput copper M stub - Lisa Vanness was at CPC and she offered an opportunity for order pick up and I took advantage of it to get a few ink samples I’d been looking at. One of them was this ink. It’s amazing in swatches. It’s really meh in a pen. Unfortunately it’s one of those chromashaders that just comes out too light. I ended up putting a little bit of Van Dieman’s Achilles into my Ferris Wheel Press Ink Carousel and dipping the nib to create ink effects with it. If you plan on using it for really big, wet dip pens this ink is great, otherwise not so much in my opinion.
Robert Oster Ocean - Kaweco liliput fireblue 14K M ‘journaler’ - Another sample pickup in Chicago. Every time I saw someone writing with this ink I wanted to try it. It’s a beautiful turquoise, but very close to many other turquoise inks that I have in my collection already.
Lennon Tool Bar Bubble Tea - Kaweco Art Sport Terrazzo B ‘imperial’ - a total impulse purchase while I was poking around Atlas… and an impulse purchase I really shouldn’t have made. This ink is crazy light when in a pen. Not entirely unreadable, but close. Not sure what I’m going to do with it, but I want to start trying to do more artsy stuff with my inks and this one is a good candidate for that.
Ferris Wheel Press Leadcast Letters - Ferris Wheel Press Carousel Oinking Embers M - I’d been eyeballing this pen ever since it came out last month. I was intrigued by the murky brown, not a color you see very often in low-end pens. I snagged it at Atlas along with a bottle of Leadcast Letters and they are a pretty good matchup. I was ambivalent about this gray ink, but really wanted to finish the Letterpress ink set. It’s a wonderful gray, probably one of the best they’ve come out with. It’s just on the border of being a greige and I’ll be using this one a lot.
Ferris Wheel Press Bearington Black - Ferris Wheel Press Carousel Hearty Harvest M - This is a good standard black, no fuss. I’m using it as a labeling pen for ink swatches and other things that need an ink that will disappear into the background.
Ferris Wheel Press The Sherry Sonata - Kaweco Art Sport Terrazzo B ‘imperial’ - the theme colors at the Chicago Pen Show were pink and I decided I need a pink ink for taking keynote speaker and workshop notes. I like The Sherry Sonata because it’s a brighter pink that isn’t hot pink.
Sailor x Mizutama Yoosei - Kaweco Sport Iridescent Pearl M CSI - This was the ink I was most excited about in this little box set I picked up from Yoseka Stationery for my birthday. It is very much a greige. Being a Sailor ink it has great flow. I’m enjoying this one a lot.
Phew, that was a lot of ink so far!