Hey pen friend!

It's planner season! I always get so excited when planner season comes around. Starting a new planner or notebook always feels like a fresh start. However, if you're new to the world of planners, I'm sure it can be a bit intimidating. There's so many planner brands out there with different layouts and sizes. Picking one can be a difficult choice.

Today, I'm offering some of my two cents for planner beginners. I don't know if I'd consider myself an expert on the topic, but I've been a stationery addict since childhood. So I'm quite familiar with the topic of planners.

Here are my tips for those just starting out in planning.

Tip 1: Start simple.

When consuming planner content on social media, it's very easy to want all the things. Planners, pens, highlighters, stickers, washi tape, etc. The list of supplies someone can use in their planner goes on and on.

As difficult it may be, try to start simple. I do believe that when someone has too many supplies, it's easy to be paralyzed by over analysis. Putting pen to paper for the first time on a brand new planner or notebook is always the most difficult. Try not to overwhelm yourself with too many options.

I think it's best to start with your planner, a pen with black ink, one or two accent pens (colored pens or highlighters), and maybe one washi tape roll or one sheet of stickers.

Start with a limited amount of supplies and hopefully you can figure out your planner style from there. Once you get a sense of what kind of supplies you enjoy using, it's easier to justify purchasing all the things.

Tip 2: Start small.

And I do mean that literally. If you're new to planning and don't have much of an idea of what you want to write as of yet, start with a small planner. I'm talking about A6 size, B6 size, or something like a Hobonichi Weeks.

Starting with a small planner size can be less intimidating. There's less space to fill, which can make it easier to fill up and manage. I don't believe a page should be filled to the brim, but I remember the early days of planning and journaling where empty space felt like failure. So if you're like me, get a smaller planner to start.

Tip 3: Don't be scared to experiment.

I think the hardest part about finding "planner peace" is figuring out what layouts work for you. It's asking yourself questions like "do I like the horizontal or vertical weekly layout," "should I try time blocking," etc.

So don't be scared to experiment!

This is your permission to change things up whenever something isn't working for you. However, to keep things productive, I hope when you make a change, you also reflect on why that layout or planner wasn't working and what are you trying to achieve with the changes you're making.

I've tried ring bound planners, Moleskine planners, Erin Condren planners, the Jibun Techo, and various Hobonichi planners over the years. Some of the planner changes were because life circumstances meant I needed different things, but a lot of the planner changes were because they simply didn't work for me.

Tip 4: Treat yourself with grace.

It can also be easy to beat ourselves up for blank pages or abandoned notebooks. Please treat yourself with grace.

Life happens to everyone, and even the best planner users will occasionally have blank pages. Your planner is meant to serve you and help you be productive. It should never make you feel badly about yourself. I also believe that having abandoned notebooks is normal for anyone embarking on a journey to find planner peace.

If you're really concerned about wasted notebooks as you start your planner journey, you may want to consider DIY-ing some layouts. You can do this by drawing them out yourself in a notebook, or if you have a printer and some paper, I highly recommend using printables to test out layouts. Some of the shops I've purchased printable planner sheets from include AnthologyPlans, RhoroDesigns, and DIYfish, but there are a ton of options out there for printable planner sheets. Plus if you get undated sheets, you can test them out whenever you get the bug to try something new.

You can also repurpose an old planner at any time. In essence, a planner is just a bunch of paper. Feel free to use it as a journal or as scratch paper if the layouts aren't working for you.

Tip 5: Remember, productivity first and aesthetics second.

If you're trying to get into planning, you're likely trying to organize your life with pretty planners and notebooks. While you're doing this, I hope you approach it with productivity in mind first and aesthetics second.

With the popularity of social media, I think it's hard to remember that the point of a planner spread isn't only to look aesthetic. We often want to be part of the social media community, and it feels like perfect spreads are needed to participate. Sometimes the endeavor for perfection ends up being the thing keeping us from being productive.

Don't let the idea of perfection prevent you from writing down your to do list.

Your planner is meant to be productive and to help you organize your life and thoughts first. Making it pretty is supposed to be the fun part.

Currently Obsessing With

It probably comes at no surprise, but I'm currently obsessed with the Hobonichi Preview happening right now. If you're unfamiliar with the Hobonichi Preview, during the month of August, they release a piece of information about their upcoming lineup every day. For example, so far they've announced the Colors collection, the Moomin collab collection, and the Akiko Miyakoshi collection.

I already know that I'm going to get a Hobonichi Weeks Mega. The Hobonichi Weeks mega isn't released in all the designs, but generally, you can find it in all the colors that are announced as part of the Colors collection. So I'm currently eyeing the Sea Glass or Midnight Blue editions if nothing else catches my eye.

I hope you found something useful in this week's email whether you're new to planners or a seasoned planner user. If you already know what planners you're looking to purchase for 2027, I'd love to hear about them! I love comparing planner and journal purchases each planner season.

But that's all I have for you today. I'll catch you in my next email!

<3, Amy

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