My Techo Kaigi (anyone else is going to miss the Sakaguchi Weeks?)
So, I think it's high time I put my Techo Kaigi thoughts into writing. Fair warning: it's going to be LONG.
Disclaimer : I do have a work planner but it's entirely separate from my personal one and it's not from Hobonichi.
In 2026, I used two Hobonichi Weeks : one for planning, one for journaling and basically just keeping track of stuff that happened and when it happened because burnout is frying my brain and sometimes I can't remember when was the last time I did XYZ. Anyway.
Before that, in 2025, I had a Weeks Mega (Colors, the navy blue) for planning and an A5 HON (Kubota) for journaling. I switched from a Weeks Mega to a regular Weeks so it would be less heavy and bulky in my bag, and because I didn't use the back pages that much. The A5 HON was super overwhelming, I made myself use all the features on all the pages and that took me time and energy I didn't have every night. Basically, I watched too many journaling videos on Youtube and tried to be these people instead of listening to my own needs lol.
(At some point, I considered using an Avec as my planner, can't remember if that was this year or the one before, probably the latter. That did not work. The horizontal weekly layout is my planner peace.)
Which is why in 2026, I went the complete opposite way. I got a regular Weeks (originally the Sakaguchi) for planning, because I didn't really use the blank pages every day. For journaling / keeping track, I looked at HON, then stopped lying to myself about my ability to keep an A5 HON / Cousin (for the reasons stated above - and I think everyone's techo kaigi helped me with that). I was originally going to stick to the A5 format and do a plain bullet journal system in an A5 Hobonichi grid notebook (Kubota).
Except the paper in the Kubota grid notebook was the worst (if you weren't around at the time, basically there was a bad batch of TRP in 2025, and we think they used the last remaining stock of that to make some of the grid notebooks in 2026, because the techo were fine but the notebooks were not). Now, after the 2025 issues, people tested the paper as soon as their orders came and so I found out quickly that this wasn't going to work.
I considered getting a good quality notebook from somewhere else, and in fact I think I even bought a Midori notebook for this purpose. But in the end, I decided to stop journaling so much and just log main events, and I decided to do that in another Weeks. I think I just burned out of journaling after the Cousin and even setting up a basic bujo sounded like too many decisions xD Anyway, the only Weeks I loved was the Sakaguchi, and I wasn't about to get two of the same, so I got the pale blue (Sky Mist or something?) Colors Weeks and the CoC with the flowers on top.
In the end, that ended up being my planner and the Sakaguchi became my log thingy.
Now, my inevitable yearly planner "crisis" happened in June this year (usually it's sooner). I know the real reason is general life overwhelm, but it always manifests as making changes in my planner system because that's the tangible symbol of everything I have going on. Anyway, the extreme minimalist phase is over and I now do daily planning most days on top of the weekly. This is made possible by memo pads, which I had thankfully bought just in case. Also, I feel like journaling a little again, so I did end up setting up a basic bullet journal in a non-Hobonichi notebook and not really using my other Weeks anymore. It's technically working, but I still don't like having to think about setting everything up. I think I want something that just works out of the box. I don't think this journal will last me through the rest of the year ; if it doesn't, I'll use my Sakaguchi Weeks again.
In 2027, I hope to finally try the Sneaker Weeks Mega as my planner, which will give me enough back pages to do daily planning in, but with the least possible bulk and no bells and whistles (I'll just make a band for it). If I don't like the colors, I haven't decided if I'll get a different Weeks Mega (I like the Sea Glass color, and if it looks too different under different lighting in the final lineup video or something, I can get the navy one instead, but I have so many navy blue things already X_x) or a regular Weeks with memo pads like this year (but I haven't fallen in love with any of the designs yet).
For my journal / log thing, I'm considering an A6. Most likely an A&S Planner over an Original, because the layout is simpler. However, I'd also want a cover for it, because I don't like the look of the A&S cover, and for now I'm not in love with any of this year's covers (and don't feel like just getting a Navy one XD). So, I might get an A6 HON instead, even though it has the Original layout. The idea is to have something that works out of the box, but isn't too big for my needs like the A5 HON was. And if I have low-energy days, or days when nothing happens, any pages with just a couple lines written in won't look as weird in A6 format as they did in A5.
Ultimately I suppose I'll make a lot of decisions based on the available cover designs. This year, I'd like to buy in person from a physical store, I do have one nearby, now to hoping they end up having the designs I decide on. :)