Six months into using my planner, I learned that pages full of blank space are just fine

“This is the year I’m going to make my planner Instagram-worthy!”

I started out with that enthusiasm, but reality is not so kind. Half a year later, white space has become the main feature of my pages.

But I think that’s okay. This is what reality looks like. The stylish planners I see on Instagram must just be a fantasy of mine.

After using it for half a year, my approach to my planner has changed. Once I gracefully gave up on making it look good, I was able to relax and enjoy my planner.

In this note, I’ve summarized my realistic record of using a planner for six months and how my feelings have changed. I hope this can be a catalyst for those who worry that they “can’t keep up with a planner” to engage with their planner more easily and in their own way.

Table of Contents

December | Jumping the gun because I couldn't wait to use it

A new planner is exciting, isn't it?

I decided on the “Hobonichi Techo HON” as my partner for 2025. I checked the official Instagram account almost every day before it went on sale. It’s a favorite that I agonized over before finally getting my hands on it.

I wanted it in my hands as soon as possible, so I ordered it online on September 1st, the release date for Hobonichi Techo. I bought the “January start” version. However, I couldn't wait three months to start using it, so as soon as the planner arrived, I wrote the following in the free pages.

Since I’ve gone to the trouble, I’ll introduce the actual pages.

Index page

Free pages are convenient, but it’s easy to forget what you wrote and where. So, to be able to access the pages I want to check immediately, I created an index corner at the beginning of the free pages.

Password list

This is a page where I’ve summarized IDs and passwords for Wi-Fi, social media, shopping sites, and so on. Honestly, it’s a pain to handwrite long alphanumeric strings, but it’s useful to be able to check them quickly when I think, “Oh no, I forgot my password!”

Favorites List

I make bulleted lists of things I like—food, hobbies, places, anything—regardless of the genre. I recommend it because just looking at the pages once in a while makes me feel happy.

Choosing my 'special' stickers for decoration makes me even more excited.

👇 Stickers I bought by splurging a little

Wardrobe List

This is a page where I record photos or screenshots of the clothes, shoes, and bags I own, printed out with a smartphone printer. Checking this when I go shopping helps prevent me from buying items with the same colors or designs over and over.

👇 Convenient because you can print directly from your smartphone!

For items I've let go of because the fabric wore out or they no longer fit, I draw a diagonal line over the image with a permanent marker to make it clear.

👇 Masking stickers that you can cut into your own preferred shapes

January | Maximum enthusiasm for planner decoration

January, the month I could finally start using my planner in earnest, had finally arrived. My motivation was at its peak.

I pasted in my favorite stickers and masking tape, photos I took when I went out, and looked up decorative lettering online to copy. Every time I opened my planner, I would grin, thinking, 'Maybe I have a good sense of style.'

February | Motivation for planner decoration is still going strong

My motivation for planner decoration continued through February. Every time I went to a 100-yen shop, I would head straight to the sticker section to buy new ones. I was fully enjoying my planner time.

There were also times when I photographed and used my own planner when writing articles about the planner genre for my work as a writer.

March | Planner decoration ends due to life changes

Well, my planner life had been going smoothly, but then a turning point arrived.

Starting from March 21st, the planner decoration I had been pouring my passion into came to a sudden halt.

This was the day I moved out of my parents' house and started living alone with my daughter. With the increase in household chores I had to handle, the time and mental space I had to enjoy leisurely planner decoration decreased significantly.

Looking back at my planner, I couldn't help but laugh, thinking, "I'm just too easy to read." It seems changes in life are directly reflected in the state of my planner.

April | Even after stopping planner decoration, I continue to "write"

That said, it's not like I stopped using my planner. While I barely do any decoration anymore, I continue to write in it, albeit in a small way.

The items I am continuing are like this.

I am also continuing the ribbon-style decorations. Since I no longer decorate with stickers or masking tape, this might have been a small pride of mine, wanting to keep at least this much going.

May | Blank space is also a fine record

As soon as May arrived, I stopped doing the ribbon-style decorations and just started framing the items. After the middle of May, there were even days where I didn't write the items at all.

The sections for "My feelings for the day" and "Things I was happy about/Thank you" were hit or miss, and pages that were almost completely blank started to stand out.

But, I never really worried about it, thinking, "I couldn't write..."Because I believe that even the blank space is a fine record of the days I have spent.

The "blank space" in my planner taught me that it's okay just the way it is

A planner is like a mirror that reflects the changes in your environment and feelings at the time. It is linked to me in such an interesting way.

Whether it's a page decorated gorgeously, a page filled only with text, or a page full of blank space, to me, they are all precious records. There's no need to force myself to fill it every day, is there?

In fact, I think the fact that I "couldn't write" tells a story of its own—perhaps that I was so desperate about something that I didn't have the energy to write in my planner, or that I was so fulfilled that I didn't even need to record it.

Whether there's decoration or not, there is meaning in continuing without strain. That is what these past six months with my planner have taught me.

📒📒📒

By the end of 2025, when I finish using my Hobonichi Techo, I wonder how my way of using the planner, my life, and my feelings will have changed. Accepting and enjoying the changing circumstances, including the blank spaces, might be what it means to "master using a planner."

▼ The notes I uploaded the other day. I will continue to write about ways to enjoy a planner without trying too hard.