The Original Way to Use a Planner

Think → Write → Execute → Cross off.

If you can do just this, you are already effectively mastering your planner.

At the same time, it is also thought that your self-esteem increases.

The role of a planner is to write things down and manage them.
You should be free to choose whatever planner you like and use it however you want.

However, it feels like many people are drifting far away from the original purpose of using a planner and are becoming exhausted.

Trying to decorate it or stamping it.
Sharing other people's ideas as if they were your own.

Jealousy born from admiration...

Is it because we live in an era where we can peek into other people's daily lives as a matter of course...?

Instagram, where images are the main focus.
I have been using it for over 10 years.

When I open the app, what unfolds is a world of various planners belonging to other people.
There are many people who love paper planners just like me.

Is it because I love planners, or because I love writing by hand...?
If I had to choose, I fall into the former category.

No, compared to people who don't write, I definitely lean toward loving writing as well.

The shape of plain paper gaining thickness is irresistible.
It is the thickness that makes me swoon.
Wrapping it in a genuine leather cover.
Ah, it's irresistible. Haha.

Let's get back to talking about Instagram.

From photos of just stacked planners to ones where you can read the written content even though the proper nouns are blurred out.

There is nothing more fascinating to watch than the contents of other people's planners...
It is both exciting and thrilling.
Am I a pervert? Haha.

I love paper planners so much that I have an account dedicated to them, and I still update it as a hobby every day.

I feel that the variety of paper planners has increased significantly in the last few years.

The Hobonichi Techo, which is said to be the originator of the one-page-per-day planner.
Long-established planner manufacturers, stationery makers, and recently, even people selling only planners.

The more they increase, the more troubled I become as a planner enthusiast.

There are many planners I want to use, but unfortunately, even if I buy many, I cannot master them all.

The current state of planner usage goes beyond just managing schedules.
Drawing illustrations, pasting printed photos.
Many people are creating photogenic planners by decorating with masking tape and using stamps.

As such examples increase, naturally, worries about one's own usage also arise.

I want to write like that too.
I want to decorate it cutely... and so on.

It is not wrong to imitate.
I want you to find your own unique way of using it from imitating others and use your planner without stress.

Originally, a planner is not something meant to be shown to others.

Because you want people to see it, because you want many 'likes'...
If you enjoy making a planner with such intentions, there is no problem, but if you are making a planner for the sake of so-called approval desire, the enjoyment will eventually be halved, and it will likely result in nothing but exhaustion.

Let's reconsider the meaning of the true way to use a planner.

Think, write things down, and organize your thoughts.
Execute what you have decided to do.
Look back and reflect.

It is merely a tool to look at yourself and make your life easier.
It is not meant to be something that exhausts you.