(Sarah Read is an author, editor, yarn artist, and pen/paper/ink addict. You can find more about her at her website and on Twitter. And check out her latest book, Out of Water, now available where books are sold!)
I've been using a Hobonichi Weeks quite happily for the past three years, but last fall, when I started grad school, it just wasn't enough space. I work full time as a writer, part time as a librarian, I have two kids with their own schedules, and when I added my schoolwork into the mix, it felt like there were not enough pages in the world to contain my to-do lists. It still feels that way. Last January, when I knew I had too much stuff going on to fit in my planner, I decided I would not upgrade my planner but instead simplify my life. I didn't want to have more things to do than would fit in a normal planner! It was a good plan. But it didn't work. I ended up abandoning my Weeks a few months ago and BuJoing my way through the end of this year. So, what to get for 2022?
This year I was tempted to make the same goal, and the Weeks, which is my favorite layout, also tempted me. Planner season is rife with temptation. Reason prevailed, though, and I stuck with my plan to get an A5 planner--but not a Hobonichi this year. I've tried a Cousin before, and I loved it, but Midori MD paper is right up there with Tomoe for me as far as favorite paper goes, and I think the layout of this Midori MD Diary 2022 A5, 1 Day 1 Page book might be perfect for me.
At the front, there are monthly spreads from December 2021 through January 2023, so I can start early and plan ahead. The weeks start on Monday, which is the only logical way to do it and I will not be hearing arguments to the contrary. Perfect. And then there are 385 undated daily pages, for a whopping total of 416 pages. You know how I like pages.
What caught my eye about the layout of these daily pages was that they looked just like the layout I've been designing for myself in my BuJo these past few months. I've had to resort to the hourly scheduled plan in order to stay afloat and this layout includes an hourly list on the left side. It goes from 8am to midnight, but it has blank space above if your day starts ridiculously early like mine. Technically, there's enough room there to list all the way back to 1am, effectively making it a 24-hour calendar. Great if you work night shifts! Or just stay up all night studying. There are also 7 lines below the hourly section for notes, or if you happen to have a time machine and can add more hours to your day.
What's especially unique about these pages are the margins, which are the real star of the show. All around the monthly calendars is empty space for lists and notes and planning. And the right half of each daily page is blank for sketches, notes, lists, habit trackers, stickers, tea stains, poetry, ideas, reminders, or heartfelt laments. It can be anything you need it to be.
This is the perfect blend of structure and chaos. My life is a highly scheduled mess, and this planner gives me space for all of that. It also has two ribbon bookmarks, so you can keep one in the monthly section and one at your daily section. It also comes with sticker tabs that you can use to mark your months in the daily planner pages.
I've raved about the Midori MD paper before, several times, but I'll restate my admiration here--it's excellent. It's light and crisp and handles fountain pens and inks of all fluidity with ease. There is show-through, but less than with Tomoe River paper. It shows great shading, and has a dry time that's a little faster than many coated papers. I'd still recommend using some blotting paper as a bookmark if you're making quick planner entries on the go.
There are really only two strikes against this planner that I can think of. One, there is no weekly overview. Just monthly and daily. I do like to see a week at a glance, so this will take some adjustment. And two, all those pages means that this planner is thicc. It's a full inch thick. It does not fit in most of my A5 notebook covers. Midori did foresee this, and it has a good cover of its own: a soft, lightweight PVC with a faux leather pebble effect. It's cream colored and minimalist with the MD logo debossed on the cover and 2022 on the spine. It's perfectly fine. More elegant than boring. But I would normally have slipped this inside a Nock Seed case or a Galen Leather Folio--alas, neither will fit. I may just have to cover it with stickers.
I don't expect any book to do the work of reigning in the chaos of my life, but I think this one will make a good assistant for 2022. I'm glad I finally admitted that I need big space to do big things, and I hope this will help me keep the little things from slipping through the cracks. 2020 and 2021 were not good. Very not. "Story of 2022," this book says inside the cover. I can't help but give it a stern look and hope it will be on its best behavior.
(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)
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