Techo Kaigi 2026

It's September, which means Planner Season has officially started! For anyone who doesn't obsess over Japanese stationery, September is when many of the planners and new accessories for the following year are released, which sets off a bit of a buying frenzy. If you follow creators on YouTube (and, I assume, other social media), you'll see lots of preview videos as things are announced, and then unboxing videos of "hauls." It can get a bit bananas, honestly, but I do enjoy seeing what new designs are being released for the next year.

Before buying anything new, I try to have a techo kaigi, or planner meeting, with myself to take time to evaluate my current notebook and planner setup from the year and decide what I want to do next year. This year had some hits and misses, but it does feel like I get closer to what works best for me each year - so it's definitely a useful process!

I started doing this in 2024 (see part one and part two here), and each year has gotten more and more streamlined as I learn more about what I like. I still can't figure out if the year for the techo kaigi refers to the year you're reviewing (the current year), or the year you're reviewing for (the next year), but I like to use the year I am reviewing, so this entry is my 2026 techo kaigi. You can also check out my 2025 techo kaigi here:

2025 Techo Kaigi

A review of my planners and journals from 2025 and a look at what I picked out for 2026!

Tea in the MarginsKate Thomas

2026 Review

So, a quick recap. I started 2026 with the following planners and intentions:

• Hobonichi Weeks Mega for personal tracking, schedule, to-dos, etc.;
• Jibun DIARY (weekly layouts) for actually planning work projects, with an emphasis on work only (instead of a mix of personal and work like the 2025 year was);
• A Leuchtturm 120 gsm journal for longer journal entries;
• and Field Notes pocket notebooks for temporary and portable note-taking.

I also have some notebooks that carried over from 2025, and I planned to keep them in my rotation long-term:

• Stalogy Full Year A6 as a Zibaldone-ish for quotes, poems, etc. that I want to keep long-term;
• Stalogy Half Year A5 for brainstorming work-related projects.

How It Went

My intention in having separate planners for work and for personal life was to give myself a bit of a mental separation between "work life" and "home life," which sort of worked. But in the end, I found it kind of tedious to have two different planners, and as the year has gone on, I have neglected the Jibun more and more. Not to get too philosophical, but can we really ever completely separate work and the rest of our lives? Especially when you own a business, there is so much overlap. Plus, when I'm looking at my schedule, I need to see both work and personal events, so I can get perspective on my capacity. So, I found myself putting my work and personal schedule in two planners every week, which is redundant and got annoying.

I was surprised by how much I liked the Weeks this year, because it was a big wildcard. I've kept the layout pretty similar to what I showed in my 2025 techo kaigi, and I have used it every week this year (so far!). I like the size a lot from a visual and aesthetic perspective, but ultimately, a horizontal weekly view just doesn't work for me. I like columns! Being able to see my day blocked off with appointments is very helpful for me, and writing notes in the columns works well. The combination of the visual of my schedule and the space left to have a to-do list helps me calibrate how much I will get done that week. But, I already miss the handy size. So, I am not sure how that will work next year!

I used my pocket notebook setup from 2025 for about 8 months, and then I started to feel like I needed a little change, so I bought a green pocket-sized Moleskine in August. I have been kind of a Moleskine hater for a long time because of their thin paper, but this has been a perfect jumpstart for my brain to get back into using the pocket-sized notebook. I wrote more about the pocket notebook and shared more photos in this post.

Another new notebook this year was a Traveler's Notebook style notebook. I picked out a Wanderings Standard Size notebook with pockets. TN brand notebooks were all out of stock at the time, and in the end, I decided I wanted a bit more substantial of a cover. The Wanderings notebook fits all Standard-sized notebooks, including Traveler's brand (and many others). I really loved the pockets, and it feels pretty sturdy. I am mostly using TN notebook inserts (I like the graph ones the best), and I've gotten the plastic pocket/additional card pocket insert and cardboard insert. The pockets are the perfect size for Post-it note flags, Instax mini photos, and (of course) cards.

Truthfully, I have underused this notebook this year. Originally, I was using it for taking notes on some philosophy reading, but that reading has slowed down, and so has my use of the notebook. I collected ephemera from our recent trip and hope to journal with it soon. But I just don't have an essential task or purpose for the notebook, so I don't use it as much as I'd like. That said, it was a good price, and I don't regret getting it - it will last a long time, and I can always figure out a new use for it!

Looking Ahead to 2027

I tried to pay a bit more attention this year to figuring out a system for planning long-term projects that works well for me, and I've realized that digital to-do lists for work projects seem to work much better for me. I've been slow to accept this because I like paper and would prefer to use it. But when I am planning larger projects that will have lots of moving parts, a hybrid system seems to work best for me: lay out the project on paper with estimated due dates, input it into a digital task manager (I use Obsidian or Asana, depending on the project - more on that some other time), and then pull my weekly to-dos from the digital task management app and put them in a paper version in a weekly "prep" meeting I have with myself. This system has been working really well for me most of this year, so I am picking things for next year that keep that functionality in mind.

I also enjoy saving stickers, receipts, and other ephemera from the day, but I don't love putting them in my long-form journal and don't have space in my Hobonichi Weeks. And, as I mentioned above, the separation of personal vs work ended up not being very functional for me, but the Weeks is not large enough for me to use for both.

So, as a surprise (to me!) move, I've decided to go back to the Hobonichi Cousin layout for 2027, but I will be using the HON A6 instead. I picked the HON A6 Sheep Sheep Sheep for the year - I couldn't resist the funny little sheep, and I think it will make me laugh all year. The HON has the same month/weeks in columns/daily layouts as the Cousin, but has a cover similar to the Weeks (a bit more reinforced, with fabric). I did get a plastic cover to protect it while I carry it around, but I like not needing the larger, bulky cover like I had to use for the Cousin.

The last time I used a Hobonichi Cousin, I felt overwhelmed by needing to create so much of the layout in the weekly view, which is why I switched to the Jibun Techo - it has a lot of the boxes already created. I am still trying to figure out what my solution for that is, other than just...do less. I have streamlined the things I track each week over time, so that should hopefully cut down on the amount of time things take. Setting aside time for set up has become part of my weekly routine, and I am used to writing a little bit each day in a journal, so it may not be as difficult to keep up with the daily pages as before. I am also very ready to let myself off the hook if I don't write on each day's page.

In addition to the HON, I'm carrying forward everything else I am already using: my pocket notebook set up, long-form journal, philosophy study notebook, and commonplace A6. I have about 100 pages left in my Leuchtturm, and I'll probably replace it with something very similar once it is full. I like just having a straightforward, no frills notebook for journaling, so there's nothing getting in the way of writing.

Not much of a haul for the new year - which is intentional! I don't know how people manage to keep up with 4+ Hobonichi books each year (or afford it, with the current prices!). I have picked up a few fountain pens, inks, and other accessories since the last update, so I will hopefully write about those soon.