With just 2 weeks left for 2016, many plannernerds are scrambling to put the final touches on their 2017 planning system setups. One of my choices for next year is the Hobonichi Weeks planner—more details to come in a future blogpost!—which is predominantly a Japanese planner. While it has many useful features, there are some tweaks you can do to make it even more effective. Check out my latest video where I share my top 10 tips for preparing your Hobonichi Weeks planner for 2017!

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If you’re not familiar with the Hobonichi Weeks planner, below are some quick specs:

  • Hard, linen cover available in various colors
  • Tomoe River paper—very fountain pen friendly!
  • Yearly overviews for 3 years (e.g. 2016, 2017, and 2018)
  • 12 month overview on 2 pages
  • Month on 2 pages—Monday start—for 16 months (e.g. Dec 2016, Jan thru Dec 2017, Jan thru Mar 2017)
  • Week on 2 pages—Monday thru Sunday on the left page, blank grid paper for notes on the right page–for 13 months (e.g. Dec 2016, Jan thru Dec 2017)
  • 72 blank grid note pages—all numbered—and an index page
  • 14 pages containing reference information in Japanese (can’t read Japanese? Then check out my video to see how you can repurpose these pages!)
  • Clear, stick-on pocket included with the purchase of a Hobonichi Weeks planner

Many times, we purchase planners that include pages or layouts that we have no use for. Other times, we struggle with certain elements of a planner that make it hard for us to use or difficult to find important information. This planner—while perfectly compact, with chock-full-of-pages, and made of quality materials—poses a challenge for those who are not familiar with the Japanese language. My top 10 tips are intended to help you make this planner a more effective tool with just a few DIY tweaks. I’m also a big fan of the Hobonichi Techo which I wrote about in a previous blogpost—read more about it here and here. Now, without further ado, checkout the video below!

What about you? Have you ever used the Hobonichi Weeks or any of the Hobonichi planners? What are some of your favorite tips and hacks to help make these planners work better for you? How are you using your Hobonichi—e.g. as a personal and/or work planner, art journal, etc.? Please share in the comments below and don’t forget to like, share, and subscribe!

Until next time, 🙂

♥ LilD ♥