Recently I made a simple change to my daily routine that will have a significant impact on my day to day life. I decided to give the Hobonichi Techo a try for 2017.

I know what you are thinking. What is a Hobonichi Techo? It’s a planner. But it’s also so much more than just a planner.

The Hobonichi Techo (pronounced “tetch-oh”) is one of the many variations of a daily calendar created by Hobo Nikkan Itoi Shimbun, or Hobonichi, a Japanese company that has become very influential in their market around the world. I have been eyeing their calendars for the past few years, but have never made the choice to purchase one. Until now.

What makes the Hobonichi Techo stand out is its versatility. It functions as a daybook and planner, but does not have the constraints of the typical planner. For example, it has no time markings, except for noon. You can break the page down into whatever sections you need. It also functions as a journal, if you want to use it for that, a task list, a sketch book, and much more.

It’s also an attractive option because it uses a high quality paper from Tomoe River, which holds an ink better than many other papers, and is even fountain pen friendly. And, since the binding is designed to lay flat when open, it is very easy to write in, making it much more user friendly than many other planners.

And, to top it all off, it’s affordable. I purchased my Techo from Jet Pens, with a pretty decent cover, for just under fifty dollars. That’s a lot cheaper than other planners I considered, even Amazon. That said, you can definitely dress it up with many different aftermarket products.

However, none of these reasons are why I decided to try it out. My purposes are entirely different. And, I hope, more valuable as I consider my life, and my use of time.

I choose to take more control of my day

The first reason I moved to the Techo this year is to take control of my time more effectively. For the past few years, I have been using Google Calendar for my scheduling, and Nozbe for my tasks. Both are great options, and good at what they do. Both are digital, though, and I want to try to eliminate my dependence upon my devices somewhat this year.

For me, the digital options have become mundane. There are days where I forget to check them, simply because I have begun to take them for granted. And I have missed a couple of appointments because I forgot. That’s not good. Making the shift to the Techo will help me be more intentional, I hope.

When it comes to tasks, not all of them will be entered into the journal. Nozbe will still play an important role in my day to day effectiveness. And so will Google, due to the ease in which you can share calendars and events with others. But I hope to take more control of my time with the Techo.

I love to use analog tools, such as pen and paper

One of my favorite disciplines is journaling. I love to write. I love good quality pens and nice paper. But, outside of my personal journal, I don’t write a lot. Switching to the Techo will give me more opportunity to write, which I find very appealing. And because the paper is so good, I’ll be able to use a variety of pens, from some of my finer, dryer fountain pens to my Hi-Tec-C Coletos, and even a variety of pencils, like the Blackwing 602.

I like the style statement a quality daily planner makes

I love looking my best. And I love adding accessories that command attention as well, not because I want the attention of those around me, but because I love the way they look. And the Hobonichi Techo looks great! I love the simple design, and the plethora of beautiful covers that you can find for it. It’s a thing of beauty, and I enjoy seeing it on my desk.

My hope is that this becomes a very effective tool in my day to day life. As with any change, I know it will come with a learning curve, and I will make tweaks and adjustments until I find the way it works best for me. In the meantime, I will play around with it, becoming more accustomed to it, and see how much more effective I can become.

I’ll keep you posted on the results.

Question: Do you use a daily planner? Do you use paper or digital? What products do you use? You can leave a comment by clicking here.