I started out the year so well

I lost some weight, got a new job and spent more time on creative pursuits. Then I got busy with the aforementioned new job, had a few holidays (yes, plural) and felt like I’d lost a bit of focus. For all good reasons, but I knew I wanted to refresh my goals and get some focus back. Enter a new Hobonichi Weeks layout.

As I always do in this situation, I jumped back into my Hobonichi Weeks to achieve this. There’s just something about this planner that whatever the issue – life is busy, my planners are no longer working for me, whatever it is – the Hobonichi Weeks helps me get back on track.

I knew what I wanted to get out of my weekly planning and the areas I wanted to focus on. I also knew I wanted to tweak how I approached my to do lists.

The layout

Previously, I’ve tried to split out tasks over the week for balance, so I don’t end up needing a catch up day.

However, I found that this reduced my flexibility and approach to my days. Particularly if I filled up a day’s task list ahead of time which things that didn’t necessarily *need* to be done on that day, I’ve then run out of space to add in anything that crops up. That then becomes confusing to follow – where do I put these additional tasks? It’s not necessarily a space issue on the pages. I don’t have that many tasks to do each day.

I also wanted a way to have a bit of a running task list of things that didn’t need to be completed in a set week, but have them clearly visible so they could be ticked off as and when I have the time.

Basically, I wanted to create a bit of a weekly dashboard and a clear distinction between tasks that had to be completed on set days, and tasks that could be completed whenever I had the time.

So over the past few weeks I’ve been refining the layout, and I’ve got it into a place where I’m really happy with it. I can absolutely see my productivity has skyrocketed on the back of it, too.

I’m really making the most of the relatively small page size with this layout – getting eight different sections out of it.

Events

The left hand page is divided into two; with the left side of the page dedicated to events and appointments. I use a fineliner to draw out these lines, picking a colour that matches the washi I’ve decided to use each week.

These aren’t divided into AM or PM or necessarily in order. It’s such a small space and I generally don’t have that many plans each day that I need everything in to be in time order to keep track. All day events such as birthdays and paydays also go in here.

I like to use some icon stickers here just to jazz up the space. I have some micro icons that are perfectly sized for the Weeks. They add a little bit of colour, too.

Day specific tasks

The right hand side of that page is for tasks. These are my priority tasks for the week that generally need to be done on a certain day. Sometimes I’ll add in tasks that need to be urgently done but can slip a day or so. The idea of this is just seeing the really important stuff here. I will add to this as the week goes on with things I need to do – emails to reply to, an element of getting shop orders out or shops I need to go to buy something.

Fitness log

The right hand page gets carved up into six. In the Hobonichi weeks there is an extra line a third of the way down the page. This helps create an extension to the left hand side of the page. This is what I then use to create the fitness section.

In here I’m just tracking daily steps and exercise. Sometimes I’ll add in a little commentary if I haven’t done much e.g. because I’m ill.

While I have a habit tracker, I like being able to see a bit more detail on my fitness. I’m getting back into running this year and so I want to be able to see how long I ran for, not just that I ran. Having to write out the actual number of steps can be a great motivator. Only done 3k steps that day? Better get out for a walk!

To Do list

This is where the dashboard element really comes in. For this section I also like to use some brush lettered stickers for the headers of these sections.

The rest of the right hand page is divided into five sections. The first is my to do list. This is the list of things that need to be done at some point. Ideally, this week.

There will also be some ‘some day’ tasks in there. That may be because they take a while. An example of this is some Japanese notes. I’ve been taking lessons for a couple of months now, and I’m trying to write up my notes and create cheat sheets. This won’t all get done this week, but it’s written in there because I’m working on it every week.

They may also be a someday task that I keep in there because if I have downtime and I’ve done everything I need to do that day, I want to be able to see something else I could do. For example this week, I had some free time one evening, so I ticked ‘reorg supplies’ off my list.

Task list

You may be wondering why I basically have two separate to do lists on this page. The task list is for tasks I need to do every week that don’t need to be done on a certain day.

This is basically house chores, Lethbridge Paper tasks and hobbies I want to make time for each week.

Sometimes these will just get ticked off here. Sometimes they’ll get broken down into smaller tasks and written into each day. For example, when completing my weekly YouTube video I may plan to film on one day and then edit on another.

I really love having these separate lists. I get stuff done without feeling like my days are super overwhelming.

This week

This section has been a constant in my planner for some time now. Every time I’m awaiting post or an email reply I’ll make a note of it in this section. It allows me to see at a glance what I’m waiting on and will give me a prompt to chase something if I’ve not received it in a timely manner.

Next week

This is a bit of a brain dump section. It generally will get filled with tasks for next week, but sometimes it’ll get those ‘some day’ tasks written in there too. Some weeks this doesn’t get used, but I like having it. Without it, I end up in post it note doom with things that crop up.

Habit tracker

Ah a good old habit tracker, every planner needs one! Just joking, not everyone needs one. Some years I’ve not had one. I don’t use this in a traditional way. Not everything in this tracker will or even needs to get done daily. I use this more so I can see at a glance how well I’m doing at the positive actions I want to take regularly.

These are group into a few buckets.

Fitness – e.g. closing my rings, exercise tracking.

Beauty – e.g. tracking how many times each week I’ve done a face mask or that bit extra above my usual skincare routine.

Personal development – e.g. Japanese study.

These all align with my personal goals and give me a good barometer of how the week has gone. Lots of missing crosses? I probably had a crappy week. I like to use a Mildliner, again matched to the colour theme of the week. This allows me to see quite easily when I haven’t done something.

I’m about two months in with this layout, and I’m really feeling the difference

I feel well planned, focused and like I’m moving towards my goals quicker than I was before.

Want to see how I set up this Hobonichi Weeks layout in real time? I filmed a Plan With Me here!

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