The Ultimate Journal Everyone Needs

Ever since I was a child and watching the movie Princess Diaries, I’ve wanted to be the type of person that regularly journals. Throughout my childhood, I attempted to start a journey many times. It wasn’t for the lack of notebooks and journals, I must’ve had dozens upon dozens stashed around the house, but the habit would never stick. I would voraciously journal for a week before getting tired of it. I’d then rediscover the discarded journal six months later, feel re-invigorated and then begin the process again, only to lose interest again. 

This pattern continued well into my teens and even into early adulthood, but no matter what I tried, I could never stick to journaling. That was until 2021 when I was given a Kikki K gift card for Christmas and purchased an A5 dated journal. Working full-time in my first ever corporate role, juggling gym classes, social obligations and the many side hustles I was constantly trying on, I needed a place to organise my life. The novelty of the journal got me through the first few weeks and I diligently hand wrote my schedule into the journal each week, but motivation was waning. That was until I fell down the rabbit hole of self-development on Instagram and was a victim of the wellness algorithm. 

If you’ve ever experienced the self-development/wellness pipeline, you’ll be no stranger to gratitude, affirmations and manifesting. Given the uncertainty of the time, I fell for it hook line and sinker. If you’re familiar with the self development industry, then you’ll know how they pedal the importance of journaling and self reflection. 

The combination of using the dated journal for organisation, scheduling as well as my woo-woo gratitude, affirmations and manifesting seemed to be the perfect motivation I needed to actually develop a regular journaling habit. 

By the end of 2021, I quickly filled up my entire journal with my inner ramblings. But the journal I had previously purchased didn’t quite suit my needs. The A5 pages were too small for all of the big dreams and manifestations that I wanted to write into being so in 2022 I opted for something that gave me a little more freedom, an A4 lined notebook. This wasn’t quite right either. The pages felt too big, I had too much freedom and I didn’t have a space to track my habits or schedule appointments. 

In 2023, I yet again tried something new: bullet journalling. I’d seen the beautiful spreads all over my Pinterest and was entranced. I wanted to try my hand at hand drawing my own journal spreads to suit exactly what I needed. With bullet journalling, it gave me the control to map out monthly, weekly or even daily spreads. I could track habits, I could create spreads to write out my goals and I could create monthly reflections. Although I really enjoyed the creativity at first, the constant need to hand draw my journal spreads became taxing after about six months and I started to lose interest. 

I needed a journal that could do it all. Something that had monthly, weekly and daily spreads. Pages where I could jot down ideas, affirmations, gratitude or just write out my feelings but also a space where I could feel organised and write down my work meetings, appointments and when certain bills were due. 

Enter the Hobonichi Techno Cousin. The best journal on the market.

A YouTuber that I regularly watch had been raving about it for years but I thought that the price was exorbitant for what it was. The price for these journals fluctuate but they usually sit around the $50 - $80 mark which feels outrageous for a journal. But it seemed like the exact journal I needed so I took the plunge and ordered one off Amazon. 

It was perfect. 

This journal has everything you could possibly need in one perfect little book. Starting off with monthly calendars and then a day-by-day monthly breakdown for you to enter in birthdays or monthly dates of importance. 

Then my favourite part, the weekly spreads. These spreads are perfect for organising your work week, planning your meals, entering in your workouts, social gatherings, bills and even tracking your habits. These weekly spreads have become a lifesaver and spending 10 minutes each Monday setting up these weekly spreads has helped me feel so organised each week. 

After the weekly spreads, there are daily spreads. For someone like me, who enjoys rambling, I love that I have a space for my daily scribble. I like to mix up how I utilise the daily pages. Some may use it as a notebook or a daily scheduling tool, however I prefer to use it to jot down my thoughts. I like to write down gratitude and affirmations, sometimes I’ll even Google some journal prompts on ‘self-love’ or ‘reflection’ and go crazy. Other times I’ll use these pages to take notes that are important to me like a running training plan or organising a friend’s birthday party. The opportunities are endless! 

Even better, between each month there is room to jot down your monthly goals if you so desire. The best thing about this journal is that it’s entirely up to you on how you utilise it. I like to use it as a hybrid between organisation, scheduling, habit tracking, goal-setting and gratitude. Others may want to use this journal exclusively for work or for their business. 

If you are creative and want a pretty journal, then there are so many ways you can decorate your Hobonichi. You can purchase a fun journal cover to protect your journal but also personalise it. You can also cover it with a variety of stickers or washi tape to customise it to your liking. 

If you struggle to find the exact journal for you because the way other journals and notebooks are laid out is too rigid or maybe even too unorganised, then I implore you to give the Hobonichi a go. This journal really gives you the freedom to use it in whatever way serves you. You can keep it plain or you can decorate it. You can use it for business, school or personal, or maybe a combination of all three. The opportunities are endless with Hobonichi.