Planner Lineup For My Small Art Business ✍️ 2024→2025 Techo Kaigi

Introduction

Hello! My name's Jen, and I’m a passionate coloring book artist, a small business owner, and an overall stationery fanatic. As we approach the end of the year, I wanted to share my experiences with a Japanese practice known as Techo Kaigi. For those unfamiliar, Techo Kaigi translates to "notebook meeting" and serves as a time for reflection on our journaling and planning habits. This practice involves reviewing how you've used your various notebooks and journals over the past year and making adjustments as needed for the upcoming year.

Today, I’ll be sharing all the planners, notebooks, journals, and sketchbooks I utilized in 2024 and the changes I intend to implement in 2025.

Digital Planner

Let’s start with my planner, which I consider the backbone of my organization. I utilize a hybrid system that combines both digital and physical planners. For my digital planner, I've been an avid user of Notion for nearly 2.5 years and absolutely love it. I’ve created my own templates to suit my needs.

Weekly Overview

My primary template features a weekly overview, where I map out my work and establish a daily to-do list. At the beginning of each week, I outline my plans, priorities, and general layout for the week ahead. At the bottom of this page, I maintain a monthly overview that serves as my content creation calendar. Notion's flexibility is fantastic; I can easily rearrange items as needed. For instance, when I brainstorm social media post ideas, I jot them down here, along with any relevant details like captions and scripts.

Financial Tracker

An essential section of my planner is the finance tracker, where I monitor all my income and expenses as a self-employed small business owner. Looking ahead to 2025, I plan to continue using my Notion planner without major changes. My existing templates have proven effective, and Notion has become integral to my planning system.

If you're new to Notion and feel a bit intimidated, I have templates available in my online shop to help you get started.

Physical Planner

In 2024, I ventured into using Hobonichi planners for the first time. I opted for the A6 size with a black gingham cover, and I’ve successfully utilized it throughout the year. Let’s explore how I've engaged with its various sections:

Yearly Index

I’ve transformed the yearly index into a habit tracker and have diligently filled it in throughout the year, providing me with a quick overview of my habit trends.

Monthly Calendars

Within the monthly section, I noted significant events, deadlines, and birthdays, but my main focus was daily doodling. I started strong, but after several busy weeks in June, I fell off track. As my load increased, I was unable to backfill my doodles and ultimately prioritized marking important dates.

Daily Pages

I predominantly used the daily pages, which I kept at my desk in plain sight. Initially, I employed the timeline on the left to track how I spent my time daily. This helped me feel productive and gave me insight into task durations.

However, as summer approached, I began to feel overwhelmed with my pages looking barren, leading to decreased motivation to use my planner. To combat this, I switched from tracking my hours to a simpler layout featuring work and personal task lists on the left and daily journaling on the right. I also began to decorate my pages with stickers and washi tape, rekindling my creative spirit.

2025 Plans

For 2025, I’m excited to start using an A5 Hobonichi, again with the black gingham cover. I’ve decorated both the front and back covers and plan to employ a similar approach as I did this past year. While I aim to revive daily doodling and monthly doodles, I won’t pressure myself to draw every day.

Notebooks and Sketchbooks

Now, let’s discuss the primary notebooks I will use for 2024:

A5 Midori Codex

This page-a-day notebook has served as my business notebook, where I jot down notes, plan YouTube content, prep for product launches, and outline my goals. After using it for almost an entire year, I plan to continue with it into 2025.

Sketchbooks

I began two sketchbooks in late 2023 and will continue to use both in 2025:

Main Sketchbook: Another Midori Codex.. This is where I brainstorm new product ideas, coloring book concepts, and warm-up doodles. I appreciate the loose creative freedom this physical sketchbook provides.
Artica Sketchbook: This is my polished sketchbook, where I create refined doodles using just a black brush pen. I aspire to compile these works into a future coloring book, providing a complete collection in one place.

Personal Journals

Having actively journaled for the past 10 years, for 2024, I've been using a Stalogy notebook in USA green for personal journaling and memory keeping, allowing me to paste in memories, labels, and bits of my life. I plan to continue using this for 2025 alongside my Hobonichi for additional journaling.

5-Year Teto

I’ll also start using an A6 5-year Teto to track the movies and shows my boyfriend and I watch. This has become a cherished pastime, and chronicling our experiences will be a delightful future keepsake.

Sterling Inc. Commonplace Journal

Lastly, I’ll incorporate an undated Commonplace Journal from Sterling Ink in N2 size. This will allow me to document new skills and hobbies, like a beginner’s journey in sewing. Keeping notes will encourage me to pursue these passions outside work, striving for a better work-life balance.

Conclusion

That concludes my Techo Kaigi! I hope you enjoyed this overview of my planning lineup and what I have in store for next year. I’d love to hear about the planners and journals you’re considering for 2025 in the comments below!

Thank you for watching, and a special shoutout to my patrons for their unwavering support. Here’s a quick look at December rewards for my supporters—if you’re interested in receiving these, plus monthly sketchbook tours and exclusive content, be sure to sign up before the month ends.

Wishing you a creatively fulfilling day or week ahead, and I look forward to connecting with you all in the next video. Bye!

Keywords

Techo Kaigi
Digital Planner
Notion
Hobonichi
A6
A5
Notebooks
Sketchbooks
Journaling
Creative
Work-Life Balance

FAQ

1. What is Techo Kaigi?
Techo Kaigi is a Japanese practice of reflecting on and adjusting journaling and planning habits at the end of the year.

2. What digital planner does Jen use?
Jen utilizes Notion as her digital planner, creating customized templates for weekly overviews and finance tracking.

3. What changes will Jen make to her physical planner for 2025?
Jen plans to use an A5 Hobonichi for 2025 and aims to focus on daily doodles and monthly doodles without the pressure of daily drawings.

4. How does Jen incorporate sketchbooks into her routine?
Jen maintains two sketchbooks: one for casual sketches and brainstorming and another for more polished artwork that may evolve into a coloring book.

5. What personal journaling methods does Jen follow?
Jen uses a Stalogy notebook for her personal journal and intends to start a 5-year Teto to track entertainment alongside her Hobonichi for daily journaling.