1- Inamio
2 listeners and a commenter alerted me to the Inamio planner. I AM OBSESSED AND CONFLICTED.
I ordered one, and it’s basically a weekly Hobonichi layout BUT ON THICK PAPER. It’s also inexpensive (under $20!), has an inoffensive black cover, and available only on amazon, from what I could tell. It does not contain daily pages, but has a solid number (30-40) of blank grid pages in the back.
It honestly may be a game changer for me, but it’s so similar to the Hobonichi layout that part of me feels it is . . . not fair. Can you copyright a planner layout?
This is the giant (8.5″ x 11″) version but there is also a smaller one which yes, I have also ordered because I feel a deep need to actually try this planner and this behemoth is not going to work (however, I am going to let the kids — maybe C this time — practice planning in it because it’s a giant playing field!).
Full review to come but OMG, I just had to share.
2- Lindsey Scribbles
YouTube planning channel with a focus on Hobonichi and other Japanese stationery? I hit subscribe. I don’t watch a lot of YouTube but when I’m stressed, channels like Amanda’s Favorites (and now this one) are lovely escapes that don’t get me all riled up the way Instagram used to (YES I remain off of that platform since November I believe? I don’t really ever want to get back on).
I watched her journaling video last night and it calmed and inspired me, though I am much more of a functional planner + less of a journaler.
3- Katie from Eternal Flame’s Weeks Setup
Okay one more. I had to fast forward this one, but loved the way she flipped the right hand side and created vertical days to mirror her outlook calendar . She created gray shading where she had meetings so she could see the structure of her week. (That said, if I was doing it I would feel compelled to label the blocks, I think — though the Weeks is quite small so it might not be as aesthetic!).
She also uses a Pigma Micron .005 which kind of blows my mind (so tiny + scratchy — I’m more of a .01 or .02 user!).
Match Day
Tomorrow is Match Day for 4th year medical students headed to residency. A bittersweet day for many, a sad/hard day for some, but hopefully a positive day for the 8 soon-to-be residents on our list. As PD, it feels like unwrapping a mystery gift. I’m nervous and excited (and I actually get the ‘secret list’ today, so I will be counting down to that!!!).
27 Comments
Interesting question indeed… can you actually copyright a planner layout? 🤔
I’ve been seeing a lot of “Match Day” TikToks where people are sharing their excited reactions (or their frustration that they won’t find out WHERE they’ve matched until tomorrow). Sounds like a very stressful process!
Nooo….not the YouTube rabbit hole! 🤦🏻‍♀️🤣 I have only just recently surfaced from my YouTube addiction..big time Lindsay Scribbles fan here
Talking about planner copies, there is a hobonichi replica you can get from AliExpress! It is mind blowing how it looks and it has white paper! A lot of people have posted flip reviews on YouTube if you want to check it out or just type hobonichi into AliExpress and it should come up. I can’t remember the brand name and I don’t want to check because I will go down a rabbit hole again 🤦🏻‍♀️
Sarah, I love your blog but was wondering what mom blogs do you follow?
Not many 🙂 I love Lagliv but she doesn’t post that often! The frugal girl, and recently one called The Hawaii Plan (sort of a frugality/finance/family blog).
And I miss OMDG’s blog!
I think I struggle with mom blogs as a full-time working mom of one kid. I can’t really relate to the activities and lifestyles of stay-at-home-moms with lots of kids. Not knocking it, but I just don’t have any of the same experiences. But I guess full-time working mom bloggers (who aren’t self-employed) are rare because of time constraints.
Corre, yes! Same! Now I know there’s one more person out there who gets how I feel 🙂
*Coree (autocorrect……)
I do love my Inamio planner, though I use it for time tracking and daily/weekly reflection rather than actual planning. The 24 hour format was what initially drew me to it – makes it an easy paper time tracker. I use the space on the side to log my reading, screen time hours and random quotes or thoughts I run into that week. The spaces at the bottom of each day I use to track daily habits – it’s nice because then it gives me a weekly view of whether I’m sticking to certain habits or not (ahem.. excercise…) Then the blank pages at the back I use as a reading journal. I did accidentally order the bigger size this year rather than the smaller size I had last year. The bigger size is a little unwieldy, and I think I will probably go back to the smaller size next year. It’s kind of a toss up – more space to write in the bigger version vs. the portability of the smaller version. I agree, the thick paper is nice too – since I’m using the planner in a more reflective way, and will keep it too look back on things, I do like the feeling that the more substantial paper will stand up to more wear and tear.
Oh and I do like Cup of Jo! And Kelsey at Rising Shining (though she doesn’t post that much!)
Wow that first planner does look like copyright infringement, if such a thing exists for planners? I mean it practically looks like an exact replica!
My cousin is a doctor and I remember being horrified when she explained match day to me. It was just so… public! I wouldn’t want to find out such huge and life-changing news in front of a crowd of people, even if I matched at my #1 choice!! But maybe they’ve changed the process post-covid?? For my cousin, I want to say there were in a hotel ballroom with a stage or something like that?!?!?!
Hi! I love your podcast and blog and had a planner question, please! Do you know of anything that is a fairly large (7×9 or 8.5×11), uncluttered vertical planner?
Basically I just want vertical boxes without hours so I can break each day into sections for different “life categories” each day. I think I’m currently imagining about 6 categories: (1) household (like chores, errands, and bills), (2) personal (like exercise and hair-washing schedule), (3) hobbies, (4) other people (plans to see folks, birthday reminders, etc.), (5) work, and (6) planning (reminders to check / update my brain dump lists, etc.). Since I do more personal tasks on the weekends, I don’t want a combined Saturday-Sunday. Also, it would be great if there was a “bonus” column too for things that could happen any day I had extra time. I know in theory I could use an hourly planner and just ignore or cover up the hours, but I’d prefer not to, since that feels sloppy and my brain gets a little overwhelmed when things are sloppy.
I like the look of the Makselife vertical spreads, but don’t really want or need all their goal-setting pages, although some extra blank pages for lists could be nice. I also know that I don’t have the energy / willpower to keep up with drawing my own spreads, bullet journal style.
I’d really appreciate any feedback you or other readers can provide!
What about the Erin condren life planner with a 3 box layout? Plum paper or personal planner would also allow you to create a custom that I think would fit what you are looking for!
I have the plum paper vertical weekly and mine is set with 4 customized sections in a day. But you can always cover over those too with stickers to change them if you want. They have a few options for the weekly vertical layout. (Mine are – Schedule/Meal plan/To-Do/Workouts)
Thank you for the suggestions! I think I might try the Plum Paper ME vertical layout.
I tried the Sprouted planner printable for a while, because it allows us to make our own lists. It does not have the hours. Both the daily and the weekly layouts are very good. You could try it for a few weeks and see if the layout is helpful to your requirements.
Thanks to Sarah for the Sprouted planner review on BLP.
Although the planners do look very similar next to each other,I’m not sure it’s a case of copying. Perhaps this is the standard layout of planners in Japan. Other than using grids and not lines,this is a very standard weekly horizontal layout.
I meant vertical….
Copyright protects creative expression. This is why recipe books have turned into photo spreads and memoirs. In my opinion there no creative expression on the pages. But a planner copyright case would be interesting to read.
This is interesting. So recipes can’t be copyrighted?
Not unless it’s accompanied by “substantial creative elements.” Most recipes are just instructions, or a compilation of facts basically.
Hi! I love your blog (have been reading since I was a med student, and I’m about to finish fellowship!) I started using the Full Focus planner from your recommendations and I LOVE the daily 2-page spreads, but I don’t use all the other stuff (weekly previews, goal setting pages, etc) and I don’t like needing a new planner every quarter. Do you know of a planner that has daily pages like the FFP, but not a lot of other stuff?
Yes, this is a great question! I feel the same way about the FFP. Love the daily layout, hate the weekly goal setting stuff. And in an ideal world, would love it to be undated too.
I admit I got really repetitive in the weekly goal parts! The daily layout and blank page combo is so good for me though. However currently I’m using a hobonichi A6 for my dailies and it’s surprisingly functional.
Ordered both from Amazon 🙂 using the wonderland now but would love “regular” paper.
Copyright infringement case summary related to an Erin Condron planner: https://www.finnegan.com/en/insights/blogs/incontestable/no-future-for-copyright-or-trade-dress-protection-for-personal-planner-layout.html
LindseyScribbles is awesome. I love her style, although I’m not a journaler. Second video has such good inspo! Love how she used the Weeks in a different way.