When Omoi first opened in 2006, buying a Japanese planner online in the states was a literal impossibility! Year after year, we prided ourselves on importing a small and interesting selection of planners direct from the source, sold first in our little Pine Street boutique and eventually here at Omoi Online. Since the advent of ubiquitous online shopping, it's much easier to find and order the planner of your dreams.
But what if you're intimdated by planners to begin with? We've heard the gamut of reasons why: It reminds you too much of school. It's too demanding. There's too much pressure from social media to make it look pretty and organized. Or these classics: You start out strong but wind up forgetting about it, or you plain have nothing to put in there!
We've been there. How can you feel confident that a planner will be of use to you? Purchasing one isn't a magic antidote to getting organized, and you know that. To this, we say: the magic is in you and the habits you cultivate. Humans are animals that love to store information outside of their brains. We use paper and pen to plan and envision our futures, as well as log our present and remember our pasts. But if you are not a regular journaler, if you don't sit down with your thoughts very often, or you rely entirely on digital means for your appointment keeping, then where exactly does a planner fit in to your existing routines?
Whatever Works
A planner should first and foremost cater to your needs. Appointments, projects, and goals are obvious reasons for using one, but they also work as life logs for people whose lifestyles don't abide by predictable routines. What's happening three Fridays from now? How did I feel? What was the weather? I reached my goal a week early. What card did I pull last Monday? This is what I wore today. I want to plan something for every new moon. At Omoi, we know that quizzing a customer on what they'd like to use their planner for is a key decision making factor. But there's one more: just enjoy yourself and use whatever works.
After these staff selects, we'll run through the merits of different planner formats.
Rachel customizes the otherwise plain Delfonics Rollbahn Clear Monthly Planner with some of the MANY stickers we have in stock.
Jessi reuses an A5 planner cover from last year with an open-dated monthly refill from this year
Monk makes a custom bookmark ribbon for their 2022 refill, combined with an A5 MD Clear Cover (restocking soon!) for protection.
Alexandra indulges their penchant for precious metals by picking a planner and pen to match their style.
Norna forgoes the planning structure altogether and begins using theirs for plotting textile designs. Copious sticker collaging, a must.
Jess also goes ham with the stickers. We just love to see it!!
Daily Page-a-Day
Page-a-day planners make great daily life logs, and are well suited for busy schedules with lots of appointments and errands throughout the day. With their high quality paper (as all our planners have), you can use your favorite pens, inks, and markers without worry. Did we mention the binding is superb?
Monthly
"I've used the Notebook Calendar since I started working here. It's just simple and straightforward, not too much. I don't have too many things to do, so I can put one thing on a day. I don't need it like, stacked, or a long format. I can't do anything more than that." [laughs]
- April, on her Mark's Notebook Calendar.
April with her 2021 Notebook Calendar at the end of December.
"I love the microgrid pages in the Kleid Fleek Planner because I like to write small. I use it for our buying calendar. I like the monthly layout so that I can keep track of all my deadlines. So typically what I do is I'll lay out all the deadlines and monthly due dates on the monthly spreads, and then I'll go in the back, which has enough blank pages that I can freestyle a mix of monthly to-dos as well as loose and random thoughts. It's nice for me cause I'm not stuck in the structure of strictly structured weekly pages. I can take it along to trade shows and take notes in it and have those thoughts there. And I like it cause I can still do marker and pen without bleedtrough. Plus I just think [my pink one] is nice and girly looking."
- Liz, on her kleid Monthly Fleek Planner
Liz jotting down dates in her monthly planner
Weekly Vertical
For some, the vertical appointment format is a must. Like page-a-days, Vertical Weeklies are well-suited for appointment-packed schedules, with less bulk.
Weekly Quadrant
"I like seeing the blocked-out week at a view. I feel like I don't do enough in my daily routine where I use a whole page a day. So I feel like that size, where you can have a quick bullet of what I do, is helpful. My day to day."
- Jess, on her HIGHTIDE Iris Planner
Jess's satisfying and low key planner style.
"I liked the HIGHTIDE Iris Planner so much I'm reusing my yellow 2020 cover with a fresh 2022 refill. I really love that it's more eco-friendly than having to buy a new planner each year. I know what works for me. It's one less thing to worry about."
- Magali, on her HIGHTIDE Iris Weekly Quadrant Refill
A useful monthly section in the front of most of our planners.
"It has a wide space. It's a good amount of list space. But it's not tooo big cause I'm not that busy. [laughs] But now I also use it as a way to overview fun sketches."
- Norna, on her DELFONICS Daniel Planner.
Weekly + Memo
Your week at-a-glance on the left, with space for free writing on the right. Weekly + Memo format is great for those with some appointments throughout the week. Our online director's favorite format.
Open Dated
These notebooks offer the format and structure of a planner without the dates, making them great for DIY planning spreads & life logging without the stress of keeping up with a calendar.
A great use of the Stalogy 365 Day Editor's Notebook.
The Omoi gang with their 2022 planners.
Featured In This Story:
- Mark's EDiT 2022 Page-A-Day Souple Planner
- Mark's 2022 Notebook Calendar B6 Small
- kleid 2022 A5 Monthly Fleek Planner
- HIGHTIDE 2022 B6 Weekly Vertical Katy Planner
- HIGHTIDE 2022 B6 Weekly Quadrant Iris Planner
- HIGHTIDE 2022 B6 Weekly Quadrant Planner Refill
- DELFONICS 2022 A6 Weekly Quadrant Daniel Planner
- HIGHTIDE 2022 A5 Weekly Minute Manager Plaid Planner
- DELFONICS 2022 A6 Weekly Quadrant Golden Tiger Planner