2025 TECHI KAIGI UPDATE + NEW ADDITION

posted on: august 19 2025

hiya. a few people expressed interest in hearing how my techo kaigi is going, so i figured i’d share it now that we’re already eight months into the year. for those unfamiliar with the term, a techo kaigi is a figurative meeting with yourself on what notebooks and planners you’re using, and whether or not they’re currently working for you, and to discard what isn’t. i posted my 2025 setup earlier this year, so here’s how it’s going so far.

1) hobonichi cousin for morning pages and expense tracking

hobonichi cousin leather cover with an image of ness from earthbound on a bike embossed in it

as predicted, i couldn’t stick with this every single day. i’m not a morning person in general, so multiple months ended up completely empty in my hobonichi cousin. i’m trying to get back into the habit though, and i’ve been managing to do morning pages several times a week. julia cameron may shake her head at me for not doing them every day, but hey. i’m still doing it. as for the empty past pages, i’m likely going to be keep using this cousin instead of buying a new one for next year, replacing the dates with 2026’s whenever i use it.

as for the expense tracking in my weekly pages, i found it didn’t really help me. so the weekly section of the cousin is going to be left unused indefinitely.

2) hobonichi 5-year techo for memory logging

a hobonichi 5-year techo notebook in a light cloth cover with black cats printed all over them

ahahahahaha. 

a hobonichi 5-year techo flipped open to a daily page. the date is february 3rd.

that’s when i last updated. yeah. forget using this everyday. 

when it comes to memory logging, i found myself reaching for my bullet journal more often and writing down stuff in my daily logs. though, my end-of-year goal is to eventually transcribe every daily log into my 5-year techo for archival reasons.

3) soft paper studio’s weekly diary as my bullet journal

an olive green moterm-brand weeks cover with a snap closure. it has a metal traveler's company clip and a few charms on it, one visibly being a kura sushi charm. it's covered in stickers: a tbh creature drawn as miku, a rainbow with the words 'actually autstic' over it, an akeshu persona 5 sticker of them hanging out in leblanc together, a chibi sticker of ann and yusuke from persona 5, and one of izutsumi from dungeon meshi looking feral. in the cover's pen loop, there is a TWSBI glow-green fountain pen. yes, it glows in the dark.
the back of the cover. it's covered in stickers as well, predictably so. the stickers are of L and light from death note, a bird saying 'correct me if i'm wrong, but did you just try to correct me?', an old nanowrimo sticker that shows a shovel and says 'in case of troubling characters' to remind me to kill my darlings, and one that says 'create consent culture.'

ough. i love this planner so much. i love the cover i got for it too. i hate when people rag on the bullet journal method because all they see is the artsy spreads they consider “a waste of time.” (but it’s not a waste of time—not for the people who enjoy creating them. if you tried it, made an attempt to adapt it to your needs, and you still didn’t benefit from it, then maybe consider the fact that it’s just not for you.) 

the inner cover. on the left are several card slots, filled with washi tape cards and akeshu photocards. a half-used packet of midori numbered index tabs is tucked in the left pocket. the right shows a page explaining my system: 'monthly pages: events, habit tracking, tasks i want to accomplish, goals i want to achieve. weekly pages: in a weekly horizontal layout with a blank grid page on every right page, bullet journal, daily log, daily to-dos/events, write at least one log note a day. notes section: for longer daily logs, commonplacing, ideas/notes/inspiration, writing excerpts. a label is attached with two spaces to put down the start and end date of this planner.

the bullet journal method is meant to be flexible, adaptable. using the basic symbol key ryder carroll established in a weekly horizontal setup was revolutionary for me. it's honestly become my valuable logbook. i can see the whole week at a glance, and i can still have enough space to write out my daily logs every day. the blank grid pages on the back gives me space to expand and properly journal, expressing myself to the fullest; they’re my catch-all notes.

i definitely see myself using this same size and layout for 2026. this has felt like an emotional support companion for me. i can’t leave home without it.

new additions:

4) “live | plan | dream” notebook by laurenphelpsdesigns in my olive traveler’s notebook cover as a personal encyclopedia

i longed to use my traveler’s notebook again, but i found that it’s a bit too big for everyday use... at least for me. but this notebook was really nice and i had bought it over a year ago with no intention when i made the purchase. (it was 40% off at the time, okay?) then i realized that i want to be scrolling on my phone less when i’m passing the time… so i had an epiphany. i decided to begin a personal project of starting my own ‘encyclopedia’ of sorts.

it’s more of a ned’s declassified survival guide type situation than the typical commonplace book. i want it to be more like a reference book, than rather a book full of inspiring quotes. (don’t get me wrong. i write those down too… just in the catch-all notes section of my bullet journal.)

if you’ve looked at my page where i link blog articles i like to reread, you’ll see that i really enjoy reading plenty of non-fiction, moreso than fiction these days. so similarly, i want to create a decently thick book full of knowledge, articles, advice, and tips i want to study and revisit. i want to open it when i have pockets of time to kill and study a few pages to pass the time.

so i’m working on that. i plan on taking the notebook out of the cover when it’s filled so i can carry it around with me. so far, i cut out the pre-printed monthly pages and the book now has steps on how to brew various coffee methods, convention tips, 600 of the most common words in korean, and course notes that i copied over from my story magic academy notebook.

it reminds me of the informative pamphlets and zines i used to make for myself as a curious undiagnosed kid who felt weird in her own body and didn’t understand why she wasn’t understanding societal rules and wanted to make comics to remember them.

feel free to email me at ghostingpen[AT]gmail.com. i appreciate every email i receive, and i’m happy to provide advice and answer questions about journaling and notebook systems. it’s one of my biggest joys to explore as many notebook systems i can to find the right one.