The year is only 2/3 of the way over, but planner companies have already begun the hype cycle for 2027. Corporate has asked me to post about planners to capitalize on current trends.

I haven't posted anything about my planner since my 2024 Traveler's Notebook update. At the time, I was using a shitty hand-bound book with dot grid paper where I had to measure and date everything myself. Unsurprisingly, this got tedious really quickly. I've been buying planners since then, and the time/sanity saved have been well worth the expense.

I ripped off my DIY planner format from the Hobonichi Weeks, so I bought it for 2025. It's too small for the TN cover, but I got used to the size difference. I bought the Mega version with extra pages in the back. I didn't even come close to using them... I wanted to turn my planner to be a catch-all memory book, and I did, but I prefer sticking and writing everything into the dated pages instead of putting it in the back.

My 2026 planner is a Sterling Ink horizontal common planner. I mainly bought it because I was extremely unsuccessful in buying a Hobonichi last year; they were selling out too fast and I don't care about planners nearly enough to keep up. Sterling Ink attracted me because the horizontal common planner is the same format as the Weeks, and it came in the correct size for a standard TN (called the N1).

The paper and binding quality is comparable to the Weeks. It's stiff softcover while the Weeks is hardcover, but I don't mind it since my planner lives inside of the TN cover. Both planners use Tomoe River paper, which I've learned to tolerate even though I'm not a huge fan of ultra-lightweight paper.

My Sterling Ink planner still has quite a bit of dead space in the back. Lucky for me, they just announced that they plan on releasing their "core" planner with only 23 blank pages in the N1 size, so that'll be the move for next year. I like the colorful Hobonichi covers, but the bigger size and fewer pages are nice enough that I'm willing to sacrifice the look for better usability. Sterling Ink planners look nice enough, but I do miss the green!