365+ Days of Journaling Made Me Fall in Love with Pocket-Sized Notebooks
Some of my old acquaintances and friends—and perhaps a few people who used to read my old blogs—may already know this about me: I have always had a deep passion for planners, notebooks, and pens, and I take them very seriously.
In the past, I used to run a personal blog under a different domain, where I wrote essay-like posts about my life and thoughts. I also had a Hatena Diary blog where I mostly wrote about studying programming. The Hatena blog still exists, and I do have a quiet desire to start writing there again someday.
Since I stopped updating social media and blogs frequently as an engineer, some people may have wondered, “What has @acotie / Yokoyama been up to?” I would love to write about those old stories and past chapters another time.
For now, I would like to start writing here in a more casual way.
Recently, I Have Been Completely Obsessed with Pocket-Sized Notebooks
I have always been more of a serious planner person, and since my twenties, I have loved writing things by hand.
Even in my recent work life, I usually carry two or three notebooks with me, and in my private life, I also keep one to three notebooks on hand. I take notes constantly.
What do I write about?
Mostly, I write down daily highlights and emotional records—how I felt about things. I keep track of my sleep, what I ate, books I read, reading notes, things I noticed, my actions, and my emotional reactions when something happens.
This is what I carry around with me.
Notebooks I keep buying—and sometimes even give away to other people.
How I Fell in Love with Planners
When I was working as a junior programmer, one of my senior colleagues recommended and lent me The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens. The book had many sticky notes in it, and I found myself strongly resonating with it. I later bought my own copy.
After that, the company president at the time gave every employee a Franklin Planner starter kit as a gift. Very generous.
The ideas behind Franklin Planner are based on The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, and since I had just read the teen edition, the philosophy made perfect sense to me and was easy to accept.
However, the planner refill I received was the “two pages per day” format, which is quite advanced for a beginner. I ended up giving up before the habit fully settled in.
After that, I started learning more and researching all kinds of planner brands. Eventually, I found my way to vertical planners.
How I Got Hooked on Pocket Notebooks This Time
I have always liked computers and gadgets, and I also love lifelogging and keeping records. So naturally, I became interested in journaling and started researching it almost every day.
After I entered the workforce—especially in the latter half of my career as a software engineer—I also started gaining experience in project management. By the time I began my career as a consultant, I was already buying large quantities of grid notebooks.
For a long time, I often used the following setup. In particular, I loved the design and paper quality of Maruman’s Mnemosyne series, and I used it for the longest period of time.
My Setup for the Past Eight Years or So
- I switched from the Filofax Eaton to Plotter, a slim six-ring leather binder, because it was lightweight. I used to carry both A5 and Bible-size binders.
- I loved Maruman’s Mnemosyne series and bought many A5 grid ring notebooks for task management.
- I also became a fan of KOKUYO’s PERPANEP series and used it alongside my other notebooks.
Discovering Minimalist Journalers Overseas
Around March 2025, I started searching every day for keywords such as “journaling,” “journal,” and “minimalist.”
At the time, I was completely consumed by work. I was working so much that I had become distant from the people around me, and I believed that this was the right thing to do.
Around May last year, a video was uploaded on YouTube by Peter McKinnon, a well-known photographer.
He clearly has a strong love for stationery and is very particular about the things he owns. He was using several Japanese-made pens. With those pens, he was creating part of what could be called a bullet journal, using his own unique format.
Then he said, with sparkling eyes, that continuing journaling had changed his life for the better.
Below is an excerpt from the transcript, translated into English:
1:38 And I just start writing. There are so many things you can write about. Over the past few years, I have documented my journey of trying to get into journaling.
1:46 I gradually came to love it, and I have continued documenting how I use it today. This feels like the culmination of those years.
1:54 I can now say with confidence that this has changed my life for the better. It is completely part of my routine now, and I will never take it out of my routine.
2:03 When I think about the changes it has brought, the various things it has introduced into my life, and how it has improved my life, there is no reason to go back.
2:12 So in today’s video, I want to dig into a few things: how habit tracking completely changed my fitness and mental state.
2:20 How continuing journaling made me more creative, how my handwriting actually improved quite a bit, my favorite pens, and the small and large notebooks I like to use.
It Started with Habit Tracking—and Then I Fell Deep into It
I decided to try it right away.
First, I realized I had a business trip coming up in June, and since I would also be staying over the weekend, I thought I should start with a small notebook.
A small notebook also appeared in Peter’s video. That made me realize: maybe all I need is a main A5 notebook and a pocket-sized notebook.
Until then, most of my notebooks were either Bible-size planners, A5 ring notebooks, or notebooks large enough that I had to put them in a bag. I had also bought smaller memo pads before, but some of them felt a little too expensive, which made me hesitate to use them freely.
I Realized That Notebooks Should Not Be Too Cheap or Too Expensive
I eventually settled on buying a lot of Moleskine notebooks thanks to information from other stationery lovers.
As I continued searching every day for terms like “journal minimalist,” I came across many videos by serious journalers overseas who leaned toward a minimalist style. I was influenced by them quite a bit.
Eventually, I arrived at the idea that buying many notebooks from the same brand, in the same size, was just cool.
Could I use notebooks from a 100-yen shop? Could I use MUJI or other brands?
Technically, yes. But for me, they did not excite me in the same way.
If a notebook is too cheap, it does not feel special enough. If it is too expensive, I feel a slight mental block about using it casually. I start calculating in my head, thinking, “Each page costs this much…” and that makes it harder to write freely.
For now, Moleskine notebooks feel like the right balance for me.
My Current Setup
At home, I have two main notebooks, and for carrying around, I use several pocket notebooks.
My ever-growing collection of notebooks and pens at home. lol
Habit Tracker
I have been using the exact format shown in the video. It has now been almost one full year.
Daily Journal
- Moleskine Classic Notebook, Hard Cover, Black, Pocket Size, Plain
- Moleskine Classic Notebook, Hard Cover, Black, Pocket Size, Plain
Bullet Journal
Base Notebook
Daily Tracker
After writing all of this, I realized once again that my enthusiasm for notebooks, planners, and pens is far too intense—and that I still have so much more to say.
There is still plenty left, so I will write about it another time.
