IRL: The 2026 Planner Project
Posted on December 12, 2025 by Aywren
Back during Black Friday, I saw a rather nice looking planner on sale, so I picked it up. I’d been consider trying out a full-on yearly planner for next year. I was using calendar inserts for my Traveler’s Notebook this year, and while it worked, it wasn’t super comfy. Nor was it something I remembered to keep up with.
So, I decided to break it out of my Traveler’s Notebook into its own thing and see how that works next year. I’d been looking into all sorts of planners, from the popular (but expensive) Hobonichi brand, to other brands that folks say work just as well. Again, I just saw this one on sale on Amazon, and liked what I saw from the pictures, so I picked it up.
I wasn’t in love with the color at all… until I found the perfect sticker to accent the front!
Speaking of the cover, I’m not sure what it’s made out of, but it’s fairly solid and almost has a cloth feel to it. I like it, though. Simple and useful.
It’s broken up into a full monthly calendar spread.
While each day gets its own page – which is more than enough for me.
If you notice along the side of the pages, the months are pre-cut out as tabs. I really, really like this design as it’s already there and marked for me to easily find pages within a specific month.
I also like that the bottom corners have this little perforated tab. I’m assuming you pull that off to indicate that you’ve used that page.
That further helps (along with the several ribbon bookmarks) to organize where you currently are in your year.
Speaking of year. If you have very important highlights to hit on a day, there’s also an at-a-glance yearly spread at the front of the planner.
In the back, there are several sections for notes, contacts, and a little pocket on the inside of the back cover to stash things.
The pages seem thick enough to with it as I please, though I’ve learned that trying to fountain pens on a planner is only asking for smears and frustration. So, I have a gel ink pen specifically for this planner.
I’m not sure exactly what 2026 is going to bring, but I’m ready to plan my way through whatever I need to! Looking forward to using this in the new year for sure!