My 2025 Notebook Lineup

One of my favorite things about the approaching new year is taking the time to reevaluate my notebook system. As a writer, I live in my notebooks daily, and when my systems aren’t working, I feel it. I try to check in with myself every month if a system isn’t working for me and make tiny tweaks, but the end of a year is the perfect time for an overhaul.

With that said, I’m thrilled to report that my current notebook system works very well for me. I have made some adjustments and switched some books for 2025, but my overall style is the same.

First, The Seasonal Notebook

The notebook: Leuchtturm1917 hardcover notebook in B6+, dot grid

I have been keeping a seasonal bullet journal since Summer 2023 and honestly, it’s been working so well that I intend to keep this habit up. I write a lot in my notebooks, so I go through them fairly quickly (every 3 months, to be exact) and I love the idea of having an entire season in one notebook. It helps me think seasonally, too, and think of my projects in terms of seasons, too — both calendar seasons and the seasons of my life. If you’d like to learn why I love seasonal journaling so much, you can read more about it here.

So, what’s changing? Not much, to be honest. I am keeping the same layout as my Spring 2024 and Fall 2024 setups, just with tiny tweaks to the daily and collection pages. The most significant change I made to Winter 2024-2025 is keeping all my calendar views together, at the front of the book, instead of setting them up when the month arrives. I just thought this would be easier for me to access them at a glance.

Second, The Pocket Notes

The notebook: Smythson Panama notebook in pocket size (2019)

I am keeping my beloved Smythson pocket notebook in this lineup, as I still haven’t somehow filled it up yet. (I’m dreading the day I do since it’s so lovely, which is probably part of it.) I consider this my little “inbox” for notes and lists when my bullet journal isn’t within arm’s reach. I then migrate the notes to my bullet journal at a later time. Typically, I use the Notes app on my iPhone for most notes, but my goal is to reach for my phone less. Once I turn it on, I often get distracted and start doing other things. (We all know how that goes.)

Also, the Notes on my phone just end up getting deleted. I already love archiving my journals to look back on, so why not my notes, too?

Third, The Year Book

The notebook: Hobonichi Techo Daily Planner & Cover in size A6 (2025)

The new addition to my setup is my first Hobonichi: the Techo Daily Planner in size A6. This is essentially what I am calling my Year Book — it’s the one book I will keep all year. Since I move into a new bullet journal every three months, and my work notebook is separate (more on that in a sec), I wanted one place where I could track all my events, deadlines, birthdays, PTO, habits, hobbies, etc. as ongoing collection pages.

In addition to keeping these yearly collections, I currently keep a separate Good Things pocket journal where I practice gratitude journaling. I will now be gratitude journaling in this Hobonichi in the daily section. Hopefully, the numbered pages will motivate me to update it more often than I currently do (hahah).

I had a Year Book in 2024, but this was more of a monthly organizer for me — and looking back, it was far too big. I think keeping an additional log in the A6 size will help ease the intimidation.

Finally, My Work Notebook

(NOT PICTURED) The notebook: Leuchtturm1917 hardcover notebook in B6, dot grid

This one is not pictured since I don’t really consider this a part of my notebook lineup, and can’t really share its contents online. However, I will say that I do keep my work notes separate from my seasonal bullet journal. I purely do this for work/life balance. The last thing I want to do on a Saturday or vacation is flip through my pretty, seasonal bullet journal and see work reminders (hahah). A nightmare!

However, I use the bullet journal method for my work notebook and keep it minimal. I also like to track my PTO, deadlines, seasonal flips, and other events there. Now, I will be adding them to my Year Book so I can see at a glance how my work and personal life overlap.

That’s my notebook system for 2025! I’m excited to see how I do with my first Hobonichi (although I admit I’m already nervous to write in it — it’s just so pretty and delicate). I’m also looking forward to sharing more of my journaling content with you here, and on Threads and Ko-fi, too.

Want more? I shared a 10-minute deep-dive video about my setup & plan for these notebooks exclusively with supporters on Ko-fi. It’s the first time I filmed a long-form chat session like this (!!), so I’d love your feedback on it! Maybe I’ll consider doing this more in the future if it’s helpful.

Click here to watch the video exclusively on Ko-fi

Thanks again, and I hope you have a great start to 2025.