Helen's Planning System
Posted by Helen Wang on
Greetings :) I have an entire catalogue of plan with me videos on Youtube, but I wanted to create some still guides as reference material. I take a fluid approach and don't stick rigidly to my own guide, but I do have some patterns I follow.
0. Table of contents
- Hobonichi Cousin: Monthly
- Hobonichi Cousin: Weekly
- Hobonichi Cousin: Daily
- Hobonichi Weeks: Health & Fitness
1. Hobonichi Cousin: Monthly
- I set this up at beginning of the month to give me a good overview of what's to come. I update the calendar for more accuracy maybe 1-2 times throughout the month.
- The monthly section is honestly unnecessary for me functionally, since I have a separate "messy" calendar for all of my deadlines. It's fun for me to decorate though, so I do it anyways :)
2. Hobonichi Cousin: Weekly
- This section is for mapping out my weekly schedule & time-blocking.
- I do a bit of memory keeping, but only select highlights. Smaller memories and details go in the daily section.
- I usually set-up the base on Monday morning and add whatever information I know for the rest of the week.
- I update this section as the week progresses, typically 2 days at a time, since I don't know my exact schedule in advance.
3. Hobonichi Cousin: Daily
- I use the daily pages for my work to-do list & free journaling space.
- I start each day by answering a journaling prompt. Sometimes I write a lot, sometimes I write one sentence, and sometimes I answer with a doodle. (prompt list)
- Typically: I write my to-do list and answer the prompt while waiting for my coffee to cool. The rest of the entries and to-do list updates are done throughout the day, whenever I have time.
4. Hobonichi Weeks: Health & Fitness
- I use my Hobonichi Weeks to log information–not to plan for things. This means I record information at the end of the day, or even the next morning!
- This is tailored to my life and my needs, but you can adapt it for other things like meal tracking, sleep tracking, etc.
Comments
I’ve binge watched a lot of your videos this past week because I finally got my hobonichi planners and I’ve been taking notes of how you do your spreads, just to come across this post and now I’m ecstatic! I love the work you do and seeing it broken down like this is so helpful. If nobody has told you yet, I appreciate every little thing you create and everything you do and I’m very excited to start this new journaling/planner adventure with all of your help.
I’m really beginning to enjoy writing prompts again after having taught high school for so many years. As a recently retired educator, it feels wonderful to simply open my journal and use your list to write. Thank you so much for taking time out of your busy schedule as an entrepreneur to share journal prompts with us.
When I was teaching, I often provided my students with daily writing prompts; however, I rarely had the opportunity to fully enjoy them myself due to time constraints—usually just 15 minutes—and constant, mundane interruptions like: “Be quiet,” “Can I go to the bathroom?” “What time is it?” or “Can I have last week’s assignments?”
Now that I’m retired, I finally get to write freely and truly savor my writing time. I’m deeply grateful for your foresight in offering these prompts because I know firsthand how much effort it takes to create them month after month, year after year.
If you decide not to post them for 2026, I completely understand. I’m simply thankful to have had the chance to participate and use your prompts these past few months. It’s always exciting to experience another writer’s perspective through their prompts.
Thank you again for your generosity and inspiration.
🦋🦋🦋
Helen, thx for this! It is helping this newbie start to figure things out. Hoping I don’t miss this launch everyone is talking about. Be well and take care of your health!
This page is very helpful for newbies that has just started journaling, or wanted to know how you’re doing your journaling. Nice…
Un dia te encontre por casualidad y ahora soy tu fan, me encanta tu creatividad, tu delicadesa y la forma tan hermosa en que inspiras. Graciasssss por todo lo que nos das.
Helen, I can’t tell you how much I regret missing several launches. I saw the big pouch and that acrylic ruler. I hope the big pouches come out again. Thank you for always being an inspiration.
Just commenting to gently nudge Helen that this post maybe got published early 💕