Helen's Planning System

September 4, 2025 Helen Wang 11 comments

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.

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 :)

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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.

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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.

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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.