how I'll use my 2024 hobonichi cousin 💫 + intentions for 2024

[@OnyxLifeChronicles]

Very interesting watch. I bought a beautiful Hon, the botanical one and I've decided to convert it to a 3 year planner/ journal. I am covering both the calendex(is that what its called?) And the monthly pages with a monthly plan goal page from SM plans. They are 36 pages in total so this us perfect. The weekly pages will be used for my gratitude section and will just divide each day in 3. The daily section will be used to journal but instead of dividing across like a typical multi year journal, I will be using the invisble line as a guide and turning it into 3 columns instead. I'm recovering from what has been a brutal 3years, combination of lising my husband, young kids, recovering from covid so i want to just have a place that i can look back on in the future. I think I can make it work. I have a weeks that I use for my everyday carry.

[@ellesbooks]

Omg - this is so cool and innovative!! I never would have thought to use the HON like that, but it really works! I'm sorry to hear your last 3 years have been tough - here's to the next 3 hopefully being much better! ❤️

[@thejournaldiaries]

Thats so funny that you say intentions and not goals because I am the same!! I hate the word goals , it makes it feel like I have to do it and then if dont then I have failed. Intentions is a much softer word xx

[@ellesbooks]

Exactly this!!! It feels so much gentler and kinder. Hopfeully it'll help me to be less hard on myself next year!

[@sarahbailey3778]

Love your set up. What a great idea to repurpose the 2025 Jan - march monthly to allow for dec weeks and cover the 2023/2025 spread with yearly intentions. I'm new to the cousin and really wanted to get started, i also wanted to document dec 23, now you have you given me all the inspiration to get started 🙂

[@ellesbooks]

Oh I'm so glad to hear this helped!! I really hope you enjoy using the cousin - it's a wonderful book! 🥰

[@longtimetnbcfan]

I use the A6, because I love the small size of it. But i journal in mine every year, because I dont have a good memory and my journals keep my memories. If that makes sense. I got the Hon this year and I have to say that I am in love with how well its made. It will look nice on my shelf when the year ends. But I think Im going to have to use the "A Letter to Myself" as well. Thats really an awsome idea Helen came up with.

[@ellesbooks]

That does make sense! I'm so glad you've found a practice and a book that works for you. And yes indeed - another amazing idea from Helen!

[@jaensimone]

I'm with you on the moving goal! The way I've slowly started moving my body is doing indoor walking videos, which I didn't know were a thing initially. Basically you just walk in place to music, with an instructor who keeps you engaged, and there are short 10-20 minutes ones you can start out with. To keep myself accountable I use FocusMate, which is a virtual coworking app. There's no escaping the workout because I've already told someone I'm doing it and they are watching me do it live on camera, which sounds terrifying but everyone on there is super nice (and you can filter out men lol).

[@ellesbooks]

Oooooh, this is a really cool idea - I had no idea this existed! Thanks so much for sharing!

[@bezozzle]

Ahh thank you so much for the wee shout out!! I’m so excited to do a Depth Year and glad to be sharing that journey with you 😊

[@ellesbooks]

Thank YOU for sharing it - I really do feel like it's going to make my life better! Can't wait 🥰

[@jessbuck7067]

Sterling Ink Common Planner has the same layout, with an added goals page in the beginning, and blank pages in the back rather than dated daily pages 😊 It’s tomoe river paper as well!

[@ellesbooks]

Ahhh yes! I did actually try the Common Planner for a while! But turns out I really am a Hobonichi girl at heart. Something about the vibes 😅

[@teddybearsticker]

Everything you said about PE is sooooo real. As a generally uncoordinated kid with asthma exercising became my ENEMY lol.

[@ellesbooks]

Honestly PE was just so bad for so many of us haha. I understand why they get kids to exercise but also... did they have to make it so awful? 😅

[@user-gt6to6bm5t]

I love the 2024 intentions page!! This inspiring me to make my own page!

[@ellesbooks]

Thank you so much! 🥰 Would definitely recommend - it's got me so excited to make progress in 2024!

[@sujeyplans7720]

Hi Ellie, I also noticed what your friends were saying in your videos. They sound like folks to be grateful for! So glad to hear that’ll be incorporated into your goals for next year.

[@ellesbooks]

They really are wonderful people! Definitely super grateful for them all 🥰 (and they watch my videos so I hope they see this comment hehe)

[@katienack6450]

I stumbled upon your page today and I am so glad I did! This is the kind of Hobonichi content I’ve been searching for. Thank you!

[@ellesbooks]

You're so welcome! Thanks so much for watching and for the kind words 🥰

[@kerrym1979]

I loved watching your set up. Totally agree on the PE thing as well - I'm in my 40s now and have been so erratic with moving my body throughout my adult life. But, yeah, my body is really feeling it now and I feel about 90...

[@ellesbooks]

Thank you so much 🥰 honestly, PE has a lot to answer for lol. So many people in the comments who feel the same way!

[@musingoddity]

Oh boy I feel that anxiety about waiting for the post. I ordered some stickers from Etsy and it's been a week since dispatch 😢 here's hoping for both of us 🤞

[@ellesbooks]

Mine finally arrived yesterday!!! I hope yours have got there too 🤞

[@musingoddity]

@@ellesbooks Both orders have come! Just before the post gets overwhelmed we got so lucky.

[@ellesbooks]

@@musingoddity so glad yours turned up too!

[@knitwitchcraftingpodcast]

i am so here for the stickers setting the tone for the year! may need to do that in the new journal i'm starting for 2024 edit: ALSO day free + weekly pages is my ideal spread so i agree they should make that T_T

[@ellesbooks]

They make me so happy every time I open the book, can highly recommend!! And for real, maybe we all need to send Hobonichi an email or something begging them to make one lol

[@lucygoosey93]

I watched this video the first time on Sunday night. All Monday and all of this morning I was thinking about the monthly being turned into a weekly and safe to say I have made my own. I am so excited to start next week in my first ever Hobonichi cousin and so glad to have got the inspiration to get started from Ellie 😊

[@ellesbooks]

Ahhhh yay! I'm happy for you, I really hope you enjoy using the cousin 🥰

[@Miahobbes]

moving would be something I am super bad at and also cooking 😑I wish there was some pill that I could take weekly and just have coffee , tea and water for the rest of the days 😁need to improve that in 2024.

[@ellesbooks]

I know what you mean!!! Thinking up stuff to cook every night, and actually cooking it, is so exhausting 😅

[@tuzimarie]

Ellie, I love your videos and they are an inspiration to me. I just purchased my very first Hobinichi and can’t wait to incorporate your creative ideas! Thank you!❤️❤️❤️

[@ellesbooks]

Ahhhh this makes me so happy. Thank you so much for the kind words! I really hope you enjoy the Hobonichi 🥰

[@rosewithoutthorn]

I love your reading list! Some great titles & authors in there. Enjoy!

[@ellesbooks]

Ahhh thank you so much! I'm super excited to get back into reading this coming year 🥰

[@AllTheArtsy]

I did the same with the 3-year calendar spread, except I also covered 2024 because there's literally a monthly calendar on just about every page that there's no worry I wouldn't know the days of 2024 lol. I put a dashboard of 2023 highlights there, then did the same with my 2024 intentions, but I also broke them down into specific goals and added a quarterly review (all these by tipping in 2 sheets from the blank Hobonichi notebooks as well, so I got 8 more pages in the front!) :)

[@AllTheArtsy]

Ahhh and we're also gonna be using the daily pages the same. I also mostly intend to use mine as a day-free, but I am not planning to paper over the dates, because should I want to journal, I would still like to have the option of keeping within the correctly dated page :) I have the Midori index tabs-- placed on the side of the page for the yearly spread, current month, week and day, and placed on top for collections/special spreads. (I don't like using non-removable/movable tabs)

[@ellesbooks]

@@AllTheArtsy That's such a good idea to add a quarterly review too! And totally get what you mean about the 2024 calendar not really being necessary. Also makes sense to keep the option of the dates - tbh, as I've started in my daily pages, I've decided not to cover them after all!

[@withlove_nikki]

I feel the same way about the word "goals". For me, I've used either hopes or wishes, because I just want to cultivate a dreamy vibe lol. And what you said about PE - yes! ohhhh my goodness I absolutely associate exercise with embarrassment and shame and it's very hard for me to engage in it now. I love that you made a list of your special interests. I should try that for the next time I'm feeling really restless! thanks for sharing this setup

[@ellesbooks]

Ooooh, I love hopes and wishes! We all need a bit more dreaminess in our lives 🥰 I feel like we all deserve compensation from our PE teachers for the trauma it caused, lol. And absolutely recommend having a special interest page - I find it SO helpful in those stressful moments when it's hard to naturally think of something to do!

[@EmilyKariya]

I am so enjoying your videos, very glad I discovered your channel. Thanks for sharing 😊

[@EmilyKariya]

100% agree with you about the UK PE curriculum/system. It is geared entirely towards team sports for competitive sporty kids. The day I finished high school and knew I’d never have to do a PE class again was pure joy. I’m introverted and not naturally sporty. Yoga and walking work for me. A large crowd of kids with hockey sticks all angry at me for just being crap? No thanks!😂

[@ellesbooks]

Thank you so much for watching, and for the kind words 🥰 and real talk about UK PE, all of us not-sporty introverts clearly came out of it scarred 😅

[@ania5125]

I can really relate to the movement and PE thing. I was never good at running, throwing, etc. so I sucked at PE. I disliked exercise a lot and that caused me to have some circulation problems even though I'm young. But there was a choice to do lifting instead of PE and it's been really good since then. It really suits me because it's relatively stationary, you can see your progress quantitatively, and it's basically resolved my circulation. Would recommend. For next year I'm going to experiment with the avec, since this year I was in the weeks and found that I didn't use the blank page on the weekly section that well, and I didn't really have a place for my daily to do's. So I think I'll place the academic stuff in the weekly, yearly as a calendar, and dailies as a journal/commonplace (though I don't know if I'll move the journal to the weekly as well).

[@ellesbooks]

I'm sorry you went through the same thing with PE - and thank you for the recommendation! I do actually plan to start lifting... It's just motivating myself to actually start that's the hard part 😅 That sounds like a great plan for the Avec - it's so great how much you can fit in there. I hope you enjoy using it!

[@theminnesotawitch]

Right as i was looking for a video like this!! Thank you Ellie ❤

[@ellesbooks]

You're so welcome!! ❤

[@knittingbooksetc.2810]

I too want to start my 2024 book. I might cut the weeks from my 2023 and glue them over the 2025 months.

[@ellesbooks]

Honestly do it! I absolutely don't regret starting mine early, it's been so much fun!

[@Milla-28]

I can relate so much to the stuff you're saying about economy and food. I also do that a lot when i'm stressed. 😮‍💨🙂

[@ellesbooks]

It’s so easy to do, to be fair!!! It becomes such a habit 🥲

[@Milla-28]

Yes indeed! @@ellesbooks

[@DescribeBeauty]

i love your list of fun things!! i would love to have that as a reminder to do fun things; also realizing now that i shouldnt have purchased a stay-at-home planner in a compact size; now all my odd lists will leave the house with me. i have 2 sterling ink common planners. they are comparable to hobonichi's planners :)

[@ellesbooks]

Honestly would definitely recommend the fun things list! Without them, I would genuinely forget / struggle to think of things to do 😅 I did try the common planner once - I didn't quite vibe with the paper/style unfortunately, but, I can appreciate that they're wonderful planners!

[@victoriahinton9869]

So I keep going back and forth on whether or not I want to give the hobo cousin a try next year and this video definitely convinced me to go for it! And I have to say, some of your personal intentions that you talked about really resonated with me, particularly when you mentioned prioritizing yourself more in 2024. I put myself pretty much dead last all 2023 so that one is at the top of my list too! And I gave up on reading journals too, I kept competing with myself to finish books quickly so I could put them in my journal. Can I ask, do you find it hard to juggle your hobo cousin and a separate personal journal? I’m torn between having one big book of everything or having this book and a pocket size journal for “dear diary” type entries. Sorry for the long post, but this was a fantastic video so thank you!🤗

[@ellesbooks]

Ahhh that's so exciting about going for the cousin - I really hope you enjoy using it! And that's so cool that the intentions resonated 🥰 to answer your question - sometimes, yes, I do find it hard. I find I don't often write in them both on the same day - I don't really have the time! I prioritise the Cousin, and if that means the daily journal gets neglected for a few days, that's fine!

[@Emilywilson10222]

im autistic too and find sport stupidly difficult!! i have recently started going to the gym and stuff like rowing, walking and weight machines are good for me because zero hand eye coordination is needed!! game changer! I am forever scarred by PE too. Football, rounders and hockey....they make me shudder just thing about it!! hahaha

[@ellesbooks]

So many of us in the comments were traumatised by PE lol 🥲😅 I've found the same with walking and weights in particular - I guess all us uncoordinated autistic folk are going to end up super buff 💪🏻

[@Emilywilson10222]

@@ellesbooks need an autistic to catch a ball? No chance! Need an autistic to walk with you somewhere? WE ARE ON IT!! 😂😂💪🏼

[@ellesbooks]

@@Emilywilson10222 accurate 😂😂

[@SeaGreenZines]

I have felt the same way - please give me a day free that keeps the weeklies in! Please, Hobonichi? Haha. Excellent video. ^_^

[@ellesbooks]

One day, they have to listen to us, right? 😅 thank you so much!

[@SeaGreenZines]

@@ellesbooks One can only hope!

[@alexthomascreative]

It's exciting seeing that first spread (we have a lot of shared interests). What are your thoughts on new Fraiser?

[@ellesbooks]

Ahhh yay! Always love finding people with shared interests :) I haven't actually watched it yet, I don't have the streaming service it's on in the UK! I've heard it's pretty good, though - have you seen it?

[@alexthomascreative]

@@ellesbooks I have seen it. For me it doesn't quite "hit" the same but there are some good moments in there and some classic Fraiser style miscommunications and mishaps. I'd say given it's a big interest for you definitely worth watching when you get chance.

[@ellesbooks]

@thatalexthomas ahhhh that’s so good to hear that it’s got at least some of the original’s charm! Maybe I’ll treat myself to it over Christmas 🥰

[@alia2595]

I have been doing Zumba because I love that it’s fun and there’s so much community in it 😂🎉

[@ellesbooks]

Omg Zumba! I used to do that occasionally years ago, it's so much fun! I think I'd pass out if I tried it now though 😂

[@elizabethdiannestravinsky6946]

I exercise almost daily, but i am creaky too 😂

[@ellesbooks]

Why are bodies like this 😂

[@WendyInMD]

We have PE (Physical Education) in the US, too. 😊

[@ellesbooks]

Good to know! I’d always assumed “gym class” was a replacement for it haha 😅

[@Easypeasypumpkin]

YES TO NANDOR 🫶🏻

[@ellesbooks]

Nandor is life 😭❤

[@YuliDnevnik]

Hold up Megan Rhiannon wrote a book?? 😳

[@ellesbooks]

Yes!!! It’s available as a digital copy on her website :)

[@adeliafrances]

this made me want to get a cousin! i just can't decide lol

[@ellesbooks]

I'm totally biased but... you should absolutely get one 😅

[@ruemckeagney781]

great set up ellie! so many of your intentions for 2024 really resonated with me ❤️‍🩹 i’m excited to get into my cousin for 2024

[@ellesbooks]

Thank you so much 🥰 so glad this resonated! Not long until the "official" start date now 😅