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March 24, 2026|Custome Wise Team
Autumn is the season when journal and planner enthusiasts start gearing up for their next year’s journaling system. Stationery brands are also busy preparing, with new planner products hitting the shelves between August and October - one-page-per-day, continuous diary, weekly planners, vertical timelines, all-in-one solutions… - the variety of layouts can be overwhelming for journal beginners.
But have you ever felt pressured by a dated planner? Every autumn, I buy planners for the upcoming year while promising myself to fill every single page without missing a day. But in reality, skipping days in my journal is perfectly normal. This makes me feel wasteful and stressed, and even blame myself for being lazy.
That’s why I’ve started to seek the flexibility of undated journals and planners. This blog post will summarize and recommend some undated journals and planners I’ve used. While it’s not a comprehensive review of all such products out there, it’s based entirely on my user experience.
Before we dive in, let’s address the question: What is an undated journal and planner?
In this blog, we’re talking about planners that don’t come pre-printed with next year’s dates. This means you can start using them anytime and flexibly use them on any day you want to record. Also, compared to regular dot grid or lined notebooks, these have layout features that make them convenient for use as planners or daily journals.
The annual release of TN’s planner for the upcoming year is a major event for planner enthusiasts worldwide. However, it’s worth remembering that TN’s refill product line also offers undated options year-round, including monthly planner, weekly vertical planner, weekly+memo, and one-page-per-day.
Among all the options, the most popular, 019 Free Diary Weekly+Memo, stays in my TN all the time. I use the weekly planner page on the left side to record each day’s highlights or daily gratitudes, and the right side for habit tracking and summaries.
TN’s versatility is undeniable. In many ways, its flexible combination options rival those of loose-leaf planner systems. The various combinations of Free Diary refills and others can meet all sorts of recording needs - you could even use a single TN to create an all-in-one planner system.
Moreover, TN is incredibly user-friendly for those just starting to use planners and journals. The thin refills are quick to fill up, allowing you to try different page types to find out a journaling way that best suits you.
This notebook represents the perfect design in my mind. With just two bolder lines, it strikes a balance between functionality and freedom while adhering to MD Paper’s elegant minimalist aesthetic.
You can use it as a weekly planner or explore other possibilities - a daily planner with four recording aspects, or a two-day-per-page with a plan+log approach to visualize your task management, or a family diary, one for family members and one for yourself. The notebook contains 192 pages for six months of use, if used as a weekly spread.
The HITOTOKI NOTE is currently my favorite journal to replace Hobonichi one-page-per-day. It features a daily page format with a grid layout and space at the top for filling in dates or titles.
The best part is that the page edges are printed with small dots, allowing you to quickly divide the page into different sections. This is extremely helpful for customizing the layout based on your needs. Another useful feature is its special binding. Pages can be neatly torn off without leaving any trace. This is perfect for someone like me who doesn’t want frequent writing mistakes or unsatisfactory decorations in their planner! Additionally, it comes with an artist-illustrated cover.
This not only means an attractive appearance but also provides some storage capacity. The matte PVC version has a slim inner card slot that is perfect for KITTA. The newly launched zipper version offers even more storage space, making it ideal for use on the go. This product comes in three sizes: passport, comic, and square.
While the first two are familiar to planner enthusiasts, I’d like to particularly recommend the square size. The square page proportion is quite unique and can bring some fresh fun and challenges. It’s especially suitable for vertical weekly layouts. The guide dots on the page will also help you easily divide a spread into eight equal-sized vertical sections.
During the most intense period of my graduate studies, I heavily relied on this planner. It was a good tool for helping me improve my focus. It comes in two types of layouts, weekly and daily, but the core functional principle remains the same: a to-do list combined with a 24-hour time log.
This special time log helps you completely visualize your use of all 24 hours in a day, broken down into small blocks representing 10-minute intervals. You just need to color-code the blocks based on your activities. For example, I used different colors for sleep, thesis writing, vocabulary study, and exercise. I also honestly marked passive leisure like gaming or TV watching. This instantly visualized my daily time allocation. Through continuous recording and reflection, I improved my study efficiency, avoided mindless entertainment, and gained new energy through effective relaxation. After graduating, I no longer need to meticulously record how I use my time.
However, as a small business owner working for myself, I find it challenging to maintain a good routine. So, whenever I feel that I’m struggling with the balance between rest, work, and my own leisure time, I bring out this planner and commit to recording and observing for about two weeks. It certainly helps me understand more intuitively how I’m living my life.