After yesterday’s post on planners, my boyfriend and I shared our thoughts on the different options out there for staying organized and the importance of keeping one’s schedule limited to one medium, whether that be a notebook planner, Outlook, Google Calender, or a wall calendar. Last year I was excited by my iPod Touch’s ability to synch with my computer, and made the mistake of using a notebook agenda as well as the calendar on my Touch. Entering the same notes in two different places was a pain, and as a result I was never sure if something might be missing. I once thought that a separate planner for work and for home would be appropriate, but I only have one life, and having everything in one place was the best way to go. So I’ve tried some different strategies and discovered what works for me in terms of scheduling and found a great Pierre Belvédère planner to use for this year, but I was interested in seeing whether there are any unique planner concepts that I haven’t seen before. And so I present the Muji Chronotebook, which I discovered through Jack Cheng’s website (coincidentally, the post is titled Stuff I Love: Muji Chronotebook, so: instant friendship!).
Unsurprisingly, Muji is a Japanese company. There is no end to the list of things I love about the Japanese, and it just keeps on growing. This notebook won the Judges’ Prize for the 2007 MUJI Award. It is amazing for several reasons. Each page has a clock in the middle representing 12 hours and you can map out your day on the page corresponding to the time on the clock. It automatically allows you to visualize the allotment of time for each task and how it relates to the rest of your day. One of the first things my parents taught me as a child was how to read time on an analog clock, so there’s no better way for me to get a feel of the day than to see it divided like pieces of a pie through an analog clock. I think this concept is simple but brilliant. I can already see myself mapping out a huge chunk of time for sleep. I’m going to stick with my current planner for this year, but I will definitely get one of these in the future.
Image from the MUJI Award
To buy online: $5.50 US at the Muji Store
Bad news for Canadian shoppers: shipping was $23.95 (for BC), so you now have an excuse to visit your friends in the US.