Hello. I’m Asako from the Techo Team.
This year, I used three different techo planners.

Weeks Mega → for work
Day-Free → for pasting things in
5-Year Techo → as a diary

From the top going clockwise: Day-Free, 5-Year Techo, Weeks Mega.

Among them, the 5-Year Techo is actually my second one, following the 2020?2024 edition—meaning this is my sixth year using it. And for the first time, I managed to write in it every single day!



I was so happy about that, I thought I’d use this End of Year Reflection to look back on what helped me keep it going.

I tried to take a photo that said “I wrote every day!”, but I’m not sure it quite worked.

Decide what to write each day

Starting this year, I decided in advance that I would always write the day’s weather, temperature, and what I ate. Having that baseline made it much easier to turn writing into a habit.

This is how I write the weather and temperature.

I write my diary in chronological order, so having “meals” as a fixed anchor helps. Between meals, I fill in what happened or what I was thinking, and before I know it, the page is full.
“Breakfast was this, then I took it easy for a bit, went to work at 11, had a meeting, thought about this, and for lunch I ate that...”—that kind of flow.
I like food, so centering my entries around meals made it easier to keep going.

I didn’t let breaks pile up

You might think that continuing every day simply means writing every day—but that wasn’t actually the case.

I usually write in my 5-Year Techo at night, but sometimes I lose to sleepiness. On those nights, I choose to just go to bed without writing. The difference this year was that I limited how long I let things pile up—no more than two or three days, instead of a whole week like before. That made it much easier to pick things back up without getting discouraged. When you do fall behind, I recommend starting with today’s entry, not the day you missed. Today’s memories are the freshest in your mind, so are easier to write about. As for what to write about...

Leave memos for yourself

When writing about the slightly more distant past, I struggle to get motivated when I don’t have anything to latch onto.
That's why I started leaving myself quick memos and casually placing them on my desk. I was surprised by how helpful they turned out to be for my future self.



They’re very rough notes, but the difference between having them and not having them is huge. You might wonder why not just write directly in the 5-Year Techo—but for some reason, I like to write in it only when I feel mentally ready. Having even a small hint or guide makes starting again much easier.
Honestly, this might have been the single best thing I did this year.

…

So far, I’ve been reflecting on why I was able to write every day this year. Along the way, I realized I’d picked up some tips from my first 5-Year Techo too, and this started to feel a bit like a how-to article—so I decided to just go with it.

Sorry if these feel more like common-sense tips than big revelations.



Don’t put it away

I write in my 5-Year Techo in bed every night. In the first year, I stored it on a shelf a few steps away from the bed. Sure, it was organized, but it didn't help my consistency.
Especially on winter nights, once you’re under the covers, you really don’t want to get out. I’d realize I hadn’t written yet, hesitate because it was cold... and then the sun would have risen.
So I started keeping my techo right next to the bed, somewhere I could reach even after getting cozy. Once I did that, it immediately became easier to keep going.
Accessibility really matters.

Use the same pen

Choosing which pen to use is part of the fun but when writing every day, I learned that too many choices can get in the way.
This year, I used the same pen throughout: a Juice Up 0.38mm in brown.

Quietly satisfying: finishing a pen completely.

Next year, I’m thinking of switching to a different color of the same pen, so it’s easy to tell which year is which.

…

I was just so happy to have written every day for the first time that I wanted to reflect on it like this.

It may not feel very much like a typical End of Year Reflection, but I did at least do it at night, in appropriately dim lighting. (The photos were taken later, during the day.)

That’s all for now—look forward to the next Techo News!

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