Plotter Narrow Notebook Review

Putting in research time to find the perfect stationery product is worth it-especially when the product is expensive. Decide how you will use it, pick out the best option, budget accordingly, buy it, and GREAT SUCCESS!

I love it when a plan comes together, right up until it doesn’t.

That was the experience with my original A5 Plotter. The Orange Shrink leather, the brass binding, the perfect page and insert setup-I was thrilled with the entire thing. But the setup, as a whole, didn’t end up working for how I work. No matter how independently great a product is, if it doesn’t work for you, it is time to move on.

That I stuck with the A5 size Plotter is a testament to how much I like the idea of it. I thought through how I use it, and why it didn’t work for me in the end. The main issue was the standard pages, and not using them enough. If it were my one and only work notebook, it would be ideal, but given the fact I use 2-3 different notebooks during my work week, I never settled in with forgoing my standard, bound, hard cover A5 journal. The Plotter task pages and calendars were great, but there wasn’t enough there to keep me in it full time.

Given all that, I thought about what would work for me. Portability was at the top of my list. A5 notebooks are portable, of course, but my work isn’t mobile. I don’t need to pack my stuff and commute, or bounce around an office from meeting to meeting. My A5 stays at my desk, but I do work in different areas in and around the house, and want to have a smaller notebook tagging along.

The Plotter Narrow on top of a traditionally-sized A5 notebook.

Last summer, around the time I was thinking about all of this, I had started to realize I wanted to change out of the A5 Hobonichi Cousin as my planner for 2023. It worked well for me for the first seven months of the year, but by August, it was clear that one page per day was about 3/4 of a page too much.

How can I swap into something more portable, with efficient planner pages, room for notes and tasks, is high-quality, and can be fun to use?

Enter the Plotter Narrow.

I’ll admit that this was a bit of a risky move. Choosing the A5 size seemed low-risk at the time, and you see how that worked out. The Narrow was a format that I hadn’t used in a while, but there were similar products-Traveler’s Notebooks, Ro-Biki Note, for example-that I like the idea of. Could the Narrow, and requisite internal setup, be the answer?

My Plotter Narrow Specs:

Exterior Material: Pueblo Leather

Size: H7" × W4.1"

Binder: 6-hole

Hardware color: Silver

I was able to have this setup put together for me at the San Francisco Pen Show in August, 2022, and it has been in use ever since. The size has been ideal, allowing me to use it at my desk, but also able to easily carry it around as needed, even sliding it in a pocket for a short time (not ideal due to the rigid hardware, admittedly, but I can make it work for a bit.)

Two page per week layout.

The internal setup has been ideal. When I first purchased it, I added in the 2mm Grid Sheets and To Do List Sheets to slowly work my way into the setup. After about a month of using it, and in conjunction with the decline in usage of my Hobonichi A5 Cousin, I added in the Monthly Schedule and Weekly Schedule refills to round out my planner needs.

Monthly view.

To complete my build, I added in the Leather Ring Supporter for a more comfortable carry, the Leather Pen Holder Lifter and Band Lifter for section separation and added functionality, and capped it off with the Envelope Folder for loose-sheet storage in the back.

My setup is complete. Over $200 later, yes, but complete nonetheless.

The key was moving my planning back to a two page per week style. I’ve used this layout previously in an undated Traveler’s Notebook refill, and more recently in my William Hannah Planner. While the concept of a one page per day setup-as found in the Hobonichi Cousin-is great, it is not the most beneficial to me. Two page per week has proven to be ideal for how I work.

Plotter standard pages are perfect for notes …

… and a Currently Inked log.

Add in endless note options with the standard grid sheets, a spot for a running task list, and a broader annual calendar, I think I’m set. And it doesn’t hurt that I love how Plotter paper performs with any pen or pencil I throw at it.

Getting into the Plotter Narrow was a process. I had a false start with the A5 size, but it has found a new home. And the Narrow has found a home with me.

(I bought the Plotter Narrow from Plotter USA at regular retail price.)

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My Techo Kaigi for 2023

(Kimberly (she/her) took the express train down the fountain pen/stationery rabbit hole and doesn't want to be rescued. She can be found on Instagram @allthehobbies because there really are many, many hobbies!.)

What on earth is a “Techno Kaigi”? I had the exact same reaction when I first heard the term earlier this year. Loosely translated in Japanese, it is a journaling or planner meeting that you have (with yourself) where you reflect on what you’ve been using and whether you want to continue that into the next year. Most of the time, this reflection is done earlier in the fall, just as planner products come out, allowing you enough time to buy whatever products you plan to use in the coming year.

In past years, I’ve done this unknowingly just by asking myself if the Bullet Journal method is working for me (the answer has been “yes”) and if so, let’s do more of that. This year, as I was finishing my most recent Rhodia GoalBook in October, I asked myself the same question and had a slightly different answer. In short, the answer is still “yes” but it ended up being more like “yes, but with some tweaks”.

I don’t have a traditional job that requires me to use a traditional planner, which is why the Bullet Journal (BuJo) method really worked for me. I love being able to flip a page and add a spread for something new or start over if I really didn’t find something useful or hated how I laid out something. Whenever I finish up a GoalBook, I flip through and decide what needs to get moved over to the next GoalBook and then I will re-create spreads for penpal letter tracking, orders I’ve placed, as well as blood pressure tracking, exercise logs, habit trackers, etc. I also use markers to make my own weekly layouts at the beginning of every month. So that part hasn’t changed.

What has changed is I got sucked into the Plotter FOMO. Yeah, I’m not gonna lie. I knew Plotter was a big deal coming into LAST year’s SF Pen Show when they made their US debut. But it was this year when everyone seemed to be getting a Plotter and darn if I wasn’t gonna get one at this year’s SF Show for my birthday. And because their 5th Anniversary Plotter came out shortly thereafter, I had to get that too. So, now I had TWO new, thin, ring-bound systems that I didn’t really need for project management or “traditional work stuff”?! My Bible-sized Plotters lay unused for longer than I’d like to admit while I figured out what on earth I was going to use them for. Thankfully, the “end of BuJo reflection” helped me rethink my spreads and which ones made more sense to go into a Plotter versus the next BuJo.

I realized there are some spreads that I want to keep track of, on an ongoing basis, in my BuJo where I wouldn’t need to transfer the information to a new notebook. The Blood Pressure log is a good example of this. I wanted the data and a place to log it, but I didn’t really need to move the data to another notebook - I just needed to create a new blank spread. My habit tracker is another example where I can just create a new habit tracker in the new BuJo, I didn’t need to copy over the information from past months. These kinds of things were perfect for the BuJo and most of my spreads fell into this category.

As the BuJo is my ride-or-die “planner”, I will add new spreads to it so that I can see/use it regularly. And when I get to the end of the current BuJo, I can evaluate whether it goes to the next BuJo or the Plotter.

Todos and general planning, tracking, etc. continue to live in my trusty BuJo - the Rhodia GoalBook - including finishing this article, lol!

So what kind of stuff did I put in the Plotter? My list of Pen Addict products/article topics for one – I had gone through 2 BuJos since I started writing for TPA, which mean I had to copy the product list/topic list to 2 BuJos already and I didn’t want to have to do it with a 3rd BuJo. I’m going to use it as a checklist as I go through various product reviews or topics. I can move the completed pages to an archive, consolidate into fewer sheets when I cross off enough items or toss them when I’m done. I also added some pages for food/shopping/attractions when visiting certain cities (I have an ongoing list for NYC and the PNW if you have any recommendations!) - super handy because the Plotter is so portable! In any case, I can keep my notes and don’t have to worry about rewriting it when I finish the new BuJo in 6 months. Also, because the Plotter is a ring-bound system, I can easily add/move pages as needed.

It was handy to have my Pelikan Hub list in my Plotter last month.

I love the Plotter for its thinness, which makes it perfect for toting around. In the past, I’ve traveled with my A5 BuJo, only for it to remain unused in my suitcase the whole time. But the Plotter’s thinness comes at a price – I can’t fit as many pages in it as I’d like. So, I have to be very picky about what things I put in a Plotter and put the rest in a Filofax, which has bigger rings and stays on my desk. The Filofax is also great for archiving pages I no longer need to keep with me, but still want to keep the data. And yes, many of the Plotter’s various sizes are also compatible with the Filofax - the Bible-sized Plotter pages work in the Filofax’s Personal size, the A5 sizes are interchangeable, Plotter’s Mini maps to Filofax’s Pocket, etc.

Tracking my skincare products on Plotter’s paper in a Filofax Personal so I know how long I’ve been using a product. This stays home because I don’t need this info when I’m out and about.

While Techo Kaigi is often used for planners, I’ve decided to apply this to journaling as well. A few months ago, I started journaling (for the first time in a LONG time) and decided to do it in a Traveler’s Notebook. Unfortunately, I’m very bad at journaling with any regularity and I end up forgetting a lot by the time I get to it. So I decided to use the remainder of my 2022 Hobonichi Weeks to do short form “jot” journaling, with the intent of doing long form journaling in the TN later. The intent was good but the execution wasn’t great. The Weeks is just a bit too small for the jot journaling and the TN is also a bit too small for the decorating and long-form journaling that I wanted to do too (is anyone shocked by my long-windedness?). So, for 2023, I’m going to move to a Traveler’s Company 2023 Weekly Diary for short form and an undated A5 Hobonichi for long form. I will continue to use the Hobonichi Weeks for my “pens of the week” scribbles and quotes.

My attempt at journaling with the Hobonichi Weeks and Traveler’s Notebook - nice try but not quite the right size.

2023 journaling will be done with the Traveler’s Notebook and A5 Hobonichi - got started with a little decoration so I’m ready to go!

While I use a lot of other notebooks for other things like quotes, lyrics, etc. - maybe I’ll write about those some other time - I think I have my planning/journaling system in place for 2023 and I’m looking forward to seeing how it works out.

Hobonichi Undated A5 notebook (with Have a Nice Day cover), Traveler’s Notebook customized by Baum-Kuchen, Filofax Personal, Plotter 5th Anniversary Bible-sized Liscio Green, Rhodia GoalBook in a Hobonichi A5 Cover.

If you want to find out what others are doing for 2023, check out this Techo Kaigi YouTube playlist with a bunch of great content from the Stationery Brew Crew! Until next year’s Techo Kaigi, stay inky!

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Enjoy reading The Pen Addict? Then consider becoming a member to receive additional weekly content, giveaways, and discounts in The Pen Addict shop. Plus, you support me and the site directly, for which I am very grateful.

Membership starts at just $5/month, with a discounted annual option available. To find out more about membership click here and join us!

Finding an idea and creativity space with PLOTTER – Brad Dowdy

I was fortunate to be part of the Plotter USA pilot program this summer, which gave me an early look at this great notebook system being brought to the US market from Japan. I enjoyed being part of the program, and I especially enjoyed the notebook!

As I wrapped up my time, I sat with April Wu to discuss my stationery background, my current work, and my plans for Plotter going forward. Check out the article here. My thanks to April and the entire Plotter team for letting me be part of the launch.