Everything You Need to Know About the Annual Planner Event Known as "One Book July"
The origins and purpose
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And…welcome to the first official day of summer in the Northern Hemisphere! Although down here in Texas, I swear it’s been summer for 2 months. With our bizarre weather patterns since April, we’ve definitely been feeling the heat early!
This is the last week I’ll be doing a weekly newsletter post, at least for now. Next week my shop will be on vacation (although I won’t be on vacation—that’s just an Etsy term for when our shop is on a break! 🙂). I’ll be traveling for another one of my day jobs! It will be a nice reprieve from the Texas heat.
For this last weekly post in June, I wanted to talk about the annual planner event known as One Book July. One of my Insta friends was recently asking about it, and I participated in this event back in 2020. And I kid you not…it changed my planner life forever!
What is One Book July?
First, let’s get to the meat of this annual planning event. “One Book July” is exactly as described: you consolidate all your planners, journals, and notebooks down to a single notebook for the month of July. And yes, that means if you’re currently journaling in one notebook, planning in another, taking notes in another, etc.—all of those would be consolidated down to a single notebook. While you can have multiple sections in your notebook for this event, you would not be allowed to use more than one notebook in total.
This event is for everyone who uses a notebook. Although it was originally geared toward planners, the truth is journalers, bullet journalers, planners, and artists are all welcome to participate!
In addition, many folks restrict the number of tools they use in conjunction with their one notebook/planner. For instance, they might use a single pen, a single highlighter, a single roll of washi tape, etc.
One Book July was started in 2014 by Rhomany of RhomanysRealm, a mixed media artist, illustrator, and planner addict in the U.K. She created the challenge for a small group of friends she hung out with regularly and then posted her thoughts on YouTube. Since then, this has become a worldwide planner phenomenon, with many planners participating in this challenge every year.
The original event allowed only a single notebook, a single pen, and unlimited planner accessories for the entire month of July. If you want to see her original YouTube video on this back in 2014, check it out here:
Of course, you can do whatever you want during One Book July. You don’t have to follow all the original “rules” especially if it stresses you out or gives you too much anxiety. Rhomany will be the first one to tell you there are no rules during One Book July. Instead, there are guidelines. You can decide what you want to do, as long as it’s in the vein of simplifying and streamlining your planner system.
Since then, the challenge has morphed over the years. While some planners stay true to the original challenge, it has evolved to fit different personal preferences.
If you are a rule follower type and need a prescriptive method for the original One Book July challenge, I highly recommend you watch Rhomany’s YouTube video below. In it, she explains all the guidelines:
Why Do People Participate in One Book July?
During this planning event, you’ll simplify your planning system and go minimalist. It’s set up for a single month so it’s not too long of a commitment, but long enough to challenge you.
The goal is to help you get back to the basics of your planner system and focus on the method. The idea was created to challenge the concept of “planner peace” being some perfect combination of this paper, that notebook, this expensive cover, those specific pens, etc. Instead, the method by which you plan is the crux of what makes you happy, not all the bells and whistles. This event helps you refocus on the foundation so you can find your planner peace through the method, without worrying about the costume your planner system lives in.
Rhomany does a much better job of explaining the purpose in the below YouTube video. If you are someone who has never found “planner peace” and is struggling to understand why, I highly recommend you try One Book July and watch the following video first:
My Planner Life Before One Book July
When I first started my current planner journey in 2017, I was journaling and memory-keeping only. Then I started adding notebooks for different purposes. At one point in time, I had over a dozen notebooks in 5 different sizes. I was overwhelmed and wondering if I made a huge mistake going down the analog planning path. I kept spending money on new planners and notebooks, thinking “This is it! This is the one that will work!”
It never was. I wasn’t planner happy.
At the time, I was using pre-made planners (specifically, the Hobonichi Techo and Weeks). I couldn’t figure out why they weren’t working for me when millions of people around the world seemed to love them. I hadn’t fully caught on to bullet journaling yet. And I didn’t know who I was as a planner.
Enter One Book July back in 2020. I still have my original notebook from that event. Every year I look back at it and it makes me happy to remember how it altered, forever, my planner journey. It’s amazing how something so simple changed this trajectory. I didn’t even have my Etsy shop focused on bullet journals and sticker accessories back then!
5 Lessons Learned from My One Book July 2020
I learned a lot from participating in One Book July. I still carry those lessons with me in my current planner methodology. Here are the top lessons I learned from that experience:
One Book July is meant to disrupt your current planner system. The act of that disruption helped me realize I don’t have to continue a planner system that’s not serving me. It’s OK to start something new, even after one month. And it’s OK to go back to something old. I realize many planners subscribe to the “sinking costs” mentality: I already spent money on this planner so now I have to be miserable using it until next year. In case no one has ever done this for you, I’m giving you permission right now to stop your current planner system that isn’t serving you and find something else. Cost-conscious? Use another notebook you have lying around. I promise…you have another one you can use. Or, you can get a new notebook from Walmart, Target, etc. for less than $5. Life is too short not to find happiness planning. 🙂
One Book July was my first formal foray into bullet journaling. I discovered that pre-made planners don’t work for me. My planner peace is a bullet journal. My current EDC is an a6 dot journal. Luuuuurve it!
In addition, I discovered I like everything in a single, small notebook, and I’ve evolved my bullet journal system for this. Every now and then I might need help from another notebook, and I can add and subtract as necessary so it serves me for that time period. But I always seem to consolidate down to a single notebook that fits in my purse. It works so well for me!
Bullet journaling includes a wide range of layouts, from ultra-beautiful art pieces to simplistic chicken-scratch to-do lists. I don’t have to spend hours on my bujo layouts to be happy. Although I did spend hours designing my own stickers for the bujo layout that works for me, it takes me less than 15 minutes to create my weekly layouts. My bujo layout stickers do most of the legwork. Bujo, like One Book July, has no rules. Create bujo layouts that serve you, and don’t spend more time than you need to on them. You don’t have to keep up with everyone else—you do you.
The act of participating in One Book July can make planners uncomfortable. By nature, humans resist change. One Book July helps ease you into planner change, which means the next time you try to modify your system, it will be easier. One Book July helped me become a less rigid planner. Embrace change—try new things. You’ll feel more free as a result.
Since 2020, I haven’t had the need to participate in One Book July again, mainly because my EDC is already a single notebook. I’ve evolved it a lot since 2020, but what I have now works so well for me.
Will you be participating in One Book July? 🙂
I came here thinking "Yeah, mahn!" But after reading the to-do, now I dunno. Probably not. Along those lines, I have already decided 2025 will be "One Book Year". I am going to order a Wunderland 222, B6 and that's it for my '25 planning.
The thing is, I don't think I'm really a "planner". I am a journaler. I enjoy writing. I am on a quest to improve my penwomanship. Initially I thought copperplate, then I though nah, spencerian. After my recent online course I know it's plain old cursive hand for me. Anyway, spencerian is simply cursive but with shade one a quaint few letters. Well, I can forgo shade in favor of everyday, good ole, cursive or business writing has it used to be know.
Digressing, I purchased an A6 from you that is sitting in my cache, so sad. She has a cute leather planner cover just for her.But, she's barely used. Perhaps I should incorporate her for July, '25 One Book. Hmmmm. Lemme think about it.
xoxoxo,
Aminah
P.S. I do miss Stalogy, but the Tomoe River keeps a callin' this gal.