I keep a dotted bullet journal as my day planner. It has monthly and weekly spreads, as well as a page each day which consists of my to-do list for the day, 3 gratitudes, and my daily log (what I actually did each day), plus some affirmations.
I keep a lined personal journal where I record my dreams, daily Tarot card draw, astro-weather (mostly tracking the sun and moon phases), plus room for free writing, how I felt each day, interesting synchronicities and things relating to the Tarot card I drew, what was most profound that day, and how I'm releasing old habits (personal growth). I also keep track of books I've finished reading, and sometimes include quotes from them (I'm intrigued by your writings on commonplace books, though).
I have a lined moleskine notebook where I make notes from meetings and workshops, plus flesh out and capture ideas for writings and biz offerings, which I think of as my "learning notebook."
I have a magickal journal which I use less often, where I capture moon ceremonies or seasonal rituals I plan and carry out.
Love it all Nikki - oh my how delightful everything is. Well - I am morphing from the one journal to rule them all to more than one I'm not sure that I'm ready to tackle that many - lol. Well done!!
I used to have too many notebooks, like one for journaling, one for writing ideas and others for a random smattering of courses I take. Now, I combine my ideas/journal (from prompts) into one, and notes from writing courses in one as I figured I'd have a better chance of actually referencing them when I do.
Totally get this tension - I vacillate from one to many all the time. It was laughable how many I had during lockdown - I needed a tote bag to move from
Oh - good luck with that Sarah. You may have seen I'm taking my journey the other way around. - lol Let us know how you do. After doing one for many years I stand like a deer in the headlight looking at almost 50 journals thinking - now where was that? I have indexes of course, and tried a "master" index. That helped a wee bit. But still over the years the "master" index has made its way into three and a half books and gosh golly, it gets tiring even thinking of referencing something and I can always think of something better to do - lolol.
omg haha yes! I find that if I want to go back and flip through notebooks, having so many was what was having me feel so overwhelmed. I am starting morning pages again but might do a separate one for that since I don’t intend on re-reading anything in there.
I love this topic. I love having things in their categories so topical journals are perfect for me…if I can maintain them. I am trying using a 6 ring A5 binder with tabs. Then I will have a separate journal for each topic so that I can save and organize the topics. I am a sock knitter, so in addition to a daily journal, a commonplace journal, I want to add socks I’ve made, for whom with a sample of yarn, pictures and a story. A recipe journal for family recipes would be fun too.
Love the sock journal. I have a section of notion for knitting and one for sewing, as I like having a spreadsheet of details on patterns (meterage needed of yarn / fabric, what weight etc) and I like to add pictures, but I definitely see tracking these projects as an excellent notebook idea. I have tried A5 binders as well, since the flexibility of adding pages feels so useful l, but I don’t like how the rings take up page space so it’s never stuck. I am so fussy! 🤣
I have a difficulty with notebooks of any sort. How do I organise tge content, so I can find tgat neat idea or sentence without having to source through each notebook interminably? And how can I avoid soebing more time, I writing and organising my snippets and drafts than I spend actually writing?
I struggle with this a bit too. You can set several pages aside at the front (10+) to keep a detailed index of things you want to reference again. I also go through periodically and add notes in the margins, highlights, symbols, or underlining to really make important things stick out when I flip through the pages later.
Most journals have a space for an Index or Contents at the start and most journals have their pages numbered. I know what you mean Elizabeth - over the years of keeping many notebooks a single idea or sentence can be hard to find because you aren't going to index every little thing. But I think the Commonplace Book is a great idea for that. So right now in mine I have "Quotes" and "Thoughts" and "Ideas". I find these things morph over time to what you need. Might be easier to have a discussion on your thoughts if we understood exactly what you are writing. If you are keeping a notebook for writing a book I use the same process as J.R.R. Tolkein, Neil Gaman and Stephen King. I just keep writing - my margins are big because I put ideas in the margins while I am writing and I don't 'think'. I just feel and let the thoughts flow. In a sense I write the backstory at the same time, but very loosely. If you are just journaling your day or your week you can easily have a section of say 10 pages where you designate for 'thoughts/ideas' and index those 10 pages for that at the front. I don't have any good answers on that one yet - lol!! Still working on it myself - but the Commonplace Book I think is an awesome solution ;) I'll see!
That's really helpful thank you. At the moment, I'm just noting random thoughts, ideas, phrases, cameo incidents or scenes that I come across... but then I a) have no idea where to find them, months later, in the few notebooks have and/ or b) I forget that useful phrase, idea, scene, etc.. altogether
I agree with @Zoie that the little commonplace notebook I’m playing with lately helps me
find things again as the index and the snippets arranged by topic help. I do find I need to have a scratchy place to note things down BEFORE I add them to the commonplace journal, which has been the Readwise app up to now, but I can see this spiraling into many notebooks very easily…
lol - I know right. It's a process figuring out where to go in your journey. I find for Useful phrases, ideas and scenes I use a little notebook, my Commonplace Notebook. They are relatively easy to find then because I have a section for Quotes, a section for Phrases, a Section for Ideas, a section for scenes and a section for thoughts. A silly little Random section too. Even though I have several of these little notebooks - if it is an idea, I just grab a book and look through that section. It works for me. ;)
I do find that when I reread the notebooks I see it through a different lens. Sometimes I take a line or an idea and start a fresh page. I used to have the mindset that I needed to be generating words all the time but now I am trying to take some time to step away and see what is really there. Sometimes I find a thread of a theme that I would not normally see another way than taking that time to sit with my own words.
Exactly. Well done. You are absolutely correct - that is why when one is journaling one reviews if not weekly then monthly and for sure every quarter. You do absolutely get ideas, threads, insights. Reviews are great.
I use notebooks for first drafts and story journals (where I keep all my notes on a book's progress-questions, plot points or arcs that need work, etc.) Composition (or Decomposition) books are my go-to for writing related stuff (I always have a stack on hand) but I am, in the way of our people, a sucker for a cool notebook and those are used for all the things: commonplace books, tarot readings, gardening stuff, courses, story maps, documentation of travels, coaching sessions, recipes. I even keep one for my gaming. #nerd
Notebooks used to be the means by which I organized my life—one for each class, one for sermon notes, one for keeping track of quotes, one for pictures of all the places I wanted to go…
Now, they’re unorganized dumping grounds for any and everything—the snippets of thoughts and ideas my brain struggles to hang onto, the important work details, the things I need from Target—and I adore the chaos. I’ll impose structure on almost every other area of my life, but I want to keep my notebooks as a space where my brain can just spill out onto the page without shame or second guessing.
Thank goodness, I have been reading the comments, feeling that maybe I have got my notebooks all wrong. Then I found your comment and you captured it perfectly. I’m sitting here with two current note books that are exactly as you described, for the same purpose, creating space getting them out of my head. I love their chaos too.
There is definitely no doing it wrong here, Brenda - not to worry! I am always curious about how people use their notebooks (and any other tools) because the variety is so fascinating. Even if no one else in the world used notebooks the same way, if it works for one person, that isn't wrong at all. Glad you've found a kindred notebook spirit, though - always an exciting moment.🥰
Really appreciate this timely topic as someone who is trying to make an organized plan for my notebooks next year!
I currently have a:
Leuchtturm junk journal - this is my pretty, colorful notebook with scrapbooking vibes for memory keeping
Leuchtturm daily journal/writer's notebook - this is my daily deep thoughts/feelings journals with a mix of beautiful words/phrases and critical thinking about what i'm reading so I can improve my writing
The one I'm struggling with is my Archer & Olive bullet journal - I need a place for tasks and productivity, but I'm not an overly busy person and really want to focus on online content creation next year and I'm not sure how to make this work for me yet. So many "online biz" people use digital tools for productivity so it's been hard to get inspo and ideas for a physical planner.
So. many. ideas. I’m going to try yo keep this comment length 😂 You might want to check out Helen Redfern’s youtube channel as she does a TON of lovely walkthroughs of her planning notebooks, which might be good inspo.
I do a modified BJ method that pulls together a bunch of different methods. If people are interested, that could become a post or even a workshop?
Ohhh a workshop would be fabulous! I'm such a journal nerd though and love to geek out on all things journal related 😂 And thank you for the rec, I'll look up that YT channel now!
Check out Helen Colebrook - Journal with Purpose :) She posts freely on You Tube as well. Amy Plans on You Tube. Mike Vardy at Time Crafting Trust for time crafting ;)
Honestly Tammy I have no idea. I suppose one of the biggest pluses is that Amplenote is extremely good at clipping articles and ideas and categorizing them easily.
lololol Caroline you are a hoot! Oh this is going to be such a let down ... lol .... extremely good at ..."clipping articles and ideas and categorizing them easily."
Oh my - well first, you sound as though you are busy. I have a thought for your bullet journal (Archer & Olive I hear is lovely). I am going to direct you to Journal With Purpose (Helen Colebrook). She has enough inspiration for you there to last a lifetime. There are many people on You Tube that do all sorts of bullet journaling as well. I am a physical planner person as well. Another person that I would direct you too for productivity planning is Mike Vardy - Time Crafting. I prefer Paper planning and journaling too :)
You are welcome. You will love Helen :) Mike is not art journaling, but learning a new way to be productive. I have done it all and time crafting - for me - is the best. I have so many things on my plate I am overwhelmed if I use any other technique - lol.
I struggle so much with keeping notebooks. I used to be very good about this in high school and college where I could just put little snippets of things as they came to me. Now I feel like each notebook has to be cohesive instead of like a sketchbook of practices. I think I want to start up again with just keeping a tiny notebook with me for random writings. I have a bullet journal for work tasks but that feels like a completely separate thing. I'm loving the idea of commonplace books, and I'm thinking of starting a "house journal" for bigger things in our family life that could be shared and passed on, etc.
That being said, I got about 3/4's through a notebook loosely doing the artist's way. I found that I really do get a lot out of basic journaling but still find trouble staying consistent.
It sounds like you are doing well Rachel :) You just aren't giving yourself enough credit. Honestly a notebook does not have to be cohesive. I absolutely love the way you called it a "house journal" - what a cool name. What would be even cooler is if you could get everyone in your house to contribute once in a while to the journal. I think I'm going to try that here - can't talk my husband into doing his own, but maybe this would be a gentle road in. Thanks for the inspiration :)
Let us know if he joins in — my husband is a sketch and drawing journaler, so perhaps your might like a different form? (or if it’s nit his thing at all, more stationery for you 🤩)
I aspire to the focus of just one notebook to rule them all, but I can never manage it. And now, of course, I'm curious which tarot deck you're focusing on in your notebook, if you're ok with sharing?
oooo Claire that is such a beautiful deck. My daughter has that one and I would like it too. What a wonderful idea to have a different journal for a certain deck. Love it.
LOL - I am sort of the opposite. I have been doing "one notebook to rule them all" for the last two years and am now relenting to doing more. I think overall it would be better. Love to know your opinion Caroline. I will share my favourite tarot deck with you and Claire (I have lots - all my daughter's fault) LOLOL - but my favourite one hands down for me has been the Cat Tarot. By Julie Smilie, illustrated by Megan Lynn Kott. Absolutely delightful.
I principally write out all of my rough drafts as well as the finished poems in a series of notebooks. This is so that I can not only see the progression of my thoughts and writing skills but also to leave what was discarded as to be of potential use in future poems.
I’ve found that I don’t always remember to download their final forms and, even when I do, to remember to back up my phone. So for me the written word always predominates (and always in ink).
Oh for me it is definitely the written word. I love seeing the progression of my thoughts too. I just like the tactile feel of pen and paper. For anyone that cares after I'm dead to read all my drivel I'm hoping they find my draft notebooks to be fun (I tend to have conversations with myself in them too) as I draft out backstories at the same time sometimes.
I think it's a reasonable distrust, plus it's so much easier to see the iterations on paper and far too easy to overwrite a previous version electronically. This system sounds ideal for poetry... I have been playing around with trying poetry again, but for some reason it terrifies me more than any other form. Funny how our minds freak us out, isn't it?
I do morning or anytime pages in my notebooks. Lined, hardcover B5 notebooks are my absolute favourite, although I've written in softbound ones too. I am so glad I have found a fellow notebook nerd here 😁😁😁
I love notebooks. Anything I can scribble in and still find later works. When I worked, I used a giant notebook to keep track of every meeting I attended so that I could find notes and goals throughout the year. Now that I'm retired, I have a notebook that includes my "dirty dozen" to-do list for each day. I have not managed to get all twelve done, but I've come close a few times. Then there are writing notebooks with all kinds of insanity in them. Some day, I hope to organize them. Today I started another notebook whose sole purpose will be to keep track of authors and books I want to read. I did this listening to your chat, so thank you for that flash of brilliance. I will also start my own Commonplace journal soon. These are all handwritten.
The only digital notebook I have is actually a spreadsheet with quotes and information from my dissertation resources.
This is all very exciting, Mimi! Dirty Dozen is a great name for to-do lists, although I would probably go with the "dirty half-dozen" as my list, since that's about how many things I get done in a day. Delighted you were inspired to keep a reading and authors notebook and a commonplace book. Keep us posted on how it's coming along. ❤️
I have a daily journal and planner! Plus a writing notebook - one for each project. I only have two notebooks for the two projects, but each one is dedicated!
I record dreams, the phases of the moon, tarot readings, responses to prompts, and a morning pages like type of writing that is never three pages!
I have a separate notebook that is for my Margot project.
I also have a purse notebook. I have this thing since COVID lockdown that I don't want to take my "real" notebook outside the house - like it will get contaminated or something.
I recently started using small 60 page notebooks for making the notes for the workshops I am taking. I also have a separate one for my revision Group I meet with every other week. I found that trying to find the workshop notes when I want to revisit was getting more and more difficult if I kept that material in the main notebook.
One of the projects I started in lockdown was to transcribe notebooks into the computer. That is how I search for things that I might need later. I am terrible at rereading my own notebooks and have tried to mine them for the ideas that are contained in them.
It is a messy system but seems to work for the moment.
I kept a Daily Journal for years. That morphed into an Art Journal which is also a daily journal. Sometimes with what has happened in the day and sometimes just a thought. I do also keep a separate Journal for Tarot work and my writing. Now I have a Commonplace Journal beside me at all times. In 2025 I am making the leap to two different types of journals for the year - a Daily Journal and planner and a separate Journal that will be an Art Journal together with other notes and ideas. My little Commonplace Journal has a permanent home on my desk and I think I may have to look for something a little bigger. ;) lol Thank you for the inspiration.
I love these questions!
I keep a dotted bullet journal as my day planner. It has monthly and weekly spreads, as well as a page each day which consists of my to-do list for the day, 3 gratitudes, and my daily log (what I actually did each day), plus some affirmations.
I keep a lined personal journal where I record my dreams, daily Tarot card draw, astro-weather (mostly tracking the sun and moon phases), plus room for free writing, how I felt each day, interesting synchronicities and things relating to the Tarot card I drew, what was most profound that day, and how I'm releasing old habits (personal growth). I also keep track of books I've finished reading, and sometimes include quotes from them (I'm intrigued by your writings on commonplace books, though).
I have a lined moleskine notebook where I make notes from meetings and workshops, plus flesh out and capture ideas for writings and biz offerings, which I think of as my "learning notebook."
I have a magickal journal which I use less often, where I capture moon ceremonies or seasonal rituals I plan and carry out.
I am so here for all these gorgeous notebooks!
Love it all Nikki - oh my how delightful everything is. Well - I am morphing from the one journal to rule them all to more than one I'm not sure that I'm ready to tackle that many - lol. Well done!!
I used to have too many notebooks, like one for journaling, one for writing ideas and others for a random smattering of courses I take. Now, I combine my ideas/journal (from prompts) into one, and notes from writing courses in one as I figured I'd have a better chance of actually referencing them when I do.
Totally get this tension - I vacillate from one to many all the time. It was laughable how many I had during lockdown - I needed a tote bag to move from
room to room 🤣 I’m curious how this unfolds
for you.
Oh - good luck with that Sarah. You may have seen I'm taking my journey the other way around. - lol Let us know how you do. After doing one for many years I stand like a deer in the headlight looking at almost 50 journals thinking - now where was that? I have indexes of course, and tried a "master" index. That helped a wee bit. But still over the years the "master" index has made its way into three and a half books and gosh golly, it gets tiring even thinking of referencing something and I can always think of something better to do - lolol.
omg haha yes! I find that if I want to go back and flip through notebooks, having so many was what was having me feel so overwhelmed. I am starting morning pages again but might do a separate one for that since I don’t intend on re-reading anything in there.
that’s sensible - I always do morning pages in their own notebook as agreed, they aren’t meant for rereading.
I love this topic. I love having things in their categories so topical journals are perfect for me…if I can maintain them. I am trying using a 6 ring A5 binder with tabs. Then I will have a separate journal for each topic so that I can save and organize the topics. I am a sock knitter, so in addition to a daily journal, a commonplace journal, I want to add socks I’ve made, for whom with a sample of yarn, pictures and a story. A recipe journal for family recipes would be fun too.
What a brilliant idea Sheryl! Oh definitely a recipe journal for family recipes would be fun. I wish all of my ancestors had done that.
Love the sock journal. I have a section of notion for knitting and one for sewing, as I like having a spreadsheet of details on patterns (meterage needed of yarn / fabric, what weight etc) and I like to add pictures, but I definitely see tracking these projects as an excellent notebook idea. I have tried A5 binders as well, since the flexibility of adding pages feels so useful l, but I don’t like how the rings take up page space so it’s never stuck. I am so fussy! 🤣
I have a difficulty with notebooks of any sort. How do I organise tge content, so I can find tgat neat idea or sentence without having to source through each notebook interminably? And how can I avoid soebing more time, I writing and organising my snippets and drafts than I spend actually writing?
I struggle with this a bit too. You can set several pages aside at the front (10+) to keep a detailed index of things you want to reference again. I also go through periodically and add notes in the margins, highlights, symbols, or underlining to really make important things stick out when I flip through the pages later.
Most journals have a space for an Index or Contents at the start and most journals have their pages numbered. I know what you mean Elizabeth - over the years of keeping many notebooks a single idea or sentence can be hard to find because you aren't going to index every little thing. But I think the Commonplace Book is a great idea for that. So right now in mine I have "Quotes" and "Thoughts" and "Ideas". I find these things morph over time to what you need. Might be easier to have a discussion on your thoughts if we understood exactly what you are writing. If you are keeping a notebook for writing a book I use the same process as J.R.R. Tolkein, Neil Gaman and Stephen King. I just keep writing - my margins are big because I put ideas in the margins while I am writing and I don't 'think'. I just feel and let the thoughts flow. In a sense I write the backstory at the same time, but very loosely. If you are just journaling your day or your week you can easily have a section of say 10 pages where you designate for 'thoughts/ideas' and index those 10 pages for that at the front. I don't have any good answers on that one yet - lol!! Still working on it myself - but the Commonplace Book I think is an awesome solution ;) I'll see!
That's really helpful thank you. At the moment, I'm just noting random thoughts, ideas, phrases, cameo incidents or scenes that I come across... but then I a) have no idea where to find them, months later, in the few notebooks have and/ or b) I forget that useful phrase, idea, scene, etc.. altogether
I agree with @Zoie that the little commonplace notebook I’m playing with lately helps me
find things again as the index and the snippets arranged by topic help. I do find I need to have a scratchy place to note things down BEFORE I add them to the commonplace journal, which has been the Readwise app up to now, but I can see this spiraling into many notebooks very easily…
lol - I know right. It's a process figuring out where to go in your journey. I find for Useful phrases, ideas and scenes I use a little notebook, my Commonplace Notebook. They are relatively easy to find then because I have a section for Quotes, a section for Phrases, a Section for Ideas, a section for scenes and a section for thoughts. A silly little Random section too. Even though I have several of these little notebooks - if it is an idea, I just grab a book and look through that section. It works for me. ;)
I do find that when I reread the notebooks I see it through a different lens. Sometimes I take a line or an idea and start a fresh page. I used to have the mindset that I needed to be generating words all the time but now I am trying to take some time to step away and see what is really there. Sometimes I find a thread of a theme that I would not normally see another way than taking that time to sit with my own words.
Exactly. Well done. You are absolutely correct - that is why when one is journaling one reviews if not weekly then monthly and for sure every quarter. You do absolutely get ideas, threads, insights. Reviews are great.
I use notebooks for first drafts and story journals (where I keep all my notes on a book's progress-questions, plot points or arcs that need work, etc.) Composition (or Decomposition) books are my go-to for writing related stuff (I always have a stack on hand) but I am, in the way of our people, a sucker for a cool notebook and those are used for all the things: commonplace books, tarot readings, gardening stuff, courses, story maps, documentation of travels, coaching sessions, recipes. I even keep one for my gaming. #nerd
These are excellent notebook topics. And you are definitely in #nerd land here, especially with me. 🤓
lol I love your hashtag Lorraine! Oh I just bet that your 'cool notebook' is absolutely awesome!
Notebooks used to be the means by which I organized my life—one for each class, one for sermon notes, one for keeping track of quotes, one for pictures of all the places I wanted to go…
Now, they’re unorganized dumping grounds for any and everything—the snippets of thoughts and ideas my brain struggles to hang onto, the important work details, the things I need from Target—and I adore the chaos. I’ll impose structure on almost every other area of my life, but I want to keep my notebooks as a space where my brain can just spill out onto the page without shame or second guessing.
They sound like a joyous place to be! Whatever method feels most delicious is the one to go with, I think.
Thank goodness, I have been reading the comments, feeling that maybe I have got my notebooks all wrong. Then I found your comment and you captured it perfectly. I’m sitting here with two current note books that are exactly as you described, for the same purpose, creating space getting them out of my head. I love their chaos too.
There is definitely no doing it wrong here, Brenda - not to worry! I am always curious about how people use their notebooks (and any other tools) because the variety is so fascinating. Even if no one else in the world used notebooks the same way, if it works for one person, that isn't wrong at all. Glad you've found a kindred notebook spirit, though - always an exciting moment.🥰
Really appreciate this timely topic as someone who is trying to make an organized plan for my notebooks next year!
I currently have a:
Leuchtturm junk journal - this is my pretty, colorful notebook with scrapbooking vibes for memory keeping
Leuchtturm daily journal/writer's notebook - this is my daily deep thoughts/feelings journals with a mix of beautiful words/phrases and critical thinking about what i'm reading so I can improve my writing
The one I'm struggling with is my Archer & Olive bullet journal - I need a place for tasks and productivity, but I'm not an overly busy person and really want to focus on online content creation next year and I'm not sure how to make this work for me yet. So many "online biz" people use digital tools for productivity so it's been hard to get inspo and ideas for a physical planner.
So. many. ideas. I’m going to try yo keep this comment length 😂 You might want to check out Helen Redfern’s youtube channel as she does a TON of lovely walkthroughs of her planning notebooks, which might be good inspo.
I do a modified BJ method that pulls together a bunch of different methods. If people are interested, that could become a post or even a workshop?
Ohhh a workshop would be fabulous! I'm such a journal nerd though and love to geek out on all things journal related 😂 And thank you for the rec, I'll look up that YT channel now!
Also, if you want journal geekery, check out my friend @Susannah Conway's Journal Joy Club -- lots of journal ideas happening there as well.
Great to know! I will put it on the list of potential things to offer.
Check out Helen Colebrook - Journal with Purpose :) She posts freely on You Tube as well. Amy Plans on You Tube. Mike Vardy at Time Crafting Trust for time crafting ;)
I feel you! I had to move my productivity lists to my Google Keep app in my phone with the list and the ability to check it off.
I love the Leuchtturm notebooks. That is the one I am currently writing in during my morning writing time.
I keep meaning to check into Google Keep because I do already use Gmail/Google Calendar pretty heavily so thanks for the reminder!
You can also try Amplenote
what is the advantage of this app over other note apps in your opinion?
Honestly Tammy I have no idea. I suppose one of the biggest pluses is that Amplenote is extremely good at clipping articles and ideas and categorizing them easily.
omg the suspense! Zoie, your comment cut out after “is extremely good at…” and I’m dying to know
the rest of the sentence. It’s like Bedknobs and Broomsticks when Angela Lansbury wanted the second half of the spellbook! 🤣
lololol Caroline you are a hoot! Oh this is going to be such a let down ... lol .... extremely good at ..."clipping articles and ideas and categorizing them easily."
I can see it all now! Clipping and organizing is very helpful indeed
Oh my - well first, you sound as though you are busy. I have a thought for your bullet journal (Archer & Olive I hear is lovely). I am going to direct you to Journal With Purpose (Helen Colebrook). She has enough inspiration for you there to last a lifetime. There are many people on You Tube that do all sorts of bullet journaling as well. I am a physical planner person as well. Another person that I would direct you too for productivity planning is Mike Vardy - Time Crafting. I prefer Paper planning and journaling too :)
Thanks for these ideas -I'm excited to have a look at Helen and Mike, too!
You are welcome. You will love Helen :) Mike is not art journaling, but learning a new way to be productive. I have done it all and time crafting - for me - is the best. I have so many things on my plate I am overwhelmed if I use any other technique - lol.
Thank you so much for the recs! I constantly search on YT and Pinterest but haven't come across Helen or Mike yet so I'll look them up now!
Mike is not on You Tube. Helen is Journal with Purpose and her last name is Helen Colebrook. She has many free videos on You Tube.
I struggle so much with keeping notebooks. I used to be very good about this in high school and college where I could just put little snippets of things as they came to me. Now I feel like each notebook has to be cohesive instead of like a sketchbook of practices. I think I want to start up again with just keeping a tiny notebook with me for random writings. I have a bullet journal for work tasks but that feels like a completely separate thing. I'm loving the idea of commonplace books, and I'm thinking of starting a "house journal" for bigger things in our family life that could be shared and passed on, etc.
That being said, I got about 3/4's through a notebook loosely doing the artist's way. I found that I really do get a lot out of basic journaling but still find trouble staying consistent.
LOVE the house journal idea. And sounds like a looser format one would be fun for you, too. Keep us posted!
It sounds like you are doing well Rachel :) You just aren't giving yourself enough credit. Honestly a notebook does not have to be cohesive. I absolutely love the way you called it a "house journal" - what a cool name. What would be even cooler is if you could get everyone in your house to contribute once in a while to the journal. I think I'm going to try that here - can't talk my husband into doing his own, but maybe this would be a gentle road in. Thanks for the inspiration :)
Let us know if he joins in — my husband is a sketch and drawing journaler, so perhaps your might like a different form? (or if it’s nit his thing at all, more stationery for you 🤩)
Wow - lucky lady. We have a different hobby in common ;) (building - DIY synthesizers)
Even if he offers ideas, I would take that as a win :P
lol - absolutely!!
I'm sticking to one journal at a time although I might do a commonplace book and from time to time a journal dedicated to one tarot deck.
I aspire to the focus of just one notebook to rule them all, but I can never manage it. And now, of course, I'm curious which tarot deck you're focusing on in your notebook, if you're ok with sharing?
Hi Caroline. I plan to do an Oak Ash and Thorn journal. It's very beautiful. Not sure when.
Oooh. Love that deck!!
oooo Claire that is such a beautiful deck. My daughter has that one and I would like it too. What a wonderful idea to have a different journal for a certain deck. Love it.
LOL - I am sort of the opposite. I have been doing "one notebook to rule them all" for the last two years and am now relenting to doing more. I think overall it would be better. Love to know your opinion Caroline. I will share my favourite tarot deck with you and Claire (I have lots - all my daughter's fault) LOLOL - but my favourite one hands down for me has been the Cat Tarot. By Julie Smilie, illustrated by Megan Lynn Kott. Absolutely delightful.
Also - so hard to find that ideal number of notebooks point, isn’t it? Always a balancing act…
Anything with cats in it is a win in my book 😻
I principally write out all of my rough drafts as well as the finished poems in a series of notebooks. This is so that I can not only see the progression of my thoughts and writing skills but also to leave what was discarded as to be of potential use in future poems.
I’ve found that I don’t always remember to download their final forms and, even when I do, to remember to back up my phone. So for me the written word always predominates (and always in ink).
Oh for me it is definitely the written word. I love seeing the progression of my thoughts too. I just like the tactile feel of pen and paper. For anyone that cares after I'm dead to read all my drivel I'm hoping they find my draft notebooks to be fun (I tend to have conversations with myself in them too) as I draft out backstories at the same time sometimes.
My reply above also shows my distrust of keeping poetry electronically. I had written more as you can tell by the unfinished sentence at the end.
I think it's a reasonable distrust, plus it's so much easier to see the iterations on paper and far too easy to overwrite a previous version electronically. This system sounds ideal for poetry... I have been playing around with trying poetry again, but for some reason it terrifies me more than any other form. Funny how our minds freak us out, isn't it?
Lovelyyyy💙💙💙
I do morning or anytime pages in my notebooks. Lined, hardcover B5 notebooks are my absolute favourite, although I've written in softbound ones too. I am so glad I have found a fellow notebook nerd here 😁😁😁
This is nerd central when it comes to paper. Welcome to stationery show and tell!
I love notebooks. Anything I can scribble in and still find later works. When I worked, I used a giant notebook to keep track of every meeting I attended so that I could find notes and goals throughout the year. Now that I'm retired, I have a notebook that includes my "dirty dozen" to-do list for each day. I have not managed to get all twelve done, but I've come close a few times. Then there are writing notebooks with all kinds of insanity in them. Some day, I hope to organize them. Today I started another notebook whose sole purpose will be to keep track of authors and books I want to read. I did this listening to your chat, so thank you for that flash of brilliance. I will also start my own Commonplace journal soon. These are all handwritten.
The only digital notebook I have is actually a spreadsheet with quotes and information from my dissertation resources.
Great conversation!
This is all very exciting, Mimi! Dirty Dozen is a great name for to-do lists, although I would probably go with the "dirty half-dozen" as my list, since that's about how many things I get done in a day. Delighted you were inspired to keep a reading and authors notebook and a commonplace book. Keep us posted on how it's coming along. ❤️
Will do. As a dean, I kept a "Hard 60" list of daily tasks. I only achieved all sixty once, and it was very exciting.
I have a daily journal and planner! Plus a writing notebook - one for each project. I only have two notebooks for the two projects, but each one is dedicated!
Awesome
I record dreams, the phases of the moon, tarot readings, responses to prompts, and a morning pages like type of writing that is never three pages!
I have a separate notebook that is for my Margot project.
I also have a purse notebook. I have this thing since COVID lockdown that I don't want to take my "real" notebook outside the house - like it will get contaminated or something.
I recently started using small 60 page notebooks for making the notes for the workshops I am taking. I also have a separate one for my revision Group I meet with every other week. I found that trying to find the workshop notes when I want to revisit was getting more and more difficult if I kept that material in the main notebook.
One of the projects I started in lockdown was to transcribe notebooks into the computer. That is how I search for things that I might need later. I am terrible at rereading my own notebooks and have tried to mine them for the ideas that are contained in them.
It is a messy system but seems to work for the moment.
I kept a Daily Journal for years. That morphed into an Art Journal which is also a daily journal. Sometimes with what has happened in the day and sometimes just a thought. I do also keep a separate Journal for Tarot work and my writing. Now I have a Commonplace Journal beside me at all times. In 2025 I am making the leap to two different types of journals for the year - a Daily Journal and planner and a separate Journal that will be an Art Journal together with other notes and ideas. My little Commonplace Journal has a permanent home on my desk and I think I may have to look for something a little bigger. ;) lol Thank you for the inspiration.