One perfect notebook to rule them all
I love a good notebook, and even though I spent over 30 years working in IT, there was always something about the feel of paper and pen. The act of writing words by hand is soothing and has helped me hugely over many years, but it has to be the right notebook and the right pen.
My pen must be good quality, not a cheap biro, even though I have collected many good quality pens from conferences over the years. Some I consider favourites, and when the cartridge runs out, instead of throwing them away, I head for the nearest stationery shop to replace them. I’ve also had lots of favourite notebooks; at the moment I love Moleskine – the weight of paper means there’s little bleed-through from one side to the other, and the paper has a soft touch that is gentle on the hand.
But one thing I never conquered with any number of notebooks or pens was finding the one containing the note I was certain I had written down somewhere. I was always flicking through one notebook and the next, thumbing through the pages hoping the right word would jump off the page telling me I had found the right place. And, many times I didn’t have a notebook with me so ended up resorting to scraps of paper begged and borrowed to get the ideas down.
As an IT consultant, it was suggested I use an app. And I did try it, but it never really worked for me because I’m not an app sort of person. Ticking off my to-do list with a mouse never gave me the same sense of satisfaction as marking it ‘done’ with my favourite pink pen.
In the early 2010’s I came across the idea of printables, ready-prepared sheets that meant I could do anything within just one folder. I played around with the idea for a few weeks, I even created a few of my own before abandoning it as unworkable. It’s not the idea that didn’t work, it was the practicality of it as there was never quite the right information or space. I constantly wanted to adjust and adapt because I needed something endlessly customisable, rather than fixed in print. Of course, I wasted a huge amount of paper trying to print out pages that would fit my A5 Filofax.
Finally, a book caught my eye, The Bullet Journal Method. It was on offer, and although I hovered briefly, wondering if I should pick it up, I was time-strapped and didn’t. But the cover had attracted me, black with what looked like silver stars and I had a feeling it might hold the germ of a solution to my notebook problems.
Several days later as the slush pile of scraps, notes, and to-dos was once again piling up on my desk, I recalled the book and thought ‘Why not, if it’s no good at least I’ll have learned something.’ I placed the order and it duly arrived a couple of days later. Whilst waiting for it I was impatient to go out and buy a new notebook to celebrate, I’m so glad I didn’t. Devouring the first part meant I could mentally work out if this technique would work, and I was captivated by the idea of something so seemingly simple, having such a profound effect.
I’m often considered a bit of a butterfly in my family, they find it amusing that I’m into and out of different interests so fast they hardly get to blink. My hobbies are varied, as is my work, and I do flit about from one thing to another, so even I was sceptical that this might be useful. Instead of buying my preferred, expensive notebooks, I picked up a cheap one locally, if I didn’t use it I reasoned, at least I hadn’t wasted too much money. Equally, I wasn’t sure if the dotted rather than lined pages would be workable, after all, I’m a writer, at least that’s what I tell myself! And yet, in the years since I began using them I have found they enable a level of creativity I’d never allow myself on a conventional page.
Eight years on, I have a bookshelf or two of completed journals in my study. The current notebook never leaves my side, it’s my constant companion throughout the day serving a multitude of functions, although it has evolved over the years. Most importantly, I never have a problem finding exactly what I’m looking for because I create and index as I go along. Every page is numbered and noted. I can track forwards and backwards from one journal to another, and I don’t need to designate a set number of pages for this project or that plan, I simply use the next page adding a note to the index as necessary. In a way, it functions rather like the commonplace book so beloved by John Locke who wrote a treatise on them in 1685.
It’s such a brilliantly simple idea I wonder why I never realised that was the point! Perhaps I just wasn’t ready for it.
And it’s life-changing too!
I spent many years berating myself for being lazy, not getting enough done, and wasting time. My journal however shows me the opposite and it’s been inspirational to realise just how much I do accomplish on a day-by-day, week-by-week, month-by-month and year-by-year basis.
If like me, you’ve been looking for the one perfect notebook to rule them all, perhaps I could suggest a bullet journal. It just works!
(Image by Pexels from Pixabay)
