I was in my mid 30s before I realised how a notebook feels had a massive impact on my use of it. Prior to this, I tried to make it a practical, intellectual exercise and many notebooks ended up gathering dust rather that being used. This changed when I finally let my heart join the conversation.
My first discovery was that I disliked having one notebook for everything. My brain just likes to have a notebook for each major purpose or project in my life. I do have a general notebook for one off purposes. But if something will take multiple pages over a longer period than just that day, it will get its own notebook of some kind.
The second discovery for me was about how important size is. I knew I enjoyed larger notebooks such as A4, but didn’t realise how much it influenced my use of a notebook. For a long time, I had a stack of A5 notebooks that I did not use often. I eventually worked out that the A5 felt cramped for me. I tried out a B5 notebook and went from rarely using my notebooks to filling several pages in a few days. I was looking for excuses to write more. Now, I use mostly a mix of B5 and A4+ notebooks depending on the purpose. Though I do still have a couple of A5 notebooks for my daily journal and on the go notebook as well as an A6 notebook that fits in my pocket for quick notes on the fly. I also recently acquired an B6+ notebook I am going to try using for certain reference material when out of the house.
More recently, I discovered that the thickness of the notebook also matters a lot. I like to have all my daily journal entries for a year in one book. For the past few years, this was done in a Hobonichi Cousin. This has changed starting this month as I have swapped to an A5 Leuchtturm1917 notebook with 411 pages. I figured multiple pages a day would be wonderful as the Hobonichi felt limited for my daily journaling. I have found that the 411 pages makes the notebook too thick and I do not enjoy holding or using it much. I will continue to use it for now but I may end up changing course. Next year however, I am planning on having one notebook per season. It may not be the whole year but a season is still a block of time that is satisfying to me and feels nicely contained and not chaotic.
The third major discovery for me was how much I love a plain layout. Prior to this, I used to use lined notebooks almost exclusively. I would throw in a grid (not dot grid) notebook occasionally when it felt more appropriate but everything else was lined. I knew I loathed dot grid and plain notebooks felt very intimidating as there was nothing to help guide my utterly atrocious handwriting.
However, after reading an article I decided to try a plain notebook again for the first time since childhood. The difference it made to my experience was mind blowing! Do I write neatly? no. Do I care? no! Now my old favourite lined paper irritates me. I just wish the lines would get out of my way. Plain paper is just so freeing to me!
The next revelation was a two-for-one for me. I had a mix of traveler’s notebooks (TNs) and bound notebooks. I already knew rings and disks were not for me. I did not ever move a page around and the rings and disks just got in the way of writing. I also knew I disliked spiral bound notebooks for this reason as well. Yes, they lay flat which many people prize but for me, this isn’t all that important.
But I was not using my TNs as I thought I would. It took a while but I found that while I liked the leather, I absolutely hated the soft cover nature of the inserts. I like hard cover notebooks. As soon as I acquired a hard cover A6 pocket notebook, I used my pocket notebook much more frequently than I did my passport TN.
I still use leather notebook covers, but I just make sure I use ones that fit the sizes of hard cover notebooks I use. So far, I use covers for my pocket notebook, daily journal and A5 general notebook.
The penultimate discovery came courtesy of my daily journal. The Hobonichi Cousin uses Tomoe River Paper that is thin and fountain pen friendly. It is loved by many people around the world and used in a lot of high quality Japanese planners and notebooks. I do not like it. To me, it feels cheap and flimsy even though this is not the case. I much prefer thicker paper. Thicker paper feels more substantial and that I am giving my writing and thoughts the love they deserve.
Finally, and somewhat related, was a discovery made due to a devil may care attitude and a seemingly frivolous addition to a notebook. When I ordered my first B5 notebook, I had it personalised with gold foil debossing on the cover. Was there a practical reason I did this? No. Was it a bit pricy? Yes. Do I regret it? Absolutely not! It made a major difference to how I felt about the notebook.
This notebook was mine. It could never be mistaken for someone elses. My name was on it. It was a home for my writing not just any old place to scribble. It felt much more special to me than other notebooks of the same brand, size and configuration that doesn’t have any personalisation. This feels like it gives my writing that final touch of love and attention.
So think about your notebooks. How do they make you feel? Don’t just think about the practicalities but think about the physical sensations and emotional feelings associated with your notebooks. Do you actually want to pick them up and use them or are they gathering dust like mine used to? If you are unhappy with them, try and find out why. Do you feel too scattered between many notebooks or cramped trying to use one? Do you feel claustrophobic in a B6 or intimidated by an A4?
Ignore sunk costs! You will not gain anything by not buying something that will work better for you until you finish the notebooks you have if you won’t ever pick them up! They may as well not exist if you aren’t using them. Do yourself a favour and walk away from a bad situation.
I hope you love your notebooks as much as I love mine and if you don’t, that you show yourself some love and get a notebook or notebooks that make you happy and that you enjoy using!
Leave a Reply