One Notebook or Many? Part 1: The case for one notebook

One book is cooler. A volume covering all of ones life, being read by descendants long after my death, like the journals of Leonardo da Vinci, makes a nice day dream.

It’s fun to read through a diverse journal with sketches and notes on all kinds of things. Paging through an old journal and coming across doodles my daughter made is a treat. Sketches of things I was planning to build or of other things reminds me of the diversity of my life, which is often handy when I’ve become too focused on one narrow aspect….

One Notebook or Many? Part 2: The case for many notebooks.

A single subject notebook increases focus. When I’m writing in a single subject notebook, I feel a discipline to focus on that subject. It’s a reminder of what I’m doing, and there’s no risk that while I’m paging through old entries I’ll end up on some trip down memory lane. Instead, paging through the book reminds me of other aspects of the subject, helps the focus, and can even help with writer’s block…

One Notebook or Many? Part 3: The case for loose sheets

Blank sheets are versatile and adaptable. Since it’s not part of a book, it doesn’t have a dedicated purpose. The paper can be used for anything – I can write a letter, leave a note, give it to my daughters to draw on, or fold it into an airplane. This is especially useful when traveling, because it means I carry less…

One Notebook or Many? Part 4: What’s been working for me

Separate book vs. in the journal. I’ve found that unless the new book has a very strong purpose (like the NumberQuotes notebook) or has a specific place in my life and routine (weekly planner), it’s at risk of being abandoned. The food journal hasn’t quite become a reliable partner yet, but the birds book has. The weekly planner has become very important, and I record some things there that could be in my journal. Despite many attempts to find an electronic replacement for my weight records, pen and paper have proven to be the best and most reliable.

If the work has a lot of structure, and clear boundaries, a separate book seems to work best. If the work is somewhat amorphous, a separate book just doesn’t feel right. For example, I just used the large Leuchtturm1917 Jottbook I received to start a web-focused notebook, only ideas and thoughts related to my various websites that don’t have books of their own, or for ideas (like selling ad space) that are common to all sites. That lasted a short while before the book become refocused on this blog. So far, it’s been earning its keep.

So many things in these posts resonated for me. I’ve tried various approaches, and like Steve have ended up with a hybrid solution: one main notebook for most things, plus a few satellite notebooks for specific topics or uses that require a different format. But the other solution that I was surprised Steve didn’t mention was to use a Filofax or similar binder– you can incorporate different page formats, devote a few pages in a section to different topics, and carry over pages you want to keep for reference while filing away others. I used small looseleaf notebooks for years and loved them… but then electronic devices replaced the calendar and address book sections of those notebooks… and for what was left, a stack of bound journals did just seem cooler than a box full of rubber-banded looseleaf pages. But I keep feeling like I should give it a try again.

How about you? One or many? Join in the discussion here or at Recording Thoughts.

Cesar– comment #120

Brian Tacik– comment #109

Thanks for all the wonderful comments, everyone!

The deadline to enter is Friday Dec. 30. Good luck everyone!

Pocket Dept is a line of handy notebooks inspired by vintage stationary and designed to suit every pocket. Each Pocket Dept book is made from the finest writing papers and perfect bound for strength and durability. Designed and manufactured with recycled materials by Art House Co-op in Brooklyn, NY – from our workshop to your pocket.

I first spotted Pocket Dept notebooks at the BookExpo convention back in May, and I was immediately smitten. The colors and design are lovely, with the feel of a vintage notebook that might have faded a bit with age. But is their beauty more than skin-deep? (or cover-deep) Let’s take a look at some samples the company sent me to find out…

Here’s the 3 samples I got:

Aren’t those colors fantastic? The sizes shown above are their “Messenger Bag Pocket” size, which is 5.5 x 8.5″, and the 3.5 x 5.5″ “Shirt Pocket” model. They also offer a 6×6″ “Backpack Pocket,” a 4 x 4″ “Back Pocket,” and a 3.5 x 6″ “Front Pocket.” This last, to me, seemed a curious choice– why offer two sizes that differ by only a half inch in height? As far as I can tell, there is no other difference. I guess the 3.5 x 6″ size is becoming more popular– it’s used by Leuchtturm and other brands, particularly German ones, it seems. Perhaps some people are just as passionately in favor of the taller page size as I am passionately against it!

But back to my samples…

The covers have a letterpress printed box with the brand name and a space for your name, the date, and a place. The typography also has a vintage look to it. I do tend to prefer notebooks that proclaim their branding more subtly, but the design is attractive. You’ll also notice that one of the notebooks is in French, which I love. On the back cover, there’s another box with information about the brand and the slogan “a notebook for your pocket.”

The edges are nicely trimmed, with square corners. Everything was nice and square and lined up properly– good attention to quality and detail. The spine is also squared off as they are perfect bound, with the pages glued in rather than sewn in signatures. I’ve pictured the Pocket Dept notebook with a pocket hardcover Moleskine for size comparison, but the Moleskine Volant would be a closer equivalent.

But the binding ended up being my main beef with this notebook. The cover is glued in beyond the edge of the notebook, so to open it, you have to crease the front cover, thereby spoiling its appearance a bit. The spine is pretty tightly glued, so the notebook doesn’t open flat.

The paper inside is slightly greyish– it reminded me of the paper in the Leonardo notebook I reviewed. I wasn’t expecting it to be especially smooth, but it actually feels great to write on and performed well with all my usual pens. Showthrough and bleed-through were less than average. Unlined paper seems to be the only option. None of the pages are perforated.

Each of the notebooks has 35 sheets/ 70 pages, so they are slim and certainly live up to their name of being easy to slide into a pocket. But at prices of $8-12 each depending on size, they’re pretty expensive– you won’t have to worry about your money competing for space in those pockets if you buy a lot of these! I am willing to pay a little more for a well-made notebook, especially one like this where I know I’m supporting a small local business, but that price makes me say ouch. It’s a shame, because I’d buy one as a gift for a notebook lover, but I wouldn’t buy dozens for myself to go through as the kind of everyday jotter notebook that they seem to want them to be.

So, bottom line, the pros are the beautiful design, variety of colors and sizes, and the paper. The cons are the binding that doesn’t allow the notebook to lie flat, and the price. I wish I could give these more of a whole-hearted rave, but I hope the company will come out with other products. I’d personally love to see a hardcover notebook with the same paper and the exterior in these great colors. (In 3.5 x 5.5″, please!)

You can buy Pocket Dept notebooks in a few stores around the US, as well as online from their website. But you can also try your hand at winning one. I’ll be selecting 2 lucky winners to receive some of my samples, from entries received as follows:

On Twitter, tweet something containing “Pocket Dept” and follow “@pocketdept” and “@NotebookStories.”

On Facebook, “like” the  Notebook Stories page and the Pocket Dept page, and post something containing the words “Pocket Dept” on my wall.

On your blog, post something containing the words “Pocket Dept” and “NotebookStories” and link back to this post.

The deadline for entry is Friday Dec. 9 at 11:59PM, EST. Good luck everyone!

Enjoy the holiday!

But the folks at Letts decided to do something different with this new line– the pocket notebooks are 86 x 116 mm. I chose a red top-opening model, just for something different.

The exterior is a lovely cloth binding, something I’ve grown to appreciate more and more while using the HandBook journals. Cloth just has a nice soft feel to it. And I love this dark shade of red– the red Moleskines are so bright and almost orangey in comparison. The Noteletts logo is subtly stamped on the back cover.

There are the usual features: an elastic closure and a back pocket. You also get a ribbon marker, which Moleskine does not put in their reporter-style top-opening notebooks. It’s actually a little awkward to have a ribbon marker in a top-opening notebook– gravity will tend to make you lose your place. There’s also a lot of extra length to this ribbon, though I suppose you could just cut it off if you want.

Inside the notebook, the end-papers are a reddish-pink shade. Kind of an odd choice, but not unpleasant. There’s a little title page that reminds you that Noteletts are “The Universal Notebook: a stylish and functional notebook with helpful pages of international information.” Then you get a page with various fields for your personal information, including an “in case of emergency” contact.

The notebook pages themselves are blank, with a space for a date at the top and the Noteletts logo in the bottom corner. None are perforated.

In the back, you get a “planner” page with a few lines for each month– not sure how useful that would really be in practice. Then 4 pages of international information: dialing codes, populations of countries, and metric/imperial weight, measures and temperature conversions. I think it’s cool to have info pages like this in notebooks– why should they only be in date books? But this is kind of a slim implementation of it. Why populations and not something else more practical? I think Arwey does a better job with the info pages, which include a world map.

As for pen performance, the paper does feel nice and smooth to write on, but wetter pens may feather a wee bit, and the paper is thin enough that there’s a fair amount of show-through and some pens bled more than usual. The paper is acid-free.

I paid $10.50 for this notebook at Art Brown. Compared to other brands out there, this seems a bit high given the smaller page size, but not totally outrageous– the cloth binding and other details make it feel like a good-quality product, even if the thin paper doesn’t stand up well to all pens. And for those who like to keep their notebooks in a pocket, the smaller size may be a big plus.

Other sizes and colors and paper styles are available. Unfortunately, only the large and medium sizes seem to have a choice of paper styles– blank, lined or squared. The small flip notebook is blank paper only, and the small side opening only offers ruled paper. Other colors are light blue, a lovely green, lavender and black.

If you can’t find these in your local stationery shop, you can order them at Amazon.

You MUST read the rest of the post at Blueline Notebooks: a Love Story — Journaling Saves– lots of great comments about her journaling habits and why she uses Blueline in particular.

That is some seriously secure storage for notebooks! Love it! (especially since he made this out of an electrical box instead of buying a more expensive safe.)
Read more at Memo’s moleskine system.

Read more at Plannerisms: Moleskine Month Tabs Hack.

I collect blank books. When I discovered that Jimmy Buffett has a trunk full of blank books he’s collected over the years which are still, well, blank, I realized my dirty little secret wasn’t quite as shameful as I thought.

Isn’t it funny how comforting it is to find just one person out of the billions on our planet who exhibits your own particular brand of obsession? Knowing I was not alone gave me permission to buy even more blank books. Really, you just never know when you might need one.

Read more at Questioning my Intelligence: Trial by Blank Book.