I thought I’d share what has become my ritual for setting up a new notebook. My new notebooks don’t always coincide with the New Year, but this year, I started a new daily journal just a few days before January 1, so close enough!
For a new daily journal, which is usually a pocket-size hardcover squared Moleskine, after I unwrap it, I tuck the bellyband and the Moleskine history into the back pocket. For many years, I just threw these out, but I’ve been saving them so that I can someday do a comparison on this blog, tracing the way the design and wording of Moleskine’s branding has evolved over the years.
The next step is to pull out the ribbon marker and coat the tip with nailpolish. This keeps the end from getting frayed.
Then I write my name, phone number and email address on the front inside cover. I also write the date I start using the notebook.
I also flex the spine a bit. I try to make sure it is folding inwards so that the corners of the spine won’t tear.
Sometimes I also go through the notebook and number all the pages, but I haven’t done this in my last few notebooks. It is a bit time-consuming, and I haven’t found myself actually using the page numbers actively.
That’s basically it! I like to keep things simple.
For 2018 and 2019, I’ve also been starting a new planner for the calendar year. 2018 was my first year using a Nolty diary, and for 2019, I’m using the Nolty Gold.
There is also a little set-up involved with these, but not much: I write my name and contact info in the front, write in any already scheduled events on the appropriate dates, and carry over unfinished tasks from my to-do list, which I revise each week. I stick a few post-its and colored flags in the front, and a $20 bill in the back.
I keep a list of important phone numbers for close friends and family in the back, in case I lose my phone. I also keep several long-term lists (books, movies, blogging tasks, etc.). In the 2018 Nolty, I used the note pages in the back of the main diary booklet for these lists, but for 2019, I put them in one of the supplemental notebooks that tuck in the back cover. This way, I’ll be able to transfer the whole booklet to next year’s diary rather than rewriting all those lists.
What’s your new notebook set-up routine?
I’m curious about the$20? Emergency cab fare/gas/lunch money? I used to do this in a pocket of my bag separate from my wallet, but I stopped doing it a while back because I never had need for it. But maybe I should resume that habit, now that I hardly carry any cash at all….
My only notebook (Field Notes) setup is to paste in a label with my name/contact info into the inside front cover (where it says “In the event of misplacement…”). I print a whole sheet of labels at a time and use them liberally on anything I want returned to me, like books I lend.
I use the Franklin Planner system. This year for my birthday, the wife got me a new binder to use and I started with the new year. I also went from their 2 page/day format to the 1 page/day format just to make it easier to handle. I still have my sticky notes, and assorted office supplies in a plastic pouch, as well as a cheap note pad that I have prepunched holes in for adding to the planner as things happen.
Other than that, my new year ritual is to read the entire planner for the previous year. And oh what a year 2018 was! And 2019 is setting up to be one helluva ride too.
Tina– the $20 became a habit years ago, a “just in case” thing. I’ve never had to actually use it either, but I’m always thinking it could come in handy if I lost my wallet or was mugged or something…
John, I love your ritual of reading the entire previous year’s planner. I go back to old journals from time to time but I like the idea of being more methodical about it.
I keep $12 in the back of my planner (Hobonichi Weeks). The $2 is for bus fare, and I use it all the time when I run out of change elsewhere. I’ve used the $10 occasionally, when I’m out of cash and not near an ATM.
I keep a $20 bill in the concealed pocket of my Tilley hat. It also has a label sewn into the hat in case the hat is misplaced. A Tilley hat is a wonderful investment that lasts for decades.
https://www.tilley.com/collections/hats/men