Back in December 2008, I wrote a post called Finishing a Notebook. At the time, this still felt rather significant as an accomplishment. My notebook usage before the early 2000s was often very fickle– I’d start one, decide I wanted to try something else, then maybe go back to something I’d tried before, then move … Continue reading Unfinished Notebooks
I shared this article on Instagram recently, but wanted to write more about it here. Don’t Keep a Diary. Embrace the Fragments of Real Life Instead. The author Daniel Poppick talks about how diaries are often kept in a way that can sound a bit stilted or self-conscious: I’ve never consistently kept a diary. On … Continue reading Keeping a Notebook vs. Keeping a Diary
Louise Carmen notebooks were featured in the New York Times recently. The article is dated Jan. 16, 2026, so I expected to see it in the print edition’s Sunday Styles section, but as of this writing, it seems to have appeared online only: A New Coveted French Accessory The article talks about the brand’s social … Continue reading Louise Carmen Notebooks in the NY Times
Orhan Pamuk’s Memories of Distant Mountains was published last year. I bought a copy right away but it’s taken me a while to review it! I wrote about Pamuk once before, quoting a passage from one of his books where he talks about his grandmother keeping notebooks that she wrote in every day. He must … Continue reading Orhan Pamuk’s Notebooks
Here’s another question from a reader who needs help finding a specific type of notebook: I’m looking for a pocket-sized daily planner (that’s NOT Moleskine). Something that has a full page for each day, not a planner that has a week layout on two pages. There are a thousand of those and I use them … Continue reading Reader Question: Seeking A Pocket Sized Daily Planner That Isn’t a Moleskine
Sometimes it seems like there are so many systems and methods for using notebooks– Bullet Journaling is the most famous, I suppose. And then there is GTD, though that doesn’t have to be notebook-based. I also saw a link recently to the “Life at a Glance System” of journaling (via The Pen Addict). Some of … Continue reading Zero-Effort Journaling©
What are the rules around selling and collecting old notebooks that belonged to other people? I’ve recently been wondering about this after seeing certain items for sale on various sites, including a diary with very intimate thoughts and full names included. Nothing was blurred out in the listing, so I was able to google the … Continue reading Vintage Journal Ethics
It’s been ages since I updated my “using now” photo, and while some things have stayed the same, there have been some changes along the way. I’m still using my Nolty Gold diary/planner to log exercise, meals, to-do lists, and grocery lists, as well as noting appointments and keeping track of habits. More details here: … Continue reading Notebooks I’m Using Now: Summer 2025
In Roland Allen’s The Notebook: A History of Thinking on Paper, there’s a mention of how Socrates disapproved of writing things down because he thought it would ruin people’s ability to memorize things. At least I think there something about it in that book… but I can’t find either “Socrates” or “memory” in the index, … Continue reading Do Notebooks Destroy Memorization Skills?
A few months ago, I wrote about my latest work notebook, a vintage Filofax. It’s working so well for me that I wish I had bought a Filofax in this size years ago to use for this purpose. I can’t help regretting all those wasted decades of using random office supply closet notebooks (as well … Continue reading How to Use a Notebook When Your Life Isn’t Busy
