Notebooks, Journals, and Commonplace Books
I know what I was thinking in September 2010.
Facebook memories you say? You’d be right, but only half right and I’ll get right to my point:
You need to use both digital and analog means to regularly write down what you are thinking in some way, shape, or form.
It was in fact a Facebook memory in my feed this morning that reminded me of something I thought about on a particular day September 2010. It was convenient to have that reminder, but it was interesting that I did not include much detail in my FB status post and I wondered immediately what I was dealing with, thinking about, etc. at the time. What was the back story to that short status update that I shared with my world that day in September 2010?
Then it dawned on me that I had started the regular habit of keeping an analog journal around that time and I pulled out the notebook for that date only to find that my first entry in my first journal was just days after that FB status. So I may never remember or know exactly what it was that prompted that FB status update, but it was close enough to recall some of the context and can fill in the blanks.
The point I’m trying to make is the great value of the habit of keeping a journal or common place book (more on that later). In particular the power of staying analog and simply layering digital on top of an already common and historically well supported habit.
Keep a notebook. Travel with it, eat with it, sleep with it. Slap into it every stray thought that flutters up in your brain. Cheap paper is less perishable than gray matter, and lead pencil markings endure longer than memory.
— Jack London
In the future, I’ll write more on my own digital and analog system that utilizes physical notebooks and Evernote as a hybrid Analog-Journal-Commonplace-Book-Digital-Filing-Cabinet.
Resources: Below are some articles and resources on this for future reading and digestion. I use the term digestion partly because of this quote I just added to my journal/commonplace book yesterday:
Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed an some few to be chewed & digested. — Francis Bacon
Guess what?
Many are tasting, swallowing, chewing and digesting from Bacon and myriad others in part because they were in the habit of regularly writing down what they were thinking in some way shape or form.
- https://www.whatsbestnext.com/toolkit/supporting-systems-journals-files-contacts-workspace-and-more-an-online-chapter-for-whats-best-next/
- http://fourhourworkweek.com/2015/01/15/morning-pages/
- http://thoughtcatalog.com/ryan-holiday/2013/08/how-and-why-to-keep-a-commonplace-book/
- http://amongstlovelythings.com/what-i-keep-in-my-commonplace-book/
- http://www.npr.org/2015/05/27/408794237/in-a-digital-chapter-paper-notebooks-are-as-relevant-as-ever
- http://www.theworkologist.com/blog/digital-analog
- https://blog.todoist.com/2016/02/09/pen-and-paper-productivity/
- http://bulletjournal.com/
- https://criticalmargins.com/the-commonplace-book-as-a-thinkers-journal-4d65231f30ec
- https://medium.com/@WannabePolymath/want-to-thrive-in-life-start-a-journal-2538a537f20f
- https://criticalmargins.com/strategies-to-keep-a-commonplace-book-f5652fd8eef5
The notebooks I use:
For general notes related to work / business, I use the Extra Large 7.5 x 10in “Cahier Journal Squared”. Usually get them on Amazon or in Barnes & Noble if I run out too soon. I usually pay around $15 for the set of 3. Retail for set of 3 is around $20. I’ve also used the 5 x 8in (Large) but find them to be too small and just learned there is also an XXL 8.5 / 11 size, but I can’t find them on Amazon. Below is Moleskine/s online store (easier to navigate and find what’s available than their actual website last I checked):
