Brilliant Ways to Use a Blank Notebook

I’ve been a pen and paper aficionado for as long as I can remember. When I was in grade school and high school, I was always looking for the perfect pen and the perfect notebook. Even when I didn’t need as much notebooks in college (I was a programmer), I made sure that I still had the right writing materials.

During the pre-bullet journal era (before 2013), I’ve kept annual planners and a series of Moleskine Film Journals (they don’t make these anymore). I wrote quite a lot compared to the average person in my age group but not as much as I do now.

When I started bullet journaling, that’s when I really got into pen and paper (actually, stationery in general). I was more aware of the paper quality of notebooks and the quality of pens and how they write because these are tools that I use every day for bullet journaling. I only kept one notebook for all because that was one of the goals of bullet journaling – keeping everything in one notebook.

How I Use Blank Notebooks

I always stuck with the Leuchtturm1917 because I only needed one notebook for all. Since I’ve started getting into the fountain pen hobby, I expressed more interest in writing and paper products. I have a stack of notebooks on my desk and is a far cry from my one-notebook-only perspective circa 2017. Currently, I have at least 4 active notebooks (and notepads) each designated to a specific purpose. You might be wondering – how can I possibly keep up with that on a daily basis? I’ll get to that in a bit but for now, I want to share my notebook collection and the purpose of each.

• Bullet Journal – Leuchtturm1917 A5 Dotted (previously Rhodia Goalbook). My bullet journal is my primary notebook. It’s my planner, my diary, my notebook, my idea pad.

• Morning Pages – Elia Note A5 Dotted (previously Leuchtturm1917 A5 Dotted). I started writing 3 pages of streams of consciousness in a notebook last March 2019 and have been doing that since. I use the Elia Note because it uses Tomoe River paper (the best fountain pen paper, imo)

• Ink Journal – Midori MD Light Notebook (previously Rhodia Sewn-Spine A5 Dotted). I have quite a number of fountain pen inks on my shelf and decided that it would be nice to log the inks that I have – both ink bottles and ink samples. This gives me a clear idea of the ink and its properties.

• Memory keeping and #rockyourhandwriting prompts – Hobonichi Techo A6. I purchased the Hobonichi Techo on a whim. This notebook is adorable and customizable – I love the size and how thin it was! I enjoyed writing in it that I almost replaced my bullet journal with it. Now I use the Hobonichi as a place where I can write about my day (my P.M. reflections) and maybe add some movie tickets, plane tickets, or Instax photos in it soon.

• Ink reviews, handwriting practice – Rhodia Dot Pad. I keep a notepad handy because these are the pages that I can tear off. The Rhodia Dot Pad has perforated edges so that it would be easier to take a piece of paper off the binding. I like this paper because it’s fountain-pen friendly and it’s white (not the usual cream).

How I Keep Up With Writing in My Notebooks

The notebooks that I have in rotation are quite a lot. The two notebooks that are used daily are the Leuchtturm and the Elia Note. The notebooks that I actively have aren’t high maintenance. I keep my bullet journal updated as long as I can, I’ve already injected morning pages in my daily routine, I don’t find the need to write in the Hobonichi every night, and with the ink journal, I try to update it if and only if I have time to do so.

I think I’ve been doing okay with the number of notebooks and journals that I maintain. It helps that I’m a creature of habit and also that writing on paper is a hobby of mine (I literally blog about writing on paper every other day).

I don’t take all of these notebooks with me when I go on vacation or a short trip. I only take my Leuchtturm and a spare Midori MD Light for morning pages.

More Things To Do With Blank Notebooks

I know one of the “sickness” that stationery lovers have is that we can’t help buying more notebooks. Sometimes, we have more blank notebooks than things to write!

Aside from the ideas listed above, here are more ideas for your blank notebooks.

1. School notes (writing things down can help with memory retention)
2. Quick meeting notes
3. Notebook that you can leave in your workplace
4. Pen/highlighter/marker test
5. Your kids doodles
6. Your own doodles
7. Notes from books you’ve read
8. Passwords and accounts (but try to do a bit of manual encrypting – keep your information safe!)
9. Gratitude log
10. A diary
11. One Line A Day
12. Project journal
13. Dream journal
14. Film journal
15. Calligraphy or hand lettering practice
16. NaNoWriMo
17. Fitness log
18. Travel journal
19. Idea journal
20. Recipe journal

Use Your Notebooks

I know some of us have notebooks that are too pretty to use. I get it. I’ve seen the themed collectors item Moleskines. I never owned one but I still want them. Right now, I don’t have any reason to buy any of these notebooks (except to keep them on display) but if I did, I would absolutely use it. It doesn’t matter what you write in there; it’s YOUR notebook. You don’t have to write things that are “worth writing” about on a special notebook. If you’re not just a collector of themed-notebooks, go grab one and put it to good use!