On Keeping A Notebook | Thinking about 2023

Happy Monday! It’s been a long time since I’ve shared a picture of my notebook. In fact, I don’t think I’ve shared this year’s notebook at all despite it being a regular Monday feature for a very long time. Today I’m thinking about 2023 and what makes sense for my notebook-loving heart. Won’t you join me?

I’ve been quietly using this Moleskine weekly planner since April. It fits inside my Chic Sparrow notebook perfectly, has room for whatever I’m working on each day, and has a blank page for notes and lists each week. It’s working — mostly. I still wish I had more blank space to write in because I also use this as a commonplace book to jot down ideas for blogging or other writing, future recipes, and little things that catch my attention or spark my interest. The result is: chaos. I haven’t decided if that’s okay or not.

Just a couple of things swirling in my brain and looking for a place to land:

✍🏼 I am still thinking about Zettelkasten, a system for writing and organizing notes. I wrote this post in October 2020 and have been thinking about how to implement some sort of system since then.

🎧 Emily P. Freeman’s episode about how to collect quotes from March. I love her systems but I’m not sure that I could keep up with FOUR of them.

There are two reasons this is bubbling up again for me:

💻 I’ve had the itch to do more non-blog writing. I’ve had at least a thousand ideas since writing my Zettelkasten post in October 2020, but all of those have blown away with the sands of time. I can’t think of a single thing that I’d like to tackle in this moment.

📓 I’m getting antsy about notebooks, like I always do, as we near September. The 2023 Hobonichi lineup will go on sale on 9/1 and I’m twisting myself up in knots about which (if any) notebooks I should buy.

So how do I make my notebooks more effective and efficient in 2023?

My current dream: a Hobonichi Weeks to take the place of my current Moleskine planner and a Hobonichi Techo to use as my commonplace book. Downside: I don’t want to tote around two notebooks all of the time. Those who are Hobonichi lovers would tell me to simply get a Cousin, but I don’t think the weekly layout would fit my needs right now. There’s always the chance that Hobonichi will combine Weeks and Techo into a new notebook, but I’m not holding my breath.

(Do I do this every year on my blog? Talk about Hobonichi planners and get breathless and a little whiny? Yes. Yes, I do.)

I could also stick with the Moleskine weekly planner. It’s affordable, easy to buy domestically, and (mostly) works.*

One thing I know for sure: a blank bullet journal will not work for me. It’s difficult for me to invest time each week to draw out the layouts and I almost always mess up with the dates. Please remind me about this in a couple of weeks when I say that I’m going back to bullet journaling.

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So here is my yearly required post about how I think I’m going to order some sort of Hobonichi. And in a month, I’ll be talking about a different notebook. And then a month after that, … You get the picture. I still don’t know why I do this to myself year after year and why my brain makes such a big deal out of these things. I didn’t want to write about it all but it has taken up so much brain space and I can’t seem to think about anything else. Obsession. And still — I know many of you are the same way, so that makes me feel better.

Do you already have a plan for your notebooks next year? Have you found what works for you? Are you still searching? I’d love to hear from some kindred spirits in the comments this morning.

*Writing this post has convinced me to stick with the Moleskine for 2023. But I’m sure I’ll keep dreaming about the hobonichi notebooks for a little longer because they are so darn beautiful.