Using a nondated small notebook as daily planner + journal

In yesterday's post I listed the pros and cons of using a large dated day per page planner as a daily planner, logbook and journal. And I explained why, after struggling with the size for months, I finally decided to give it up for a smaller notebook.

In Rori's excellent comment on my journaling post last year, she describes how she uses her notebook as a capture device each day. Once I figured out how to adapt her system to my use, I went for it!

I downsized from my large (6 by 8 1/4 inch) dated day per page book to a pocket size Mini Paperblanks Darwin Tree of Life journal that I featured here last week. It's so portable! I hardly notice it in my bag.

And because it's undated, I can write as much or as little as I want each day. Usually I use the left page to map out the schedule of my day, and the right page for notes and journaling. By journaling I mean, funny things my kids said, events, and things of interest. I don't write about my feelings or things like that, because when I've done that in the past I find that type of writing not useful to read later. It's purely for capturing, not projecting.

I'm notorious for back-filling my journal days later. When I need to do this, I just leave myself some space to come back and fill in later.

Something that bothered me when I used a dated page per day planner is I had nowhere to write my long-term lists (like things to do with guests while they were visiting, birthday gift ideas, etc.). They would get lost in the daily pages. There weren't enough notes pages in the back of the book to write them. Sticky notes fell out and went missing.

In my new undated notebook, I write lists in the back of the book. Then when my daily records starting from the front meet my lists that started from the back, it's time for a new book!

In addition to unlimited page space each day in a small portable book, another reason I'm excited about this system is that I will get to actually use the plethora of notebooks I have! I have so many beautiful, cool, and fun notebooks just sitting on my shelf. This is a great way to get to use them.

Just a few of the bajillions of notebooks I own!

During really busy times I can upsize to an A5 notebook, which would still be lighter and slimmer than a same-size day per page diary.

Do you use a notebook to plan and record your days? Please leave a comment!

Pros and Cons of using a large day per page planner as daily planner + journal

After some switching around, I've been using a large day per page planner so far this year to plan and record each day and for journaling. I use my weekly Plannerisms planner to plan and set goals, and my large red Time Traveler day per page planner (which I reviewed here with lots of photos) as my daily planner/ record book/ journal. You can see my post here for more details on how I use my weekly and daily planners together.

You might remember that one of my planner fantasies is to write everything that happens to me each day in a large daily book. I've been using my large Time Traveler daily book pretty much that way. In general I do enjoy using my day per page book as the landing place for everything that happens every day. And the great news is, I do journal much more in it than I have done in the past couple of years, so that's a huge benefit. But as with everything, it has its pros and cons.

Large book

Pro: The Time Traveler daily book is big, I measure it at approximately 6 by 8 1/4 inches. This means the pages are nice and spacious so I can write a lot each day.

Con: The flip side of a large page size is a big and heavy book. I tend to leave the book at home sometimes due to the bulk and weight. I would rather use a book that I'm happy to carry everywhere so I can jot things down all day: things to remember, expenditures, notes etc. Of course in a smaller dated book I would have to make decisions about what is worthy of being written on the day's page, and would have to use a separate book as a journal.


Dated Day Per Page

Pro: One huge advantage of having a dated page for each day is that I don't have to journal in chronological order. Often the most eventful days are the ones where I have the least amount of time and energy to write. In a dated book I can go back a couple of days later and fill in the details.

Con: Of course the downside of a dated day per page is that I'm restricted to just one page every day. If I feel like writing more, there isn't room (unless I spill over to the adjacent page). If I write less that day, I'm wasting page space.


Carrying my journal with me everywhere

Pro: It's convenient to carry my journal book everywhere so I can jot things down before I forget (like wildlife sightings while I'm out for my walk or funny things my kids say).

Con:  It makes me nervous to take my journal containing my entire year to date out of the house. I would be devastated if I lost the book! Also see my first point, the large daily book is so big and heavy I often leave it at home which completely defeats the purpose of a carry-everywhere capture book.


Of course the obvious solution would be to use a smaller and more portable day per page diary as my carry-everywhere book for my daily schedule and record-book, and a separate undated notebook as my journal for unlimited and unrestricted memory-capturing. That of course would be logical.

But for some reason for the past few years I haven't been able to make myself write in a separate journal. I feel like I don't have time, or I put too much pressure on myself to be expansive. The chronology gets thrown off if I don't write things down immediately.

Also I capture little things in my carry-everywhere book that I wouldn't necessarily haul out a separate journal to write about like noting when the leaves came out on the trees (very late this year!), when the daffodils flowered, bird sightings at our feeder, and The Chicken Story Of The Day (we have 6 hens and their antics are often noteworthy! When I pick my kids up from school each day they ask to hear The Chicken Story Of The Day).

The bottom line is, I do journal in my large daily book much more than I have done in recent years. It is very convenient to carry it around as a landing place for everything I want to write, even though it weighs a ton. The large page means I usually have plenty of space to write every day. So I thought I would stick with it.

Then one day last week I finally got fed up with carrying it around. I was out for my walk in the beautiful forest, lugging this giant book in my bag! I decided it's silly to carry such a huge book everywhere. I wanted to lighten my load. After all, it's summertime! I should be footloose and fancy free! (Or something like that).

So, I decided to do what my friend Rori suggested back in November in a comment on my angsty post about figuring out my journaling situation: use an undated, smaller notebook as my take-everywhere daily book + journal. At first I was resistant to this idea because I thought I wouldn't be able to back-fill the non-dated pages. Then I realized, when I know I want to come back and finish writing something later I can just leave myself page space to fill in! Duh!

Once I realized that would work, I went straight for it. See my next post on my details of how I'm using my small undated notebook to plan and record each day, journal, and more. And the big reveal of which notebook I'm using!

***Update: Here is my post where I talk about the pocket size day per page notebook I used. But, I wrote in it less and less and after a couple of weeks I stopped writing in it altogether. It made me realize how much I back-fill in my dated day per page diary. I missed the large daily pages. So, I went back to my Time Traveler diary and I'm so glad! It's such an excellent record of each day, and I journal in it much more than I have in the past few years. And the weight of it in my bag doesn't even bother me any more. Love it!! My Time Traveler daily and my Plannerisms weekly are my mid-2013 Planner Winners!

Paperblanks Darwin Tree of Life mini journal

Last in this week's series on my Paperblanks journal collection is my newest: the Darwin Tree of Life mini journal!

This is from the Paperblanks Embellished Manuscripts collection, which I only just discovered recently and immediately became obsessed with. The Embellished Manuscripts collection features great artists, writers, scientists and thinkers. I find these journals extremely inspiring!

Darwin is one of my science heroes. Several years ago I was thrilled to go to the London Natural History Museum's temporary Darwin exhibit to commemorate his 200th birthday. My favorite part of the whole exhibit was Darwin's actual notebook in a glass case, open to the page that is featured on this notebook. It has his sketch of an evolutionary tree, with the words "I think" written next to it. I could just imagine the thought formulating in his mind, traveling down his arm to his hand where it flowed out of his pen onto the paper to be captured for all time. So when I saw this Paperblanks notebook of course I had to have it!!!!

This pocket-size journal will be the first of my notebooks that I will use as my daily logbook + journal. I will have a post with those details in a few days!

The Mini size journal is 3 1/4 by 5 1/2 inches, perfect for carrying everywhere.  The front cover of the Darwin Tree of Life journal has a copy of Darwin's original sketch and notes, and his signature on the magnetic closure flap.

Here is the book with the closure flap open so you can see Darwin's notes. I love it! This makes me feel inspired to do science again.

 Even the back of the book is cool, and a tribute to Darwin:

The decorative spine will look great on the shelf when the book is filled and retired for reference purposes:

The fountain-pen friendly pages are lined, and there is a real ribbon placemarker.

 There is a pocket in the back of the book for cards and papers.

Below is my growing collection of Paperblanks journals!

In addition to the Darwin journal featured here, you can see the Lindau journals I featured in Tuesday's post, the Book Of Kells journal I featured Wednesday, and the slim French Ornate violet journal I featured yesterday. Also you can see the Ventaglio Rosso journal I reviewed last year and used for awhile as a day per page diary. That ended when my daughter fell in love with it and commandeered it for herself!

Not present are the daily and weekly planners I reviewed awhile back because I gave them away to some very lucky people!

I love Paperblanks books because they are beautiful, well made, archival and with great (fountain pen friendly) paper. They open flat (which is extremely important to me!) and I know the books will wear well and last for decades.

My Paperblanks collection continues to grow. Next on my list to buy are the Darwin Ultra journal and the Leonardo Sun and Moon Midi!

Do you love Paperblanks journals? Which ones do you have, and which ones do you want to get? (They're so collectable and addictive!)


(Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with Paperblanks and receive no commission. I just really like their books!)

Paperblanks slim French Ornate journal

This is the third post in my series on my growing collection of Paperblanks journals. See Tuesday's post on my Lindau journals and yesterday's post on my Book Of Kells journal.

Today I'm featuring this slim French Ornate Violet journal, another gift from my mom! She said she thought the long slim page size would be good for making lists. She knows me well, doesn't she??

 The Violet cover looks like silk, and even shimmers like silk too.

The magnetic closure is on a strap that is woven through the back cover, which is a very cool detail.

The Paperblanks Slim notebooks measure 3 1/4 by 7 inches, perfect for carrying around in a bag or even in your pocket. The pages are lined, and there is a ribbon placemarker.

There is a pocket in the back for tucking papers, and a brief history of the silk material that was the inspiration for this cover design.

This book will become one of my daily logbook+ journal books. I am downsizing from a large A5 day per page dated diary to smaller undated books for unlimited writing space each day in a smaller, more portable book. A post with more details on my new system is forthcoming!

Many thanks again to my awesome mom for this perfect-size, purple, silk-look notebook!

(Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with Paperblanks and receive no commission. I just really like their books!)

Paperblanks Book Of Kells journal

Today is the second post in my series on my growing Paperblanks journal collection! See yesterday's post for my gorgeous Lindau journals.

Today I have another visual feast for you. Behold, the Book Of Kells by Paperblanks!

Wow!!!

My mom got me this stunningly gorgeous journal as a Christmas present.  She even included a book ABOUT the Book Of Kells so I could appreciate what I'm looking at! Thank you Mommy!!!!

This is the Quoniam cover from the Paperblanks Book Of Kells collection. You can see more information about the Paperblanks Book Of Kells collection and its history in the Paperblanks Endpapers Blog post on their Gospel-inspired journals.

This journal is the Ultra size, measuring 7 by 9 inches. It is part of their Handstiched collection. Read the Paperblanks Endpaper Blog post here to see how these bindings are made and why handstiched books are so cool!

Because the signatures are stitched together and there is no spine, the book lays open completely flat as a pancake for easy writing.

In the back there is a pocket for tucking mementos.

Many huge thanks again to my mom for this gorgeous journal!!!

(Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with Paperblanks and receive no commission. I just really like their books!)

My collection of Paperblanks Lindau journals

I've been somewhat obsessed with Paperblanks journals recently. I take back every bit of smack I ever spoke about their covers not being real leather or silk. I'm sorry Paperblanks! I have seen the error of my ways! What Paperblanks does, extremely well, is recreate historic and/ or literary materials for their covers. I am absolutely enthralled by their beautiful covers, high quality paper, sturdy binding and archival materials.

I'm growing quite a collection of Paperblanks journals! This post is the first in a series I will do on my collection.

Here is just one example of how much I'm loving Paperblanks journals. This is my collection of their journals with the Lindau cover. I love this cover so much I wanted it in several sizes!

On the left is the Lindau Grande weekly planner I won last year in a Paperblanks giveaway on Twitter. I didn't use it as a planner that year, instead I use it as a notebook, specifically as my son's Learning Notebook for extra practice with math, and writing stories. The huge pages are great for sketching 3D shapes and letting him go wild with storytelling.

In the middle is my Lindau Ultra journal, with the magnetic closure. This journal measures 7 by 9 inches.

The detail in these covers is astounding! The edge of the magnetic closure is beautiful. It protects the page edges when the book is in your bag.

It has lined pages, a ribbon placemarker, and a pocket in the back.

Here is my Midi Lindau journal, which measures 4 3/4 by 6 3/4 inches:

It is also lined, with a ribbon placemarker:

In the back is a pocket, and an elastic closure if you want to use it.

Even the spines of these books are beautiful!

Click here to see the Paperblanks Endpaper Blog post on their Gospel-inspired journals which includes the Lindau collection and the Book of Kells collection, which I will review tomorrow!

(Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with Paperblanks and receive no commission. I just really like their books!)

12 by 17 cm (4 3/4 by 6 3/4 inch) planners

Kate recently asked me for other planners that are the same size as the Quo Vadis Textagenda, which is 12 by 17 cm (4 3/4 by 6 3/4 inches).

First of all, let me rant that there are NOT NEARLY ENOUGH options in this perfect size!!  This is such a great size to carry around everywhere, and even a daily book is still very portable in this size. So, planner companies, I want to see lots more options in this size!

The good news is, there are several options available in this size, in daily or weekly formats.

The Quo Vadis Textagenda (academic-year) and Quo Vadis Notor (January-December) are the same size and have the same format with the schedule at the top of the page and the rest of the page lined for lists and notes.

Quo Vadis Textagenda and Notor format

You can see my Textagenda collection with interior photos here and my Notor with interior photos here. Please note the Notor is available in the US only I think, but you can get the Textagenda in the US and from Quo Vadis UK which ships worldwide as well as in France, Germany and probably other European countries too.

The Quo Vadis ABP2 is also in this size, you can read my review of it here. I have to admit I was really disappointed with this one (you can read why in my review), and I gave it away.

Quo Vadis ABP2

New for 2014 the Quo Vadis Daily 17 is in this same excellent size with a traditional timed format. I'm really excited to get this one when it comes out! But I'm a little worried about how narrow the ruling will be. You can right-click on the image on the product page in the link above to see a larger image of the daily pages. ***Update: you can click here to see my review of the Daily 17.

I can also recommend the Undercover UK small diary which I have reviewed here and here. Its recycled leather cover comes in tons of colors, so you are sure to find a color you love from traditional, brights, pastels, neutrals and metallics.

Undercover UK

Its simple, lined format makes it versatile for any type of use. Undercover UK ships internationally. I did a video comparing the Undercover UK diary with the Quo Vadis Notor, click here to see.

Another daily planner that is available in this size is the Cavallini Moderno diary (which you can see here on the Jenni Bick website and I have also seen them at The Paperie UK but they are now out of stock for 2013). Even though the leather cover is beautiful, it is so stiff the book does not stay open and I abandoned it for this reason, which you can read all about here.

Paperblanks makes diaries in this size too (their Midi size), in daily and weekly formats. You can see my review of them with lots of photos here. The Paperblanks planners come with lots of beautiful cover options.

Quo Vadis makes weekly planners in the 10 by 15 cm size (4 by 6 inches) which is very nearly the same size. Check out their Business, University (academic-year), Horizontal 15 and Note 15 planners. (Links shown are from Quo Vadis UK, which ships worldwide). I haven't tried any of these exact planners, but you can't go wrong with Quo Vadis's superb quality and luxurious paper.

Another Quo Vadis planner that is nearly this same size (16 by 16 cm, 6 1/3 by 6 1/3 inches) is the Executive, which I have reviewed here. It is available in the US and from Quo Vadis UK.

If anyone knows of any other planners/ diaries in the 12 by 17 cm (4 3/4 by 6 3/4 inches) size please post a comment! I love this size and I would be very interested to know other options.