Issue 116: My notebook ecosystem (as a book nerd)

Yes. It's a thing.

Keeping a notebook is how I make sense of the world — and myself within it. It’s an act of memory, a gesture of hope, and sometimes, survival. A good notebook becomes a confidante, a thinking partner, a container for all that might otherwise slip through the cracks. The touch and smell and sound of pen on paper draw me out of my head and into the present moment — a rare and necessary thing for someone who lives so much in thought. Some days, the only evidence that I existed at all is the ink I left behind.

My notebooks go everywhere with me. As someone with a day job, a mom/wife job, and a newsletter job, the need for paper in my life is no small thing. For years, I was in pursuit of the mythical “perfect notebook” — the one that would let me corral everything into one beautiful, streamlined place. I hunted for the right format, layout, binding, cover… and ended up with a graveyard of half-used journals. I thought I was failing — until I came across the idea of a notebook ecosystem. That simple shift changed everything. So I thought I’d share it with you, in case it brings you the same sense of calm and clarity it brought me.

Notebook Ecosystem: A Definition

Here’s what I mean when I talk about a notebook ecosystem — a phrase that gave shape to something I’d been intuitively building for years.

A notebook ecosystem refers to the interconnected collection of physical and/or digital notebooks that a person deliberately curates to serve different aspects of their intellectual, creative, and personal life. Like a natural ecosystem where diverse species fulfill distinct roles while contributing to a balanced whole, a thoughtfully designed notebook ecosystem assigns specific functions to different notebooks (journaling, planning, idea collection, etc.) that complement one another and collectively support the individual's thinking, creativity, and productivity.

The ecosystem metaphor is particularly apt because:

• Each notebook serves a distinct purpose but contributes to the overall health of your intellectual life

• The notebooks interact with and inform each other (ideas captured in one might migrate to another)

• The system evolves over time as your needs change

• The whole is greater than the sum of its parts

A good notebook ecosystem isn't just a collection of random notebooks but a carefully designed system where each component has a clear role, creating a sustainable and productive environment for capturing, developing, and preserving your thoughts.

My two-stack system

With my friend

Charlee Brooks

’s encouragement, I filmed a video walk-through of my notebooks in case you like watching this type of thing. I am also sharing some written thoughts and sample pages below.

My notebook ecosystem consists of two main parts: daily stack & book stack. These two stacks accommodate my notebooking needs 95% of the time and I am training myself to accept that as a non-robot, I need to be ok with the 5% variance in my system on account of me being human.

📚 Daily Stack

The Daily Stack is the more prosaic part of the whole. It consists of my paper planner, my personal journal and my catch-all notebook (not pictured).

1. Planner

I use a Leuchtturm1917 Medium planner (with soft covers) to keep track of my work and personal to do lists. This is very much task-focused and the notebook that helps me drop as few balls as possible.

Motivational memo from my daughter Rumi, Age 7 - When the going gets tough, you have to try again. Meow. 😂

I divide the notes page associated with each week in two columns — WORK & PERSONAL — and keep a running task list throughout the week. As tasks come in, I also try to slot them into the appropriate day when I would work on them and cross them off as I complete them.

The yellow sticky shows you how I keep track of exciting new releases.

On Sundays, I review and transfer to the following week whatever didn't get done during the week and schedule the tasks/projects as best as I can. Most weeks I am able to complete all my work-related tasks but I find myself writing and re-writing a lot of my personal tasks that never seem to get done.

2. Journal

For journaling I use another Leuchtturm1917 Medium notebook. This one is hard-covered. As I mentioned before, I used to be MADLY devoted to my Morning Pages¹ and found the practice transformational over the years. However, we do change and go through seasons… and at some point last year I realized that my morning pages were starting to feel extremely negative to the point of becoming counterproductive. I decided to take a break from daily morning pages and even though I journal almost daily, my entries have become a little less dramatic in a way that I needed.

3. Catch-all Notebook

This is the notebook I use to take notes throughout the day — work, personal lists, Substack post drafts. This is definitely the blue-collar notebook of the bunch — no fuss, hard-working, the most flexible team player… just happy to be whatever I need it to be at any given moment.

📚 The Book Stack

These are the notebooks that support my reading life. Like many notebook-loving people on the internet, I recently invested in a Paper Republic leather journal cover with refillable/interchangeable inserts. The idea behind this journal is that you can create a personal collection of notebooks to go between the covers, separate the parts of your brain as needed and then, sustainably, continue to reuse the covers of the journal by removing and adding new inserts as needed. The size that I have is the Grand Voyager XL in the color Cognac which came with a plain thin notebook and some extra elastics in fun colors that allow you to personalize the look of your journal AND add extra inserts.

1. Reading Log

I started keeping a hand-written list of the books I read last year and I loved doing that so much. It was so much better than Goodreads and Storygraph combined. Keeping that list felt so intimate and special, writing the titles of the books I'd finished into the back of my planner became this little meditation to express my gratitude and appreciation for each author I'd spent time with. When I learned that my friend

Matthew Long

’s been keeping a paper reading log for YEARS I knew that I wanted to pull my list into a separate notebook as well and just start watching the list grow as the years piled on.

I switched to this notebook by Paper Republic at the beginning of March so I had to transfer my January and February lists from my planner and that's why they look neat and perfect in a way that I actually don't love. What I like is when the list starts to feel messy - different pens, some titles jotted down in a hurry, coffee spilled — the true markings of a reading life. I will be sure to share more of these pages later in the year so you can see what I mean.

2. TBR-ish

I have mentioned before that I am by and large a VERY MOODY mood reader. What I read is mostly determined by what I read last. Sometimes I want more of THAT, sometimes I want something else entirely…. either way, I am typically responding to the book I just completed. Nevertheless, being part of the book nerd community on Substack has shown me many interesting ways of adding depth and focus to one's reading and here I am now… starting to keep track of where I might want to go next.

Part of this is an analogue version of my simple Notes app tracker I shared with you a while ago — I am trying not to use my phone unless I have to. And part of it is the proliferation of amazing reading ideas I come across on other Substacks and during our Friday Book Chat (our weekly community discussion). These ideas now go into the thin TBR insert (same notebook as the one I use for my Reading Log).

3. Book journal

The final notebook in my Paper Republic journal is my book journal where I write my reading reflections upon completing a book.

I try to keep this as loose and un-intimidating as possible. Most of the time, I begin by writing a brief summary of the book; jot down the names of the characters or, as pictured above, any references I want to hold on toand then use the pages to reflect on the parts of the book that I expect will stay with me long after I've finished. This way I feel no pressure to write a perfect, erudite essay… The only expectation I have of myself is to pause after finishing a book to fully take it in and appreciate it.

When I become fixated on a book, I go through an annotation process which I have documented in detail before… but most months I end up only annotating one or two books. Those notes go into the Book Journal, too. The notebook I have used in is this thicker one from Paper Republic, which has a gorgeous soft cover and falls flat beautifully due to it’s traditional open binding (you can literally see the seams that keep it together, which feels so charming to me).

4. Commonplace Journal

The final member of my notebook ecosystem is my Commonplace Journal where I collect my most favorite quotes from the books I've read. For those of you who are interested in commonplace journals, I wrote a full break-down of how I do that —the biggest point I like to emphasize about my version of this beautiful practice is that I give myself permission to record only what truly stirs my soul and not even try to reflect every single book I read in it. On a typical week, I reserve commonplace journaling for the weekend and make it a whole thing — coffee, candles, a good playlist… the whole bit. It's time I truly look forward to. The notebook I use for it is a Leuchtturm1917 (B6+ Paperback) and in this particular case, the numbered pages really are essential. The INDEX at the end of the notebook is what makes my commonplace journal an actual tool I use for inspiration and in my writing since it makes finding specific quotes super easy.

I realize that to some of you this system will feel insanely complicated and unreasonable… and that may be the case if you try to implement this exact same structure into your life. This system works for me because it's the result of my personal trial and error and active time thinking about what works and does not work for me. Think of it like finding your rhythm — the way you do with a skincare routine or a creative ritual. Once your system fits you, it becomes second nature. My hope in sharing all this isn’t to inspire duplication, but to offer a language and framework that might free you from the pressure to get it “perfect.”

And some questions for you:

• Where do you stand on notebooks and notebook ecosystems? Yay or nay?

• What does YOUR notebook ecosystem consist of?

• Do you have a favorite notebook that serves multiple purposes? Share in the comments!

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1. I re-started my newsletter as A Reading Life in April of 2024 so my earlier posts look a little different.