Journaling

I use a dotted Leuchtturm1917 Classic Notebook, or occasionally a 120G, for day-to-day notetaking, journaling, and occasional writing and drawing. I’ve also used a (gridded) McMaster-Carr 3399N13 in the past; it’s tougher, which is what you want in an industrial setting.

I was originally inspired to do so by the Bullet Journal method, but I mostly don’t actually do things that way. I do make bullets, notes, and events as individual lines, but I have a page for each day, and I only sometimes carry items to other days. I also do weekly and monthly “spreads”, but they’re very different from what Carroll recommends. I also sit down and do more intensive on-paper journaling every week or so, producing around two to four pages of writing about what has happened recently and how I’m feeling.

I use Pilot Precise V5 pens, and for a long time, I had a Stickii subscription, so I keep a bunch of sheets of stickers in the little paper flap at the back of the notebook. If I’m feeling particularly down, or just like a page is a little unbalanced, I slap a colorful bit of art on it.

I’ve been keeping notebooks sparingly since 2013, and very consistently since 2018. I number and title every journal after it’s finished. So far, I’ve got:

[not titled], Jan. 2013 to Aug 2018
[journal lost], Nov. to Dec. 2018
[title redacted], Dec. 2018 to Aug. 2019
Everything Changes, Aug. 2019 to Apr. 2020
Plague Times, Apr. 2020 to Aug. 2020
New Normal, Aug. 2020 to Nov. 2020
Immunity, Dec. 2020 to Mar. 2021
Endings, Apr. 2021 to Aug. 2021
Cycles, Aug. 2021 to Dec. 2021
The Other Kind of Life, Jan. 2022 to Jul. 2022
With and Without, Jul. 2022 to Jan. 2023
Leaves and Sparrows, Feb. 2023 to Aug. 2023
Occlusion, Sept. 2023 to Apr. 2024
Leaving, Finding, Apr. 2024 to Nov. 2024
In Submission, Dec. 2024 to Apr. 2025

I decide on a title after re-reading the entire journal, as a part of the process of starting a new one. Some of the titles are a little overly obvious, a little too dramatic or saccharine or edgy, but I’m largely okay with that. I was a very different person in 2019 than I am today; even in 2022, my tastes and values were not quite developed. It’s nice to be able to look back and see how I’ve changed. I do sometimes re-read old notebooks without a specific goal in mind, but the point of dating them - other than organization - is to be able to look up events and dates to see what happened and what I thought about it at the time.

I’ve gone through a half-dozen online journaling methods - Obsidian, Logseq, Notesnook, my own nnote, and more. None of them have stuck nearly as well as having a pretty piece of paper near me at all times.

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---kdl
title "Journaling"
tags "Offline"
description "Why I always carry a notebook and a bunch of stickers."
---

I use a dotted [Leuchtturm1917 Classic Notebook](https://www.leuchtturm1917.us/classic-notebooks-1.html), or occasionally a [120G](https://www.leuchtturm1917.us/120g-edition.html), for day-to-day notetaking, journaling, and occasional writing and drawing. I've also used a (gridded) McMaster-Carr [3399N13](https://www.mcmaster.com/3399n13/) in the past; it's tougher, which is what you want in an industrial setting.

I was originally inspired to do so by the [Bullet Journal method](https://bulletjournal.com/pages/book), but I mostly don't actually do things that way. I do make bullets, notes, and events as individual lines, but I have a page for each day, and I only sometimes carry items to other days. I also do weekly and monthly "spreads", but they're very different from what Carroll recommends. I also sit down and do more intensive on-paper journaling every week or so, producing around two to four pages of writing about what has happened recently and how I'm feeling.

I use [Pilot Precise V5](https://pilotpen.us/Product?0=40&1=36&cid=271) pens, and for a long time, I had a [Stickii](https://www.stickiiclub.com/) subscription, so I keep a bunch of sheets of stickers in the little paper flap at the back of the notebook. If I'm feeling particularly down, or just like a page is a little unbalanced, I slap a colorful bit of art on it.

I've been keeping notebooks sparingly since 2013, and very consistently since 2018. I number and title every journal after it's finished. So far, I've got:

1. [not titled], Jan. 2013 to Aug 2018
2. [journal lost], Nov. to Dec. 2018
3. [title redacted], Dec. 2018 to Aug. 2019
4. _Everything Changes_, Aug. 2019 to Apr. 2020
5. _Plague Times_, Apr. 2020 to Aug. 2020
6. _New Normal_, Aug. 2020 to Nov. 2020
7. _Immunity_, Dec. 2020 to Mar. 2021
8. _Endings_, Apr. 2021 to Aug. 2021
9. _Cycles_, Aug. 2021 to Dec. 2021
10. _The Other Kind of Life_, Jan. 2022 to Jul. 2022
11. _With and Without_, Jul. 2022 to Jan. 2023
12. _Leaves and Sparrows_, Feb. 2023 to Aug. 2023
13. _Occlusion_, Sept. 2023 to Apr. 2024
14. _Leaving, Finding_, Apr. 2024 to Nov. 2024
15. _In Submission_, Dec. 2024 to Apr. 2025

I decide on a title after re-reading the entire journal, as a part of the process of starting a new one. Some of the titles are a little overly obvious, a little too dramatic or saccharine or edgy, but I'm largely okay with that. I was a very different person in 2019 than I am today; even in 2022, my tastes and values were not quite developed. It's nice to be able to look back and see how I've changed. I do sometimes re-read old notebooks without a specific goal in mind, but the point of dating them - other than organization - is to be able to look up events and dates to see what happened and what I thought about it at the time.

I've gone through a half-dozen online journaling methods - [Obsidian](https://obsidian.md), [Logseq](https://logseq.com/), Notesnook, my own `nnote`, and more. None of them have stuck nearly as well as having a pretty piece of paper near me at all times.