8 Ideas for Mini Notebooks

Ideas for pocket notebooks, and how I use mine...

I have become freshly enamoured with my pocket journal. After neglecting it for a couple of months, I have started carrying it everywhere again.

Thus, I thought I would share the 8 pocket notebooks which I use, and (sometimes) keep inside my trusted Paper Republic journal. This article is inspired by the wonderful Amy Catriona who recently shared a fantastic post on here with 10 ideas for using empty notebook. I always love to hear how other people make use of ‘paper technology’, and so I thought someone might similarly find this interesting…

A Commonplace Book

This is the obvious one, and the one I was clearly going to talk about (because I talk about my commonplace book far too much). Commonplacing is so wide-ranging and there isn’t just one way to keep a commonplace book, but it’s essentially a place where you can collate ideas and quotes so that you don’t lose them. I keep a few different types of commonplace book, but this one is my A6 Leichturm is first love. Each page has a different thematic heading, and I store quotes under these titles. I just love how these quotes end up being so incredibly variable… from books, conversations, films… and how they let you find a new perspective on an old idea. It’s a great way to think more synoptically.

Messy Notes:

Very self-explanatory, and yet extraordinarily useful… This is where you go when you don’t know where else to put something. I use mine for everything, and get through a Messy Notebook roughly every month. Mine is filled with mindmaps, stamps, to do lists… everything you can think of!

Mini Project Books:

My ‘Mini Project Books’ are always slim because they are usually short-lived. When a new project comes up (an article, or a speech, or a product for my stationery shop, or a university essay), I will start a new one of these.

I like having a dedicated space where I can put everything to do with said project so nothing gets lost… To do lists, mind maps, quick thoughts… all of it is kept together which means I always know where to find it. I started keeping Project Books three years ago, and could never go back!

(Note: I usually have one notebook per two projects - one from the front and one from the back).

Commonplace Book 2

At first glance, this might feel like ‘Messy Notes’, but it is not at all… While ‘Messy Notes’ are often practical, this notebook is filled with things which don’t have an end-date. This notebook is for lists of current favourites, random content ideas, general planning, long-term reminders, and even more quotes, facts and ideas.

In many ways, it is another commonplace book. The difference is that I use it to remember personal information and life-relevant content, as opposed to that which is purely factual, literary and metaphysical.

This is also the notebook I will always keep on my person. This and the ‘Messy Notes’ are probably the most used and consulted.

Autograph Book

This next one is a fairly new one for me, but it’s one I am keen to use more… I have started a tiny (and unusually slim) notebook for ‘Autographs’. Autograph Books were particularly popular in the late 19th Century, and they are places where you collate notes and messages from the people you meet.

These messages can be from anyone — and, so far, I have four (all family). Essentially, you ask people to write something that you can read later (a bit like a letter). I put a lot of weight on the written word and see handwriting as a deeply personal and connective medium. I hope that this book will eventually hold messages from all of my favourite people, and I think it could be a lovely way to keep the people you love with you.

Traditionally, Autograph Books would be taken travelling. They worked a bit like address books, and allowed you to stay in touch with the people you met. Obviously, social media makes this slightly redundant, but it’s infinitely more gratifying.

If you want to see a real Autograph Book from the 1880s, I found one on eBay last year and did a deepdive series on Instagram…

Physical Art Gallery

If you’re anything like me, your camera roll is filled with pictures of paintings (both from galleries and screenshots). I always intend to go back to these, but never did when they were on my phone. My ‘Physical Art Gallery’ is a mini notebook filled with paintings that I have seen and like.

I simply stick in the painting, write down where I saw it, and maybe jot down a few thoughts.

I used to do this in my ‘Media Journal’ but recently switched over to a mini notebook instead, and have found I refer to it more now than I did!

Visual Commonplace Book

This is a little like the Physical Art Gallery, but it is for photos instead. I specifically use this notebook as a visual commonplace book for the novel I am writing. I add pictures from pinterest, stills from films, pictures of buildings and places I have seen in real life. Sometimes I also add poems and passages from books. It is essentially a place for media which might end up providing guidance and inspiration for my own writing.

If you don’t write, you could use a similar notebook to inspire any creative pursuit… or create a general one just filled with photos and things you like.