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Cystm · Jan 7, 2015

Why should you journal?

I personally use my journal to better understand myself, to organize my life, and to clarify what it is I want to
do on a daily basis. It has cut down on procrastination and distraction which has long plagued my life. I use
it to vent. I use it to catalog ideas I don't want to slip away from the passage of time. To come back and
reflect and either reanalyze or appreciate the idea or thought. I use it in an earnest attempt to come to a
better understanding of who I am and what it is I want to accomplish on a daily basis.

Choosing your journal

There are many types of journals and of course brands to choose from. I will list for you a variety options
so that you can hopefully find the one that works best for your needs.

Of the different types, there are:

Spiral Bound
Bound
- Moleskine
- Leuchtturm1917
- Foray
- Baron Fig
- Eccolo
- Rhodia
- Picadilly
- Ogami
- Hobonichi Techo
Leather-Bound / Traveler's Notebooks
- Baum-kuchen
- Midori Traveler's Notebook
- Rogue Journals
- Paperblanks
- ZLYC
  - You can find a variety at
  - Barnes and Noble
  - Jenni Bick
Custom made
- Monsieur Notebook
- Rogue Journals
Pocket Notebooks

There are many other brands out there, but this should be enough to get you started.

Journals In Focus

Leuchtturm1917

Leuchtturm1917 are some of the most prevalent of the Journals in North America, along with Moleskine
and Rhodia. These are great ways to Bullet Journal. Nothing too fancy, but they get the job done well.

Reviews / In depth info

Midori Traveler's Notebook

As the name implies, if you find yourself going on a business trip, vaction, or if you just enjoy traveling this one
shines. It is highly customizable for a wide variety of needs. I really love the look of the leather, the refillable
notebooks and the plastic inserts that help organize life just a bit better. Reviews seem to indicate that the
paper takes to fountain pens just fine.

Reviews / In depth info

Field Notes

These are fantastic and non-intrusive little notebooks to keep in your pocket. The paper quality is variable from
average to stellar depending on the review. I use a Moleskine notebook to take with me when carrying my
journal is not practical. Great for quick and dirty notation.

Reviews / In depth info

Ed Jelley's reviews of the various Field Notes
- Check out his numerous other examinations of stationary.

Ways in which you can journal

The Bullet Journal

A Bullet Journal is progressively used from front to back custom fit as needed.

"At the heart of the Bullet Journal is a method called “Rapid Logging”. Rapid Logging allows you to quickly
capture and parse all the different types of data we’re trying to digest on a daily basis. This technique
provides insights that can help you identify what’s important and weed out the things that aren’t. Figuring
that out will help focus your time and energy much more effectively. It’s the difference between being busy
and being productive."

You could use this in such a way as to get yourself better prepared for things such as: keeping track of your
nutrition you've set up with help from the Nutrition Thread |OT|, exercise sets the Fitness |OT7| thread helped
you out with, or you could use it for things such as your Steam backlog or to better participate in the 50/50 thread.
to better participate in the 50/50 thread.
participate in the 50/50 thread.
50/50 thread

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Resources / Inspiration

Google+ Bullet Journal Community
Miss Zoot
Taming Data

Scription Chronodex

In the center of most pages you have this circle with wedges protruding from it that represent different times of
the day. You can attach your notes to these wedges to assign it a specific time of day or just to mark when
something happened. Every other page also provides an overview of the days of the week. The idea is that
breaking out of the confinement of the typical grid will allow you the freedom to plan in a more fluid way. If it
seems over-complicated, acknowledge that, and give it a shot. Not all brains are going to gather and parse
information in the same way.

Resources / Inspiration

Brandon's Notepad
Accidental Pen

Related GAF

Bagels

threads

Writing-GAF |OT|
Neogaf Creative Writing Challenge threads
NaNoWriMo
Wooden Pencils
Mechanical Pencils
Ballpoint pens
Fountain Pens
Paper.
>2015 Hobonichi Techo<

Bagels Hobonichi thread inspired me to make my own OT for journals and the various ways in which to use them.

Imaged broken thanks to Minus.

Jake. · Jan 7, 2015

i've bought a delfonics diary/journal for 2yrs in a row now and never used them.

Cystm · Jan 7, 2015

Jake. said:
i've bought a delfonics diary/journal for 2yrs in a row now and never used them.

What did you buy them for?

anonymous_abc · Jan 7, 2015

I should do this. Especially for work.

CheesecakeRecipe · Jan 7, 2015

Don't forget the

Bagels

Hobonichi Techo thread!

I haven't kept a written journal in eons, my desk consisting of a mess of scattered looseleaf sheets of copy paper during heavy school/work seasons. Over the past year I've been reinventing my method. I started the year off with a Seven Seas Writer lined journal in a Hobonichi Techo Cousin A5 case, but have recently ordered a Hobonichi A6 and case that should be coming in by the end of the month (stupid restocks).

Featuring my two workhorses: The Pilot Stargazer and Pilot E95s

Once the Hobonichi Techo comes in, I'm going to use that for more simplistic memos, marking of dates, and some creative uses, while using the Seven Seas journal as a place for more in-depth thoughts, plans for my novels, articles, TWINE projects, any other creative ventures I embark upon. I may design a shorthand system to cross reference between dated pages of the Techo and the un-numbered pages of the Writer journal.

Cystm · Jan 7, 2015

I use this while I am out and don't have my actual Journal with me:

A simple pocket notebook and Fisher Space Pen.

I am still debating on upgrading to a Midori or an Hobonichi Techo from my Moleskine A5. I prefer the Dot Grid ruling and the open canvas a journal like the Midori has versus a Hobonichi Techo, but I know that I can get passed the defined format of a planner as well.

Ultimately the deciding factor for me is the more open usability for my specific needs that a Journal or Notebook provides versus a Planner.

A Fish Aficionado · Jan 7, 2015

Bagels has a clone?

Jake. · Jan 7, 2015

Cystm said:
What did you buy them for?

to use them...but i'm lazy and unorganised!

Bagels · Jan 7, 2015

I approve of this thread, even if you left the s off my name. Excellent stuff.

My parents are both writers and compulsive note-takers, so now when I visit them, we just end up feeding each others addiction to this stuff. It's pretty great.

My mom picked up a ten year journal (different colors go out of stock and rocket up in price. I don't get it.) last year:

So you get every April 20 (the birthday of both my son and Adolf Hitler, so I have really mixed feelings about it) for ten years all lined up on a page. I like the idea in general and want to pick one up soon, but I think it would be even cooler if you started with some significant event. So you could see what your four (or more) years of college looked like, or catalog the first ten years of married life, or your child's first ten years. Or pick one up the first time you try heroin and go in a different direction with it. Sky's the limit!

My mom had some interesting notes about things in there - trips she had taken, when family visited, things that were happening in town and in the world. That was all pretty neat. But then she also did my absolute least favorite journal thing - she recorded the weather. And it wasn't like, "it snowed a ton and as a result x, y, and z." That's great. If it connects to your life and the events of the day in some way, go to town. But that's not what this was. It was just "high of blah, low of bleh." A) it wasn't every day, so these things will never line up. b) who the shit is ever going to care what the weather was like June 5, 7 years ago? Is that the kind of fond memory you're going to reminisce about later? "Remember when it was 74 on May 28, 2017? Those were the days..." C) This information is all available online anyway. I'm not going to tell you how to keep a journal, but if you find yourself recording the weather each day, I'm prepared to say you should be in jail.

The problem with the ten year journal is that I already have a nice Clairefontaine notebook that I use to write longer, essay-like entries about stuff, my Hobonichi Techo for short daily whatever, plus all the other shit I write everywhere, plus pocket notebooks for little notes about junk, plus the big sheets of Rhodia paper I use as blotters on my writing desk, plus...Like, I could easily fill an entire day just recording the details of my life. It's not like it's that exciting to begin with, but at some point it's just going to be "wrote in my other journals all day" for every entry. So I need to put a limit on this shit somewhere. Unfortunately, the world is filled with great notebooks and I need to find ways to fill them. I mean, just look at this wood-paneled beauty from Woodchuck:

Wood_Journal_Birch_01_9b1c9a9a-92ce-4f67-912d-ed82682e8d21.jpg

I obviously need that, in birch, with a laser-etched design on the cover. I guess I don't really need another notebook, but out of all the notebooks I don't need, I have the most pressing need for this one.

Cystm · Jan 7, 2015

Jake. said:
to use them...but i'm lazy and unorganised!

The bullet journal is a very simplistic way to go about organizing your journal. You should read up on it.

studyguy · Jan 7, 2015

I have a notebook at work and it always starts out like a super organized bullet but eventually devolves into an unorganized mess of notes without dates or real logic. smh I need to step it up.

Masoria · Jan 7, 2015

I've really been loving Bullet Journaling. I always buy notebooks and then do nothing with them, but discovering BuJu inspired me to start actually using them.

It's great because I crave organization, but find regular planners are limiting, & I'm left either with a ton of unused space or with cramped, awful looking daily spaces.

Cystm · Jan 7, 2015

Bagels said:
I approve of this thread, even if you left the s off my name. Excellent stuff.

Fixed.

Bagels said:
My mom had some interesting notes about things in there - trips she had taken, when family visited, things that were happening in town and in the world. That was all pretty neat. But then she also did my absolute least favorite journal thing - she recorded the weather. And it wasn't like, "it snowed a ton and as a result x, y, and z." That's great. If it connects to your life and the events of the day in some way, go to town. But that's not what this was. It was just "high of blah, low of bleh." A) it wasn't every day, so these things will never line up. b) who the shit is ever going to care what the weather was like June 5, 7 years ago? Is that the kind of fond memory you're going to reminisce about later? "Remember when it was 74 on May 28, 2017? Those were the days..." C) This information is all available online anyway. I'm not going to tell you how to keep a journal, but if you find yourself recording the weather each day, I'm prepared to say you should be in jail.

Bagels said:
The problem with the ten year journal is that I already have a nice Clairefontaine notebook that I use to write longer, essay-like entries about stuff, my Hobonichi Techo for short daily whatever, plus all the other shit I write everywhere, plus pocket notebooks for little notes about junk, plus the big sheets of Rhodia paper I use as blotters on my writing desk, plus...Like, I could easily fill an entire day just recording the details of my life. It's not like it's that exciting to begin with, but at some point it's just going to be "wrote in my other journals all day" for every entry. So I need to put a limit on this shit somewhere. Unfortunately, the world is filled with great notebooks and I need to find ways to fill them. I mean, just look at this wood-paneled beauty from Woodchuck:

http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0202/8080/products/Wood_Journal_Birch_01_9b1c9a9a-92ce-4f67-912d-ed82682e8d21.jpg?v=1415922971

I obviously need that, in birch, with a laser-etched design on the cover. I guess I don't really need another notebook, but out of all the notebooks I don't need, I have the most pressing need for this one.

I've read a lot of good things about Clairefontaine's paper. It apparently does not bleed or ghost, which I cannot stand. How does it hold up compared to the other journals you've written in?

One of the reasons I originally wanted to do this thread was to showcase all of the varieties of journals. Towards the end of the OP I really had to hold back on posting straight up 1080p journal porn.

Patrick Ng has some really great shots of stationary and life in general, but I really only care about shots like these here:

Bagels · Jan 7, 2015

Cystm said:
I've read a lot of good things about Clairefontaine's paper. It apparently does not bleed or ghost, which I cannot stand. How does it hold up compared to the other journals you've written in?

Clairefontaine is probably my number one pick for journal paper. I *love* writing on Tomoe River, but the drying times are nuts with the wetter pens I use, and although ghosting is surprisingly minimal considering how thin the paper is, it's still present. Clairefontaine is a thicker paper, more in line with what most people are used to. You can get very plain Clairefontaine paper notebooks for very reasonable prices (Goulet pens has a nice selection) or get the Moleskine-beater Rhodia Webnotebook, which actually has Clairefontaine paper.

I should add my caveat from the paper thread - most of the discussion about paper quality centers around fountain pens. Rhodia, Clairefontaine, Tomoe River - the high quality papers that people prefer for fountain pen use tend to be very smooth and slippery. Some people like the feel when writing with rollerball or ballpoint pens as well, but it's not ideal for pencil. Moleskine paper is noticeably fibery and rough to the touch. It's great for holding graphite, but wet inks feather and bleed like crazy. If you're not one of these fountain pen nerds, like CheesecakeRecipe, you might not worry as much about the paper in whatever journal strikes your fancy.

Mik2121 · Feb 18, 2015

Bumping this and aware that this won't be of interest to almost anyone, but Midori is releasing a 2015 special edition of their Midori Traveler's Notebook:

I personally bought a brown Traveler's Notebook to accompany me during my 3 weeks trip to India and I wrote a bunch of things on it with accompanying sketches that, looking back at now, make me glad I did this. It doesn't need to be a Traveler's Notebook obviously, but the leather quality is great, the paper quality is great too, and while slightly expensive, it was worth it for me.

CheesecakeRecipe · Feb 18, 2015

Mik2121 said:
Bumping this and aware that this won't be of interest to almost anyone, but Midori is releasing a 2015 special edition of their Midori Traveler's Notebook:

Welp.

*digs out wallet*

Cystm · Feb 18, 2015

Mik2121 said:
Bumping this and aware that this won't be of interest to almost anyone, but Midori is releasing a 2015 special edition of their Midori Traveler's Notebook:

I personally bought a brown Traveler's Notebook to accompany me during my 3 weeks trip to India and I wrote a bunch of things on it with accompanying sketches that, looking back at now, make me glad I did this. It doesn't need to be a Traveler's Notebook obviously, but the leather quality is great, the paper quality is great too, and while slightly expensive, it was worth it for me.

I was actually planning on getting a Traveler's Notebook. I will go ahead and pick up the 2015 edition instead. Thanks!

Mik2121 · Feb 18, 2015

Hahah, yeah the Limited Edition is releasing on the 13th of next month, and I might buy it even though I already own the brown cover.

BTW, today I'm sick at home so I took a few photos of my journal. This is an example of the kind of stuff I did during my trip to India. I blurred out the text because my English is still terrible (I'm from Spain but try to write in English for practice).

Atenhaus · Feb 18, 2015

Mik2121 said:
Hahah, yeah the Limited Edition is releasing on the 13th of next month, and I might buy it even though I already own the brown cover.

BTW, today I'm sick at home so I took a few photos of my journal. This is an example of the kind of stuff I did during my trip to India. I blurred out the text because my English is still terrible (I'm from Spain but try to write in English for practice).

I... fuck.

That's gorgeous.

Mik2121 · Feb 18, 2015

Atenhaus said:
I... fuck.

That's gorgeous.

It just takes time, hahah!

My idea is to do this for every trip I do from now on unless it's just some work-related trip or going back home to Spain. Too bad many countries are starting to get rid of paper stuff (tickets and things like that) so there's less and less stuff to attach to the journal

Cystm · Feb 18, 2015

Mik2121 said:
Hahah, yeah the Limited Edition is releasing on the 13th of next month, and I might buy it even though I already own the brown cover.

BTW, today I'm sick at home so I took a few photos of my journal. This is an example of the kind of stuff I did during my trip to India. I blurred out the text because my English is still terrible (I'm from Spain but try to write in English for practice).

http://i.imgur.com/XmHQsLA.jpg http://i.imgur.com/sibBxbm.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/JDeEFbQ.jpg http://i.imgur.com/jDjirMA.jpg

Thanks for sharing those shots! Your journal is beautiful.

BorkBork · Feb 19, 2015

Incredible! You could probably publish that haha. How long does it take you to do that daily?

Bagels · Feb 19, 2015

Mik2121 said:
Hahah, yeah the Limited Edition is releasing on the 13th of next month, and I might buy it even though I already own the brown cover.

BTW, today I'm sick at home so I took a few photos of my journal. This is an example of the kind of stuff I did during my trip to India. I blurred out the text because my English is still terrible (I'm from Spain but try to write in English for practice).

I would kill a man to be able to sketch like this! That's really what my journal lacks. I looked back, and adding calligraphy and more colors of ink has made each page look much nicer, but I wish I could make better sketches. Then again, having a page to practice each day is exactly what I need to get better....

Mr. F · Feb 19, 2015

Mik2121 said:
Hahah, yeah the Limited Edition is releasing on the 13th of next month, and I might buy it even though I already own the brown cover.

BTW, today I'm sick at home so I took a few photos of my journal. This is an example of the kind of stuff I did during my trip to India. I blurred out the text because my English is still terrible (I'm from Spain but try to write in English for practice).

This is fucking gorgeous. Do you work as an artist or illustrator or are you just a super boss? (or both)

Mik2121 · Feb 19, 2015

Cystm said:
Thanks for sharing those shots! Your journal is beautiful.

Thank you for making this thread!!

BorkBork said:
Incredible! You could probably publish that haha. How long does it take you to do that daily?

Depends on the page. Some of the crazy ones could take a couple hours easily. The text and the main sketches didn't take much time (most sketches were done just with the pen except for a couple where I did some basic lines with a pencil first because I didn't want to mess it up). What took forever was doing all the small patterns you see around. I did most of those watching weird Indian TV at night or when we would go back to the hotel for a short break after lunch (so hot during the Indian summer that staying outside the whole day would probably kill us

).

Bagels said:
I would kill a man to be able to sketch like this! That's really what my journal lacks. I looked back, and adding calligraphy and more colors of ink has made each page look much nicer, but I wish I could make better sketches. Then again, having a page to practice each day is exactly what I need to get better....

As I told you on the other thread, even adding simple stuff without any sort of perspective or even balance will already give a lot to the content. However, I've seen your calligraphy and I'd argue the stuff you do is so much more detailed and complex than mine, hahah!
But yeah, even really simple sketches add a lot. What temporarily killed my journal during the first couple pages was the amount of white spaces in random areas. I went back to them and added extra things, and just having ink all around makes it feel busy and, in some way, cool... maybe?

Mr. F said:
This is fucking gorgeous. Do you work as an artist or illustrator or are you just a super boss? (or both)

Thank you! I'm a 3D Environment Artist (at PlatinumGames) so my job isn't directly related to any 2D skill other than making textures, I guess

I don't think I'm that good. Sketches done with a thin pen just look great no matter what you doodle!

Bagels · Feb 19, 2015

Mik2121 said:
As I told you on the other thread, even adding simple stuff without any sort of perspective or even balance will already give a lot to the content. However, I've seen your calligraphy and I'd argue the stuff you do is so much more detailed and complex than mine, hahah!
But yeah, even really simple sketches add a lot. What temporarily killed my journal during the first couple pages was the amount of white spaces in random areas. I went back to them and added extra things, and just having ink all around makes it feel busy and, in some way, cool... maybe?

Thank you! I'm a 3D Environment Artist (at PlatinumGames) so my job isn't directly related to any 2D skill other than making textures, I guess I don't think I'm that good. Sketches done with a thin pen just look great no matter what you doodle!

That is extremely flattering! Thank you! But I don't think what I do compares to your awesome sketches. I guess the grass really *is* always greener on the other side of the...art.

You're absolutely right about adding even simple doodles, or a decorative border, or basically anything to break up a page of text. I now get the appeal of washi tape - my friend showed me how she dressed up a few blank pages in her Hobonichi with some colorful tape and some simple sketches. It also gives the page a little texture, which is super cool.

It's kind of funny to be so excited about the possibilities presented by a blank sheet of paper, but there you go!

Cindro · Aug 15, 2015

It's a shame this thread doesn't get much love! I stumbled across it while searching for ways to organize my life, and there's some really neat content in here.

Out of everything I've read so far, the bullet journal method has me the most interested. Has anyone stuck with this style for more than a few months? I was considering just buying a daily planner on Amazon, but I love how flexible bullet is, and how you aren't shoehorning your life into a preset template or space. Still, after reading everything on the website and watching the video, it seems somewhat overwhelming and complicated for just starting out - though I'm sure all of that dissipates after doing it for a few days.

I've also been wanting to journal in addition to tracking my goals and to-dos - do you think combining actual journaling with bullet journal (which focuses more on productivity and time-organization) is viable? Bullet journal seems to stress keeping items short and actionable, which I appreciate, so I'm wondering if I should do proper journaling in a separate notebook. At the same time, I much prefer having everything in the same place, so I'd like to combine it all into one if it isn't going to seem too cluttered.

Cystm · Aug 15, 2015

I do everything in my little A5 Markings journal: Bullet System, Journaling, Sketching, etc. I do not mind the clutter and find everything being all-in-one has a certain charm to it.

I also have a pocket notebook for errands and smaller tasks while out and about.

Cindro · Aug 15, 2015

What exactly is an A5 Markings journal? The bullet journal website recommended a Leuchtturm1917 journal - I was thinking of grabbing this one - but I'm definitely open to other ideas on what to buy since I'm new to this and have no idea what I'm doing.

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