DIY Planner - help: too many books - Comments

Old Journal Graveyard

tootru — Sat, 24 Nov 2007 00:18:41 -0500

I have mounds of old journals and notebooks. Many with only a few pages written in.

What I've done is to cut the used pages out of the journals with only a few entries, and keep them in a file folder.

The old books have all been Freecycled, so I'm not carrying the weight of old, "unfinished business" around with me.

Now I keep a personal journal on my desk (currently a Myndology Journal) that I use exclusively for personal, chronological journalling. I may move this over to Circa if I can ever get a punch delivered ::sigh::

I also have a notebook for work that's semi-set up for GTD, with some special modifications. This will be Circa-fied as soon as the punch comes in.

Though because I have a fetish for notebooks and journals, I have repurposed a few smaller notebooks - i.e. one of the little Moleskines is now my password record and is hidden near my desk at home.

Lots of great ideas here about disjointed journaling

ygor — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 14:33:50 -0400

To summarize:
* creatively re-use the paper in the unused journals
* scan and consolidate the "good stuff" -- you could also "Circa-fy" it
* revisit one's journaling style to try to be less disjointed

A few of my own observations:
There were complaints about bleeding ink and pages too small to write on comfortably. Part of my own DIY-Planner journey has been experimentation. Try stuff out short term before committing to it. I learned lots about paper quality (or lack thereof) and I rediscovered my love of fountain pens. Just keep plugging away. Learn from the experiences -- good and frustrating.
-----------------------------------
"I think the surest sign that there is intelligent life out there in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us." (Calvin and Hobbes/Bill Waterson)

This is what I wound up

DharmaBum62 — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 13:48:26 -0400

This is what I wound up doing. I never could Keep A Journal becuase I'd write on different things depending on where I was and what I had at the time: large pads at desk, steno pads at the bus stop, in different notebooks, on the computer, on Post-it notes, etc. and I never could settle on any one place to write everything. Now I just rip/cut/print things out and mount them on 8-1/2 x 11 paper [US citizen, no intended offense to the A4 crowd] and put them in ring binders. It's a bit chaotic but then so am I.

I haven't bought a Moleskine or other bound notebook yet -- though I'll probably take the plunge when I get my next paycheck -- and I don't think I'd want to rip pages out of that. So I'm not yet sure how that's gonna work :)

Me, too

Rachel R. — Fri, 25 May 2007 00:01:12 -0400

I always had multiple journals. Largely because I would start one and then lose it. :( I'm also not very artistic/creative, and could never seem to get beyond a basic, linear journal entry, so my eventual solution works for me. ;) (Perhaps it could be adapted for others, though?)

I journal in a Word document. It's always on my computer, so I can't misplace it. Typing is much faster for me (and easier on my hand!) than writing, so I'm more likely to write more, more often. At the end of the year, I upload the whole thing to Lulu.com and have a copy printed and shipped to me.

Be blessed!
~Rachel <><

what I have done

paulien — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 03:11:57 -0400

is take the written pages out of the spiral bound book. I put them in an envelope, and the envelope in the back pocket of the moleskine. I made the envelope out of decorative paper I had lying somewhere. The spiral book is now empty again,and I will keep it until I decide what to do with it. I will not throw it away, maybe someone else can use it. Or I will take the pages out and use them as scrap paper. The cove is beautiful, with a piece of an Escher drawing on the front. But I hate the paper.
Thanks for all you good suggestions. They got me thinking, and next time I will be more careful before buying a blank book.

Why not change it's function

Katrina — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 23:48:10 -0400

Hi Paulien,

If your A5 notebook isn't good for writing in, you could use it as a scrapbook (in the old style) or a mementoes book. You could stick in it magazine/newspaper clippings, movie ticket stubs, and other things you want to keep somewhere but are too big for your smaller journals.

The opposite problem

hblanchard — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 10:23:22 -0400

Oddly enough, I've always done the opposite and have just decided to start running more than one notebook. For umpteen years, I had one notebook, chronological, and I have a 3 foot stack of filled books at work - in chronological sequence. About 3 years ago I began maintaining 2 notebooks, one for work and one for home.

A while ago, I read another post somewhere else about always having notebooks in handy places. I was just about to do that when I saw your post. Hmm, maybe now I should think twice (I already have a system where I keep 3x5 cards with me for on-the-run notes, maybe I should stick with that?)

I see the major problem would be indexing the contents. It's hard enough to index, at least the chronological order helps aid indexing and later retrieval and browsing.

My advice is to label the ones you already filled with dates and maybe volume numbers on the outside, and close them - or if you continue with them label them vol 1a and 1b, b being this year - or some other such sort of thing that makes sense to you.

I've done this

Anonymous — Sat, 14 Apr 2007 23:22:26 -0400

I used to use a 5.5x8.5 looseleaf journal and would just move pages to a finished journal and add clean pages to back of the present one and keep journaling. I found it easier to do this than not finish a journal for have something lingering if I wanted to ut closure on it and by removing the pages, I was able to finalize some things. I enlarged them to an letter page and put them in a 3 ring binder.

I have started using moleskin jounals and find I like them but will do the same once I fill them up.

With the 3 ring binder it was much easier to carry a few sheets with me and insert them when I got home. now I need to remember to carry the moleskin which isn't always easy, and I have a few dates on napkins and assorted sheets of 3x5 which I always have with me.

Just a few of my meandering thoughts...
MJ

incomplete

Sara — Sat, 14 Apr 2007 20:26:26 -0400

I wonder if leaving a journal incomplete says something about the journaler... I'll have to look into this. Perhaps it defines a personality trait. :o)

I hadn't thought of scanning since I dont have one at home... but that is a great idea.

my artwork | my blog

too many books 2

Sonja in Garland, TX — Sat, 14 Apr 2007 19:00:34 -0400

Has anyone thought of scanning the pages, then consolidating them (in order), printing out in a standard size (i.e. 8X11), and then binding them? I have journals going back years now and none of them are complete.

Throwing away pages

shris — Sat, 14 Apr 2007 11:18:36 -0400

Hi.

Don't throw the pages away if they're blank.

1) Cut them into smaller sizes, glue one edge of the stack with rubber cement, and call it a memo pad and stick it next to the phone. Put another in the kitchen for grocery lists.

2) Give them to your kids for drawing paper or paper airplanes (if you have any kids). Give them to the neighbor's kids if you don't have any in your near family.

3) Donate to the nearest daycare or elementary school.

4) Crumple them and use them for packing the next time you ship something.

...etc.

shris

hmmm

Sara — Sat, 14 Apr 2007 09:05:27 -0400

perhaps the spiral could become your storage device... you described the pages as "larger"... then you wouldnt be getting rid of it. you could make some sort of pocket by adding additional paper ... or perhaps use and eXacto type knife to cut out the centers of some pages and mount your duplex stuff.

i've removed some pages out of some sticky situations before... ie very tight bindings... a straight edge and exacto knife can handle most jobs.

let me know what you decide on and share pictures if you can :o) I'll do the same... <3 take care and enjoy your weekend!

my artwork | my blog

good to know

paulien — Sat, 14 Apr 2007 07:46:54 -0400

that i am not the only one. Your scrapbooking/collaging idea is good, but I am still not happy that at least one of the books should go to waste for the most part. I don't like the paper of the larger spiral book at al, but just saving the written pages and throwing it out seems so bad. And taking the pages out of the moleskine is not going to be easy, and ruining the whole thing. And those pages are written on two sides (not in the larger one) so I would have to use envelopes or something like that. Still thinking...

I don't have your other problem, I save almost everything. I think I should purge a bit more.

full of em

Sara — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 17:27:23 -0400

I may be going over board but you got me thinking about my own journal mess...

I have a pair of those fancy scissors that cut decorative edges... I think they are pretty common now that scrapbooking is "IN". I was thinking that cutting out the area where the writing is, and using the larger paper as a frame might be nice too... then if i get artistic i could paint or collage around the edge too.

do you ever think what you wrote isn't worth saving? I know that down the road I could potentially look back and learn something about myself... or some idea may be inspired... but I get the urge to purge...

my artwork | my blog

that is a good idea

paulien — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 17:05:55 -0400

The cut and glue-idea seems nice, I will think about that. We don't have circa here, I'm in the Netherlands. I wish we had, it seems nice (hope ryan reads this...).
Thanks for your reply.
Paulien

help: too many books

paulien — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 14:37:36 -0400

I have a little problem, and I hope someone here can give me some advice.
I am trying to jourmal regularly, and I carry a small teNeues notebook in my bag to write in. I already had a moleskine about one third filled before I starte doing this. And I also started a larger (A5) notebook at home. I didn't want to use the moleskine any more, because I had not written in it for some time.
Now the problem: I have three journals going, and I don't like that. I just want one. I don't really like the larger journal that is just seven pages filled, because all my pens bleed. Should I just fill them one by one, or leave some blank pages? I know it is no problem to have more journals if you are ok with that, but I am not really.
Thanks, Paulien

D*I*Y Planner - help: too many books - Comments

Old Journal Graveyard

Lots of great ideas here about disjointed journaling

This is what I wound up

Me, too

what I have done

Why not change it's function

The opposite problem

I've done this

incomplete

too many books 2

Throwing away pages

hmmm

good to know

full of em

that is a good idea

help: too many books

DIY Planner - help: too many books - Comments