15 Ways to Use a Small Notebook
Whether you’re using a pack of Field Notes or a Passport Size Traveler’s notebook, it is so easy to start a lovely small notebook collection. These versatile little paper companions are very portable and friendly on the wallet! If you have stacks of unused notebooks like us, you might be looking for some creative ways to put them to good use. Here are some of our suggestions to help you give some love to your personal, passport, and A6 size notebooks.
A Memory a Day
Keeping a full-length journal can be difficult! Writing one page in an A6 or personal size notebook will likely only be a few sentences. That’s much less intimidating!
Gratitude Journal
Write down one thing that you’re grateful for every day. Keeping a gratitude journal helps you to appreciate the little things, and you’ll start to look for little positive moments in your life.
Commonplace Book
If you’ve ever heard of a “brain dump” book, a commonplace book is the same concept. It can include any little tidbit that has been floating around your mind: quotes, questions about the universe, you name it! Commonplace books were especially popular in the Renaissance and the 19th century, and in keeping one, you’ll be keeping company with Marcus Aurelius, Leonardo da Vinci, Dante Alighieri, Isaac Newton, Thomas Hardy, Mark Twain, Virginia Woolf, Henry David Thoreau… you get the picture!
Car Maintenance
The glovebox always seems to have everything except what you need! Having a small notebook in your car can help you to keep track of things like your oil brand, tire pressure, and information for your emergency contacts. You can also use it to keep track of important dates, like appointments or the last time you got your tires rotated.
Ink Swabs
If you love fountain pens, you probably also love ink! See all of your gorgeous colours at a glance by starting an ink swab notebook. Luckily, we also have a variety of Tomoe River pocket notebooks, so you don’t have to sacrifice quality paper.
Washi Tape Collection
Just like keeping an ink swab book, keeping a washi tape swab book will allow you to see all of your designs at a glance. You’ll also have an archive of your tapes if you ever want to order a replacement.
Sticker book
Some stickers are just so sentimental that you can’t actually use them anywhere! Whether you’re storing keepsakes from your travels or you just really love a particular design from a pretty pack, keeping a sticker book means that your designs will always be somewhere accessible, but you’re also using them. Even better? Try Traveler’s Company’s B-Sides and Rarities sticker paper, only available for a limited time!
Funny Things My Kid Says
It’s true that kids say the darnedest things! Remember every memorable quote with a small notebook that you can bring everywhere with you. You’ll be ready to catch every kid-ism your little one has to say!
The Last Time I…
Quick — off the top of your head, when is the last time that you cleaned behind your fridge? You may have household chores that you do every week, but it is harder to remember when you did those only-sometimes tasks. Keeping a notebook handy for things like when you cleaned your stove, waterproofed your shoes, or cleaned out the freezer can make sure those tasks actually get done on a semi-regular basis.
Inspiration Tracker
If you’re a creative person, you’ve probably had the dreaded experience of thinking of the perfect picture or plot in a really inconvenient place, only to forget it once you’re home! A little notebook can come with you everywhere for sudden strokes of genius. Paired with a versatile ballpoint, like the Fisher Space Pen, you’ll never be wanting for ideas ever again.
Midnight Thoughts
You know that feeling when you’re tucked nicely into your bed and you have the sudden urge to know what the purpose of a scatterplot is? Can’t remember pythagorean theorem from grade eight math? What’s that song that you and your friends used to sing at camp and all you remember is that there is some kind of juice in the lyrics somewhere? We’ve all been there! Keep a notebook next to your bed so you can write down those midnight thoughts to worry about them in the morning!
Traveling notebook
Another bonus of the personal sized notebooks is that they are so thin and small that they can fit in regular letter envelopes! You can send the notebook back and forth with another stationery fan and fill it together for a nice friendship memory book.
To-Do lists
This suggestion is pretty simple: what do you need to do? It may seem like making a to-do list can be overwhelming when you have so much, well, to do, but psychologists actually suggest making to-do lists to decrease anxiety. We could all use a more stress-free day!
Who has my things?
Have you ever leant a book to a friend but then forgot which friend you leant it to? Keep notes for yourself on what you have leant out to your friends and when. You’ll never be wondering where that Tupperware went after that!
Junk Journal
A receipt for the parking ticket you paid, a cool wax seal that an artist made for you, and a profound quote you learned can all go together in a junk journal! Anything that doesn’t have a home can make its way into your little notebook and off of your desk. Problem solved!
How do you use your small notebooks? Let us know in the comments!