I came across this practice in a video a while ago. Unfortunately the author’s name is lost to me now, but what stayed was the elegance of the execution: keeping one notebook where you put down whatever crosses your mind.
The only actual requirement of this practice is not to overthink it, I never sit down, stare at a page, and consciously ask myself, “What should I write in my notebook today?”. The premise of this notebook it’s more about building an archive of raw, unfiltered fragments, for example: a memory that surfaces out of nowhere, a physical sensation, a sudden urge, something you saw that looked interesting or a fragment of a conversation you overheard.
While I try to carry this notebook everywhere, the reality is that the best thoughts rarely arrive on schedule, so when I don’t have the notebook on me, I just capture the thought wherever I can in that exact moment—on my phone, a loose scrap of paper, or even a napkin… When something catches your attention, the only rule is to write it down before it slips away.
what kind of materials do you need?
There are no rules for this kind of notebook.. you can use whatever materials catch your eye. Again, the only requirement is not to think too much. If something interests you, you just put it there. Personally, I never use much paint in mine… I get distracted easily, and by the time I actually grab the paint and get it ready, I’ve already lost the idea.
In fact, since I can be a bit forgetful, the notebook helps me synthesize things, it brings back what I like and the exact sensation I was feeling the moment I wrote it down, even though I don’t always remember how or when I wrote something… (just clarifying that this can happen, and it’s completely normal.)
If we’re speaking practically about materials and other stuff, to make it more fun and “yours”, you can personalize it however you want, not to make it look ‘aesthetic’ though… do it to make it feel less precious, maybe put a random sticker on the cover, let the corners get bent at the bottom of your bag, use three different colors of pen on the same page, we have infinite possibilities.
why just one notebook?
You may ask yourself “why just one?”
I personally think that the whole point is to have that overarching view of your own mind, it’s simply more practical, and it kinda forces you to think less.
It is not a strict rule, of course. You do what feels right for you, but I believe that keeping multiple notebooks makes you pause and consider which one is the “correct” place for whatever you just thought of or found.
By the time you figure out exactly where a reference belongs, the urge to write it down has often already passed.
the view from the outside
The most interesting part of keeping this notebook happens months later, when you open it and read it from the outside… it gives you a general view of your own mind, letting you observe phases you didn’t even know you were going through.
For example, there was a period when I became really interested in everything related to the beach and the ocean… I didn’t plan it, but many “ocean” things just kept showing up on the pages—in the colors of the pens I used, in the quick drawings.
A single note from a random Tuesday might not mean much on its own. But looking at the notebook as a whole shifted my perspective. The first thing that hit me was a simple and quiet realization: I actually had a lot of ideas, I just didn’t recognize them as ideas at the time.
That is what I mean by reading yourself like a stranger. Flipping through these old pages feels like looking into someone else’s mind, and it proves that the lingering feeling of ‘not being creative’ is usually false.
the first page.
If the first page is what paralyzes you, the best workaround I know is to ruin it immediately.
Open the notes app on your phone, scroll to the bottom and find the last random, disconnected thing you typed there weeks ago… grab a pen and copy it onto the first page of your notebook. You don’t have to add any context, just move it from the screen to the paper… Suddenly, the notebook is no longer empty.
If the thought of ruining a nice, expensive journal still paralyzes you, the best workaround for me is to remove the pressure completely by not buying one, but making my own. It’s a lot easier to be messy and honest on paper that you folded and stapled yourself.
L. M. is a researcher and an independent creator. More than just producing visual work, L. M. is driven by the desire to cultivate self-reliance, exploring how simple, imperfect physical actions can offer a renewed sense of independence.