How I Use Multiple Notebooks to Stay Organized

One of the most common questions that I get is how I use my multiple notebooks and printables.

I hesitated sharing because it is NOT fancy or structured, BUT for me simple and flexible is what works best- and that is exactly what this is 😉

I’ve tried SO many different planners and bullet journal methods and found that this combination is what works best for me. Having multiple notebooks with different categories helps me compartmentalize and also allows me to keep the writing that I want and recycle the rest.

Here are the notebooks I use every week:

1. Meal plan notebook– This is where I plan meals, write grocery lists, record family favorites and $ spent. Sometimes this is fancy when I have the bandwidth to be creative, more often it’s not. Either way is functional and has worked well for me since January 2022! I keep this open in a designated spot on my kitchen counter.

2. Blog notebook– Obviously this one is not applicable for everyone, but you could have one specific to your job. I use this one to handwrite all my posts. This helps eliminate screen time and I just operate better that way! I also have lists of content ideas as well as social media caption drafts.  It’s not fancy inside at ALL- just quick writing. But I’ll include a picture just for kicks.

3. “Morning pages“- This idea originally comes from the book “The Artist’s Way” but I don’t do this “correctly”. I just use it for stream of consciousness writing, to vent, to work out ideas/solutions, etc. This is messy, private and not something I’ll keep around long term. It’s not necessarily something I’d want to be read after I am gone someday- morbid, but something I think about lol. If there are any ideas that I think I’d like to remember, I quickly star or circle them as I write and then I can transfer those few specific ideas into another notebook at a different time.

4. My “life log”– I saw this phrase from @shenoteditall and thought it was the perfect description for my journal. It’s where I memory keep, make lots of lists, plan, take notes, track and document. I use it daily and it is what you see in many of my posts, both here and on Instagram. This is the only one out of the bunch that I will keep forever.

5. My clipboard– where I keep printables that I reference daily. These types of things could technically be put in my “life log” but I prefer mine to have mine separate so they are easy to see (and not “out of sight, out of mind”)

Both my clipboard and life log are kept in a central, easy access location (kitchen counter for me).

6. Calendar- All scheduled events are written on a calendar on the side of our fridge. I’ll glance at it when writing my weekly to do lists and transfer any plans there!

I think that’s all- I know it is a lot of notebooks, but it’s actually a pretty simple system. I hope it helps and please let me know if you have any questions! Happy planning 🙂