We all have our personal reasons for using a notebook or a journal. Be it for actual writing and we want to put it on something neat, or simply because that leather hardbound gorgeous called on your name when you visited a local novelty shop.

I’ve been mentioning a lot that I’ve started writing since I was I was 7 or 8. And even though digital media is available in any home, I realized that traditional writing is something that I can never let go.

I used to have a notebook for every single thing I do – sketches, poems, short stories, diary etc. So through the years, I have actually managed to nitpick the kind of notebook I want to have and keep.

Me On Bullet Journaling- For when you want to keep it brief and minimal, but also classy and artsy.

Why I have a notebook

I used to have a small notebook I used to call thought cloud. I also mentioned why in another post – 1 Effective Way Not Run Out of Ideas. It’s pretty much where I dump everything that comes in my head, so I take it everywhere. Easily it got filled up.

Besides that thought cloud notebook, I had a separate planner for my school and business, another notebook for my business’ files, and another notebook for my journal. It became a little hassle later on, because my table would be filled up of notebooks (apart from the separate school notebooks for each subject) that are specific for the occasion. Can you imagine what my desk looked like?

When I graduated, my notebook count reduced since I don’t have to use any for my subjects, but my business’ files and work files can be a little messy still. I used to log everything digitally, but after I finish organizing the items and dolling up the digital copy, I never end up looking at it again. So traditional is really my way to go.

Current Use

Having separate notebooks for everything became a pain, but also it was how I learned what I actually want to do with a notebook. Currently, I keep a notebook to log my thoughts, put inspirational quotes, remember quick tasks, and insert notes from what I read.

So when I learned about bullet journal, I just knew it was the thing for me.

But despite that, know that I have at least 20 notebooks lying around my home because they’re so pretty and I can’t just not buy them.

  • FILED Linknotes I, ruled white pages, leather covers and with 5 separate fillers
    • Daily use for my inspiration dump, and notes from what I read.
  • Victoria’s Journal Tote Journal, dot grid cream pages, leather cover, smite-bound
    • Bullet journal and life references (like passwords, favorite websites etc.)

I honestly don’t use any fancy pens like a lot of bullet journalists do. But here’s my list. I mainly use the first two, but if I’m feeling a little extra artsy, I have the others for backup.

  • 0.5mm Black Pilot G-2
  • Bona 6-inch Stainless Ruler
  • 0.5mm Black, Blue and Orange Dong-A Ion 3
  • Gold Sharpie Marker (for emphasis)
  • 1.0 ZIG Calligraphy Pen (if I’m feeling a little artsy)
  • 0.4mm Assorted Colors of Neofine Fineliners
  • Prang Watercolor set
  • 0.3mm and 0.5mm Black Unipin

Size

I prefer standard notebook size or a little smaller than that. Anything bigger sounds great, but taking it outdoors can be a pain since it takes more space. Pocket size notebooks are easy to deal with, but they are too small for my taste since I don’t particularly write tiny either.

Type

There are lots of types of journals in general, and each one would really be depending on your preference. I personally love smite notebooks. Second to that would probably coil, though it can be a little hard to write on, but someone like me who’s a little OC on how everything looks (I hate erasures), have a tendency to tear off pages and start over, so it’s my best friend too.

Pages

I started writing on ruled pages, but later on it felt a little too formal to me so I moved to blank pages and started creating life to the pages with drawings and colors. But it became a tiring task. Sometimes, I just want to write down to remember and get over it, not doll up my notebook for an Instagram-worthy shot (reason why I don’t post a photo of my journals, they’re not exactly Instagrammable). That, till I found out about grid pages. I started to love dot grids.

I also personally love cream-colored semi-textured pages in at least 100gsm compared to white sheets.