Confession: I am a stationery-aholic.
You think I am joking, but I am not.
How many notebooks you are currenly in ownership of, hm?
And, uh, how many are you actually using?
My name is Zoe Collins and I have a problem. Actually that is bullshit, I have no problem. I'm ok with carrying around the five notebooks I am actively using. Yes, I am aware of the bullet journal method, and I use it — and it works, and yay, go Ryder — you changed my life, dude.
But, aside from the notebook I use as my main bullet journal (a beauty from 'Creator's Friend'), I explain myself (to myself) and curate my ideas into five different notebooks (for now).
I use a super funky smallish tote bag to house them all — they come with me on every car trip, bike ride, café visit, and you get the idea. We're attached.
Whilst I refuse to justify my stationery lust, I wonder if in explaining how this works for me, it might make you feel a little better about your obvious stationery problem(s) — or at least give you a way to proclaim your innocence?
THE DAILY.
A5, refillable folio in saddle brown, from Creator's Friend. OK, it's three notebooks in one. Bah! Contained within, my friend, are the following: a daily book, a 'project' book (I have a big life project I'm workin' through); and a collection book (a quick place to jot down the art I create before I send it to Airtable). I cannot live without a list of all the things I need to do in one day, so this works wonders for my focus. I'm always creating new art, so I always need to keep track. The life project will end and I'll sub that out for another. It's a go-to I go to. If I can only take one notebook, then this is the one.
THE JUNGLE.
Kraft brown, A5, elastic closer thingy (most of my notebooks have elastic things and they are truly useful if you shove printouts into your book). This is a messy container of drawings of people, quotes, things I don't want to forget, dinner I cooked and want to recreate, problems, solutions — a golden trove of messy treasure. I trawl through it for ideas and inspiration, often. When it's full I cut out the good bits and glue them into the next one, or file the ideas in my Trello board (an online thing I use for accountability and getting shit done, like writing blog posts!).
THE ART.
Kraft brown, A4, from Zetta Florence in Melbourne. This is a thinking book, a doodling book, more of an art journal than a notebook. I doodle around and work out what meaning my lastest art has for me and see if I can find patterns in the process. Lots of words, lots of drawings. It's essential. Essential! Otherwise, how would I know what to say about my art?
THE BUSINESS.
I listen to a lot of podcasts. Lately I have been deep diving into some money mindset podcasts and having very useful conversations about how to avoid working for the man. I write down the gems in this book. The goal setting, money mindset, you can do this sole business person thing (with the help of aforementioned podcasts + an assistant, excellent generous friends etc etc).
THE CURRENT COURSE I'M TAKING
I recently started a Brisbane City Council Makers Entrepreneurship program, hosted by Artisan. And, well, of course I need to take notes and no they cannot go in my 'business' book. ok? Sheesh!
And that's it (actually, I have another one, but it's not always with me — it's a spending tracker and is related to my big life project and I don't even know if I will keep it).
I can imagine people out there who would be able to have one place to store all these things, and I wish them well in their endeavours, I truly do. But, if you want to have the space to truly flex on several different important things at once, I highly recommend indulging and buying another four or five notebooks... and you'll need more pens too, yeah?
THINGS MENTIONED IN THIS POST
The Bullet Journal Method by Ryder Caroll — best invention ever if you're a bit scatty or a bit neurodiverse (ADHD — it's a thing), or if you want to justify the purchase of a(nother) notebook.
Airtable (this is my affilliate link) — I use Airtable to catalogue my artworks. It's great because it can manage images and text so I can see the artwork as well as record its price, size, buyer, gallery etc.
MY CURRENT NOTEBOOKS AND WHERE TO BUY THEM
The daily — Creator's Friend in Townsville! (Hello Ashleigh). She also stocks very pretty highlighters in sweet pastel and neutral tones.
The Jungle — I stock them here. They're affordable (only $10!) and delightful. They can take some wet media as well as the usual pens/pencils.
The Art — Zetta Florence, in Melbourne. Hoo boy, be warned, if you go there you will leave full of delight.
The Business — this is one I bought eaons ago from somewhere like Milligram... It's a hard cover A5 dot grid journal (I prefer dot grid to lined) and I would have bought it because it was on clearance. Papier Tigre is the brand. And it's gorgeous.
The Current Course — can there be anything more delightful than a moleskine notebook? I think not. I buy from my favourite bookstore, Avid Reader. I also really like Daiso for notetaking books. I used them for my latest qulification in Creative Therapies.
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