Hiya guys! So as you know I have a quite obvious nail polish addiction. We've established this a long time ago and it's fine it's cool. But I also have a mega obsession with stationary items specially notebooks. I mean I have always been a planner girl with my little agenda book, stickers, colored highlighters, amongst other things. Recently though I have stepped away from my Erin Condren planner and have indulged in the act of simple notebooks. Something I didn't think I would ever do, but it has allowed for a lot more creative flow. Though let's be real, look at the photo. I need to simmer down on the notebooks, haha. It's to the point where Austin has to steer me away from the stationary aisle during any trip out to Walmart, Target, etc. Even still I manage to sneak a little journal or two in the cart. It's the covers man, they get to me every time. Especially if the cover has some type of foil or cute quote... swoon.
So why do I need so many notebooks? Like I tell Austin, "it's because I have a lot of thoughts dude". Of course that's followed up by asking for some new pens cause obviously I can't write all these thoughts in the notebook without a pen. Like duh.
Oh if only this was all the notebooks I owned, haha. I would actually show you the full extent of my collection, but you guys already think I am bonkers enough as it is. Seriously though I am a girl with a lot of different things I like to track and no not all of these notebooks are used up. These days I try and be more selective in what I choose to purchase just to avoid clutter. But real talk time. As cute as they are to look at and have sitting pretty on a shelf, it is much better to organize yourself and make use out of your purchase. So that way you can fill it and buy more. I mean... me enable you? What? Crazy talk. Now here are 7 easy and fun ways you can fill out your notebooks!
1. Bullet Journal: The single most life changing kind of notebook to have. Actually I just recently got into this as an effort to organize my life with a friend, haha. We are obsessed with it and work on it together almost every day. Basically it's a blank notebook (more commonly with dot grid pages) where you create from scratch everything in your life that you want to take note of. From cleaning schedule, to books to read, to gratitude logs, exercise tracker, etc. It can literally be whatever you want it to be, you just have to make it. In the past few weeks of having this journal I have felt so much more accountable for my daily habits. Like it bums me out to have to mark as undone for the day, so it's extra motivation to workout that day or learn korean or do my skin care routine. I definitely plan on having a blog post in the next few weeks showing you guys my bullet journal and the things I have decided to note for the month.
2. Morning Pages: I can be the first to say that I am not very good at this practice myself. Essentially morning pages are the equivalent to the classic diary but with a little more self reflection. Every morning as soon as you wake up you pull out the journal and spill whatever is on your mind. This can be a page full or five. The purpose is to empty your mind's concerns and set forth your intention for the day with a clear head. I love the idea of this practice, but just find it difficult to incorporate into my daily morning routine. Though I am not giving up on it and it's one of the habits I wish to fully develop by the end of the year.
3. Learning / Studying: Whether you're brushing up on a forgotten hobby or learning something new, it's always nice to have a solid place for note taking. Especially if you're doing extensive learning, like learning a new language. In the past year I decided to learn Korean and I have been able to devote a few notebooks to my studying. There is so much to learn: new vocabulary, sentence structure, pronunciation, practice exams, etc. I like sorting up my lessons by source and then category that way I have easy ways to refer back to my notes.
4. Make lists: Seriously. Make lists for just about everything in your life. This can be from the most simple grocery lists to gift ideas for family members to future travel locations. Write it all down. The point is just making sure it's written down so that it can't be forgotten. There is absolutely no such thing as having too many lists in my world. I love using lists to mark off to-dos, especially on the weekend when I have the most time to devote to chores. The best part about it for me is you don't have to be neat or cautious or have any sort of strict format. It's simply a notebook full of lists!
5. Novel Plotting / Writing: I'll admit this one is a little niche specific, but still felt like it could be useful to a lot of you out there. Another way I love using my notebooks is to outline novel ideas especially for Nanowrimo. Or even using a notebook for blog post ideas and jot down a few tidbits that I want to include in a post. The length or depth of each notebook page is up to you of course. When it comes to blog post ideas I like to just write a simple and short tidbit to just give me an idea of how to form my post. But when it comes to an outline for a novel - as you can see in the photo - I tend to go a little nuts with the details. And even more nuts with the colored sticky notes. Whichever way is your style, it doesn't matter so long as you're getting the important pieces down so they aren't eaten by the brain bunnies.
6. Sketching: Whether it be nail art like me, cartoons, people - the end result is the same. You have a cute little book filled with your craft to look back on, draw inspiration from, and see your improvement. You never know when inspiration can hit so I like having a book devoted to just my nail blogging in general with a division for just sketching ideas. It doesn't have to be perfect or even be in color. Just jot down the general idea of it so you can pull it up later when you're ready to sit down and create art on your tiny canvas. Or big canvas if you're doing actual art with paints and all the works.
7. Indexing: Now I don't think of this as a thing others do, but during my mega swatching days I loved indexing my swatches. I would write the brand, the name of the polish, leave a space to put down a sample of the polish, and write my notes on the polish application. It's a practice I still love doing to this day and my goal is to one day have every polish I own swatched and indexed. If I had a better system for storage I feel like adding helmer location/drawer would have been cool too. And it's definitely something that can be incorporated into different hobbies as well whether makeup related or not.
And that's it! What do you guys think? Are any of you going to find a way to implement a method or two into your notebooks? I'd like to hear what you do with your notebooks or am I the only crazy hoarder here? Haha. Either way I'd love to hear your thoughts.
Until next time moonchildren.
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