Ask TGS: Do You Journal? And If So, How?

The “Ask TGS” series collects frequently asked questions submitted to the website, and answers those that I feel would be most helpful to the readership at large. You can check out an archive of sorts here, which is periodically updated.

Today’s “Ask TGS” question involves journaling, and it’s one that I frequently get from readers who think they would benefit from a regular journaling practice, and don’t necessarily know where to begin. So do I journal? The simple answer is, “Yes,” but probably not in the idealized way that many people think about Capital J “Journaling”: an hours-long, deep, introspective writing session that involves your finest notebook, your fanciest fountain pen, and the perfect ink. Framing journaling in this way can even be counterproductive, because it keeps some from ever getting started.

I Journal To Get Stuff Out of My Head So That I Can Focus and Think Clearly

90% of my “journaling” takes place during a 20-30 minute stream-of-consciousness writing session, in which I simply jot down in a notebook everything that’s going through my head at the time. Sometimes this takes the form of coherent thoughts, but not necessarily. Sometimes it’s lists of things I have to do that I’m worried I will forget if I don’t write it out. Sometimes it’s random stuff drawn haphazardly across a blank page, with items circled and lines connecting thoughts. Other times it’s true nonsense. This is a variation on the popular “morning pages” technique, though I’ve never read the Julia Cameron book that popularized it, and how I journal is simply something I personally came up with over the years and which I feel helps me settle my mind. Typically I journal in the morning, while I’m having my first cup of coffee, but if I’ve had a particularly chaotic day, I’ll sometimes add a second session before I leave the office or before I go to bed, just to assure myself that I’m not forgetting anything.

The other 10% of my journaling practice is more introspective, and more traditional in the sense that at least once a week I’ll sit down and try to work through a problem or issue at greater length. These are your classic long-form writing sessions, and last as long as it takes for me to resolve something or get to a point where I can’t go any further for the time being. Again, this writing doesn’t take on a specific format, I hardly ever use prompts, and sometimes I won’t even do these sessions in a proper notebook since I may want to shred or destroy the pages after I’m finished.

View fullsize

I don’t need to buy any more journals.

5 Tips For a Journaling Practice That I’ve Found Valuable

Over the years, these five thoughts have helped me keep things in perspective, especially as journaling has become trendier and I’m seeing it more prominently featured on the social media algorithms. The common theme running through all of these tips is “just get started and do what feels helpful/natural to you.” Journaling is not about following rules or impressing anyone else - it’s supposed to be personal.

1. Journaling Doesn’t Require a Specific Technique or Format. Just get started writing. Don’t ever feel that you “don’t really journal because you don’t do ______.” There’s no set format or rules that you have to follow, and your journal doesn’t have to look pretty. (Honestly, you don’t even have to “keep” a journal. If you want to write out all your innermost thoughts on a legal pad to get them out of your head and then shred or burn it so that you can be sure nobody will ever see it, do that! I do it all the time.)

2. Use Whatever Materials You have On Hand. While many people who write regularly do gravitate to a favorite brand of notebook, you can journal with anything. All you really need are a pen or pencil and a piece of paper. One of my own personal resolutions this year is to use up as much of my current notebook stockpile as I can rather than committing to a specific system for my journaling.

3. Less Fancy Materials Are Less Distracting. For the past week I’ve been journaling with a wood pencil and a ballpoint pen. Yes, they’re nice pencils and the pen is the excellent Pilot S20, but I’ve found that when I really need to focus on what I’m writing, I want the tools to disappear and prefer non-fountain pens. If I do use a fountain pen, I use plain blue or black ink.

4. For Me, More Frequent Journaling Is More Helpful, But I Definitely Skip Days. Like meditation or physical exercise, I find that I get more benefit from a journaling practice if I do at least a little something every day, but stuff happens and sometimes you definitely benefit from a day off. Heck, I’ll miss entire weeks on occasion. Don’t worry about it. Just pick up the pen/pencil and get back at it.

5. You Don’t Have To Post Your Journals on Social Media. Obviously you can do whatever you want, but if your goal is to journal for personal growth/mental health, make your journal truly personal. Avoid the temptation to make it look pretty for Instagram or YouTube. Not only will it help you to focus on the actual practice of journaling, but you’ll also avoid comparing yourself to professional social media accounts that often do little more than make you feel bad that your journal doesn’t look as nice as a professionally designed product. I’ve actually had multiple conversations with people who stopped journaling or never took the practice up in the first place because “It’s never going to look as good as [X-Influencer].” That’s not what it’s about.

If you feel stuck and want ideas on journaling techniques/including prompts, there are some excellent websites out there that go deep on journaling techniques. Two that I’ve found helpful are Writing at Large and Comfortable Shoes Studio, which I occasionally link to in my Sunday Reading links. Both have extensive journaling guides and resources and discuss many different types of journaling practices.

Thank you for reading! The Gentleman Stationer is supported by the T.G.S. Curated Shop and the T.G.S. Patreon Program. If you’d like to visit our in-person location, you can view directions and up-to-date hours here.

Back to Hobonichi: My Daily Journaling Setup for 2024

I spent a lot of time over the past four months thinking about how I wanted to approach journaling in 2024. Over the past year, I definitely became more consistent in terms of how often I sit down to write (always by hand, never on the computer), but until my work sabbatical in October didn’t spend much time thinking through a coherent journaling strategy and how I wanted to use journaling to support my personal and professional goals. After some experimentation, I decided to divide my journaling between three different books: (1) a professional “journal” that I use to track how I spent my time each day, mainly on work and more structured personal projects; (2) a “observations” journal that’s in a smaller format I can carry with me; and (3) a more traditional “reflections” journal that I write in each morning.

*Note: I don’t use a traditional paper “planner” (i.e., a calendar to track dates and appointments) for professional reasons. My schedule is too complex and deadline-dependent to rely on manual updates and edits, especially since due dates and meetings constantly change (often without my knowledge). I mention this up front because I know that I’m going to get the question: why does someone need three planners? The answer is that even though the Hobonichi Techo - and other similar “planners” such as those from Stalogy and the Midori Codex - are marketed as traditional calendar/diaries, the layouts are extremely flexible and can easily be used as journals or dated notebooks, which is how I’ve always viewed them.

View fullsize

Journal No. 1: Hobonichi Cousin A5

My primary everyday professional notebook/journal is going to be the Hobonichi Cousin A5. For the last quarter of 2023, I experimented with “time blocking” as part of an effort to improve my concentration and focus, which is a time-management technique that can be helpful for those of us who work more than one job and/or whose profession involves managing multiple complex projects. A full discussion of this technique (and how I’ve adapted it to my needs) is beyond the scope of this simple blog post, but the general idea is that you sit down each morning for 15-20 minutes and plan out your day in blocks of time dedicated to a specific task or project, to the exclusion of anything else that may distract you. You intersperse your day with “admin” blocks to keep up with more routine things such as e-mail, phone calls, paying bills, etc. It might seem rigid at first, but two things happen: (1) the “a time and place for everything” philosophy underlying the structure creates space for better concentration, and eventually you’re more easily able to resist things such as checking e-mail that pull you out of the work your doing because you know you’ve set aside time for them later; and (2) you’re able to finish tasks quicker because you’re giving yourself the space to concentrate on a single thing rather than multi-tasking.

View fullsize

Yes, the Cousin fits in the Roterfaden, but you will need to embrace the “one notebook” Roterfaden strategy (unless you go with the Cousin Avec).

For those interested in learning more, I’d recommend picking up a copy of the “Time Block Planner” (the most recent version of which contains decent paper). I found that the layout didn’t work perfectly for me - I think it’s actually intended more as a “workbook” to help you learn the technique for the first time - but the experience of working through the planner for eight weeks or so was invaluable.

View fullsize

A sample time block plan. Obviously I had to redact details.

I draw my time blocks on the left-hand side of the Hobonichi Techo, and use the remainder of the daily page for my “catch-all” notes and administrative task lists. If you’re in the middle of a time block and an unrelated thought/task/observation pops into your head, you jot it down in the free space on your planner or notebook. In addition to being useful for organizing my work and thoughts, I enjoy having a fairly detailed record of exactly how I spend my time. The page layout of the Hobonichi Cousin A5 is well-suited to how I time-block.

View fullsize

I use the monthly calendar as a way to experiment with content plans. (Most of this is a draft which then gets imported into my computer as I decide what I’m going to publish/write about.)

I currently have the Hobonichi Cousin in my A5 Roterfaden binder. Because the Cousin is a thick notebook, I attached it to the Roterfaden using the center clip, use the front clip as a bookmark for the “weekly” view, and plan to use the third clip to hold loose papers, etc. (For those who are interested, we currently have A6 Roterfadens in stock with another shipment of A4 and A5 binders on the way from Germany as we speak.)

View fullsize

On Sunday afternoon I try to sketch out a “weekly time block plan” which is intended to be rough. I then flesh it out either in the morning before the workday starts or the night before.

Journal No. 2: Hobonichi Weeks Mega

Less a journal and more of an “observations” notebook without any strict format requirements. This year I’m making a conscious effort to be more present, to read more, and generally to engage in activities that necessarily require a longer attention span, such as tackling more difficult books and watching longer films. I constantly collect book and movie recommendations, and always maintain a running annual list of books read/movies watched for the year, which is probably how I will use the blank pages at the back of the Weeks. I also enjoy having a “week on a page” layout, which I’ve used so far to jot down just one or two memorable things I did/observed on each day. My Hobonichi Weeks had a start date of November 27, 2023, so I already have about six weeks under my belt.

View fullsize

Journal No. 3: Hobonichi A6

Finally, my third journal is my reflections journal. I’ve managed to keep up my morning journaling routine to the point where I reliably write most mornings, reflecting on the prior day. For this journal I chose the standard Hobonichi A6, which contains just enough space to allow me to write a meaningful entry in 30 minutes or less.

View fullsize

I don’t have a cover for this third journal yet. As discussed below, I’m waiting for a new shipment of Roterfaden Taschenbegleiter covers, so I may choose an A6 size for this one, but since this journal typically stays on my desk at home the best choice might be a slimmer Gfeller undyed leather cover or one of the Galen Leather “Crazy Horse” varieties.

View fullsize

Stay tuned, because throughout the year, I plan to share more about both journaling strategies and my likes/dislikes of the various Hobonichi editions. Currently, they’re all pretty much exactly what I was suspecting, with no surprises other than how effortless it’s been to enjoy them. Happy New Year, everyone!

The Gentleman Stationer is supported entirely by purchases from the T.G.S. Curated Shop and pledges via the T.G.S. Patreon Program. You can read more about T.G.S. Patreon in yesterday’s post.

Spotlight on Midori MD Notebook Journals: A Wealth of Versatile Formats

So far this year, posts on journaling have received a lot of traffic (and comments!), and journals are flying out the door in the shop. It’s encouraging and gratifying to see so many people enjoying analog journaling, and even if I haven’t been able to respond directly to all of your comments, I’ve enjoyed reading them, especially the comments discussing all of your journaling styles, methods, and prompts.

I can see myself using the Grid-Block Notebook Journal as a Planner: you will have eight “boxes” on two pages facing one another, so you can use a box per day plus a section for notes or a bullet list?

While we carry a lot of notebooks appropriate for journaling (and pretty much any notebook can be made to work as a journal), the Midori MD system is the most popular. In addition to the standard MD “notebooks” in lined, grid, and blank formats, Midori also sells A5 notebooks that they bill as “Notebook Journals,” which come in different layouts that many find helpful for creative journaling. Of course, the dot-grid version is a favorite (and probably our overall top-selling Midori MD Notebook), but the A5 “Frame” version is also popular with those who draw, paint, or paste in photographs and other mementos. The newly arrived A5 “Grid Block” notebook is the most interesting to me, as it divides each page of grid ruled paper into four quadrants. The Midori MD Notebook Journals are the same size as the standard A5 MD Notebook, so they are compatible with Midori MD Covers and other accessories.

View fullsize

Traveler’s Company Brass Index Clips and other Traveler’s Company/Midori Accessories enable you to organize your journals and notebooks.

Of course, for those who journal regularly and want a true day-to-a-page notebook in a single volume that will stand alone by year, the Midori MD Codex will remain the gold standard. We have Codex journals in both Dot Grid and Blank formats, along with the clear plastic covers. (Note that the Codex journals do NOT fit the standard MD Paper or Leather covers, which are intended for the slimmer MD Notebooks and Notebook Journals.) You can check out our full range of Midori paper offerings here, in addition to matching pens and pencils.

The T.G.S. Curated Shop is an authorized retailer of all brands sold, including Midori and Traveler’s Company.

Thursday Drops: Journals, Planners, and Journaling Supplies

It’s no secret that I’m going to lean hard into my journals and planners this year, as 2023 is shaping up to be a busy (yet exciting!) one and I need whatever help I can get to keep myself on track. To read more about what specific notebooks and planners I’m using for this coming year, check out last week’s posts about my personal setup, and also yesterday’s post about journaling goals.

My 5-year Journal is going to look a little funky for the next few days. 2023-ish.

Today, I’m revisiting some of my favorite tools and accessories specifically for writing and journaling - a product category that, at least in my mind, forms the core of the T.G.S. Curated Shop. Enjoy!

UPDATE: I moved several unsold items from the Patreon Sale Page into the main TGS “Gently Used” Page.

1. Midori MD Codex 1 Day 1 Page Notebook. Journalers, planners, and those devoted to a poem-a-day writing regimen love the Midori MD Codex, which is a large Midori MD Paper notebook that contains 360+ pages to use however you wish. Available in blank or dot-grid formats.

2. Midori Multi-Year Journals. One of my personal favorite products by Midori, the multi-year journals come in three, five, and a whopping ten-year format. A fresh restock just arrived so these are ready to ship.

3. Traveler’s Notebooks. The Traveler’s Notebook is one of the single-greatest journals out there, due mainly to its versatility and the ability to customize it to be whatever you want. Choose from a wide range of papers, including Tomoe River (“Lightweight”), Sketch Paper, Watercolor Paper, Kraft Paper for scrapbooking, and more.

4. Write Notepads Classic Hardcover Notebook. Those seeking a traditional clothbound hardcover book to save for posterity will want to consider this offering from Write Notepads.

5. WMS & Co. Sterling Modern Page Markers. While I was counting inventory this past weekend, I discovered that I had an extra set of these handmade sterling page markers, perfect for use as a bookmark or page marker in your notebook or journal.

6. Field Notes “Ignition” Edition. This special release from Field Notes features a three-pack containing two 26-week datebooks plus one “Checklist Journal,” for those who may appreciate a pocket journaling or planning alternative.

7. Hightide Sandglasses. One of the key ways I use my sandglass is to time working sessions to ensure that I take regular breaks, and it’s also a great way to break out 30 or 15-minute journaling sessions. Hourglasses are “gentle” timing devices, so there’s no jarring electronic buzzer or phone alert when it’s finished.

8. Penwell Pen Stand. I keep a Penwell with one fountain pen parked in it at my “journaling station” where I do most of my writing by hand. The Penwell we offer is an exclusive “Aged Red” finish that Good Made Better creates for us here at The Gentleman Stationer, recently reordered to ensure that this is a standing offer for the foreseeable future.

9. Caran d’Ache Bicolor Pencils in Yellow/Graphite or Red/Graphite. One of my personal core journaling tools that I use when I read, allowing me to highlight and annotate passages and make marginalia, then copy the passages into my commonplace book.

10. Washi Tape! Are you into creative journaling, or do you like to tape mementos such as photographs, ticket stubs, and other memorabilia into the pages of your journal? Washi tape (Japanese masking tape) is not only functional, but it’s a fun way to personalize the look of your journal or notebook.

The Gentleman Stationer is an authorized retailer of all brands sold.

Journaling in 2023: Use It or Lose It

There’s one final New Year’s goal that I haven’t yet started on: Picking a personal daily journal and making time for at least 30 minutes of personal writing every day. This should be easy, right? It’s not as though I suffer from a lack of options around here, with dozens of different notebooks awaiting review, not to mention a retail store where I can “shop” pretty much any time. Regardless, I still struggle with putting pen to paper and actually getting words on the page, and I’ve found myself in a journaling rut for several months now.

How I Plan to Kickstart a Journaling Habit in 2023

When I look to add a good habit (or break a bad one), my main technique is to set an arbitrary goal for myself and start stringing as many successful days together as possible. For example, while I was planning out this post last night, I looked around and grabbed the first five half-finished or just-started notebooks and journals that I could find sitting on or near my desk.

The five notebooks off my shelves, from bottom: Write Notepads Classic Hardcover Notebook, Paper Mind Passepied Notebook (which I’m extremely excited to use since I love this paper), a Letts of London hardcover I was sent for review, a Write Notepads Paper Notebook/Journal, and my Theme System Journal. The last two are half-full and what I plan to finish first.

“At least 30 minutes a day until these five notebooks are full.” Until then, no new notebook purchases for me. It sounds trite, but these sort of mental games keep me on track. What I’ve found more difficult is actually snagging 30 minutes a day to write. I still have a full-time day-job, which for the time being has to take priority over anything else and occupies the overwhelming majority of my time. T.G.S. is my “morning project,” which I work on during the quiet hours before anyone else is awake in the house. When I get home at night, I spend time with my family, eat dinner, and read, often too tired to do much of anything else other than possibly pack a few orders before going to bed. It’s not particularly difficult to find time to jot a few lines in my Midori 5-Year Journal, but I enjoy writing, and I’d like to do more.

Savor the small victories: So far I’ve only screwed up the date on two of my three 2023 5-year journal entries!

So how do I work in a bit of journaling? The obvious answer is to do my daily personal writing during my lunch break - and to actually take a lunch break - as opposed to continuing to work, surf the internet, browse social media, or whatever other bad habits I’ve fallen into. Taking a brief 15-30 minutes to write a few “morning” pages, process what I’ve been reading in my commonplace book, or simply reflect on whatever’s going on in my life is certainly a healthier way to decompress, if only briefly, and break up the work day.

Journaling technique is a topic that I plan to explore further in 2023, both personally and here on the blog. Do you have any favorite journaling techniques that you’d like to share, or tips and tricks for making time to write? If so I’d love to hear about them. Feel free to share them via the “Contact” link above or in the comments.

The Gentleman Stationer is supported entirely by purchases from the T.G.S. Curated Shop and pledges via the T.G.S. Patreon Program. Check out yesterday’s post for more details about what Patreon membership entails! This post does not contain third-party advertising or affiliate links.