Same here. Outlook, my phone, my iPod Touch... they don't work for me as my journal of To Do's or what not. Writing them down makes it stick in my head. Plus it allows me to practice my penmanship. Too much time on the keyboard messes up my subjectively neat handwriting. I don't use moleskins or elaborate journals. Just a plain, inexpensive notebook with smooth pages work well for me. When the covers fray, I cover them with pictures that motivate me, wrap them in plastic, and it's good to go! What do I write? Everything from random musings to work reminders. Having a list of the day's to do help keep me on track of what I need to go through day to day.
I use the At-A-Glance Weekly/Monthly Pocket Diary from a local office supply store. I record tidbits for each day such as workouts/runs, weight, tax info, schedule, books to read, appointments, etc. I keep a few business cards and 3X5 cards clipped to the last page for when I need to record something or someone else needs to record something. In the front, I keep a To Do list on 3X5 cards. This easily fits into a dress shirt pocket with either a Tul or UniBall 207 rollerball in 0.5mm size. Steve
I've got a cordura or simular pocket sized notebook from a Day Runner mini organizer I tried out several years ago. I've repurposed it to carry a moleskin notebook, the address booklet from the Day Runner and some business cards. It's held closed by and elastic strap that my wife made for me, it's got a loop sewn into it that holds a space pen. I jot random notes and to do lists, measurements for paracord projects, a list of "beers to try before I die", songs I heard on the radio that I want to check out, addresses and phone numbers I haven't transferred to my phone or computer yet, books I want to get at the library, web sites to check later, random cute things my grand daughter says "Ipads are for when you have a black eye.", address and phone # of hotel I'm staying at on trips. It's a lot quicker and easier for me to whip out the notebook and jot a note than it is to try to poke the information on my iphone, between "fat fingers", bifocals and a slight astigmatism.
i use a few notebooks for more day to day usage they fall into 2 basic groups, short term and long term memory. Short term is a few business/calling cards in my wallet, as well as a few tear-away a7 black n' red notebooks that i keep in my bag and next to my keys. These are mainly for quick notes, messages and to do/shopping lists. long term is a Moleskine Monthly Notebook diary/planner and a police style flip-top notebook with rip out pages. The Moleskine i find very useful it has a month to view over two pages followed by two ruled pages with the excess being ruled pages, this i use as a diary with the note pages being used for important info and just things i want to keep track of- gift ideas, names/ numbers etc. The other notebook gets used for general note taking that's a bit too important for the a7 memo pad.
I use Moleskine books that I cover with black Gorilla tape. 1) Daily workout notes. I track my food intake and bodyweight workout progressions based on the Convict Conditioning program. 2) Story ideas. Sometimes I get these crazy ideas for a short story and if I don't write them down I forget. 3) Dreams. Every now and then I'll have a crazy dream. My little daughter is fascinated by dreams, so I try to remember what they are about so I can tell her. The wild thing is once you start writing them down, dreams seem to get more and more vivid at night.
I carry one of these. I seem to have one everywhere. I run a mobile clinic so mostly I write notes about supplies I need to restock, medications to order, passwords to various sites I have to access, reminders to call patients, ideas for presentations I give, phone numbers, and whatever I know will slip my mind within 2 hours.
As an ESL teacher, I burn through notebooks and notepads quite quickly. I always write everything, students' specific behavior that day, observations, lesson ideas, even little details that I learn when browsing the internet during my downtime like stuff I learn or find interesting in the the forums here. From most of what I write could be short term and has no relevancy to me a few months from now but I still keep my books anyway and browse through them from time to time. I'm quite surprised that some of my notes resurface as something useful from time to time. But I do keep a special journal in Semi-B5 (Japanese) size. I write an entry as often as possible without thought of anyone reading it someday. I keep small pieces of cards (I cut index cards in half) and have a few of these inside my Field Notes/Pocket Notebooks for quick notes as some ideas arrive that I'll use for my journal entries later. We're in the digital age and I'd love to think that there are still people that will value the simplicity of pen, ink and paper as time goes on.
Count me among them. My small Clairefontaines are filled mostly with to-do lists and other random reminders. My larger Rhodia notebooks are filled with Spanish vocab and locutions.
I use Rhodia Unlimited. I've had mine for quite some time (just finishing up, nearly 3 years after I began). The majority of it is filled with notable quotes from Christian thinkers, pastors, and authors. It's probably only about half full (the other half would have been from random notes and lists that have since been finished and torn out). I just started my second one... with the same purpose!
