How I Use My Commonplace Book

A commonplace book is a great way to keep quotes, reading notes and many more things in. You may have read my post last week, but if you haven’t, you can check it out here (it would be a good idea to read it before reading this post). I have recently started keeping a commonplace book, and today’s post is about my commonplace book and how I use it.

I use a green Moleskine large notebook, with square paper. At the front, I have 6 categories. My chosen organisational system is this:

1. I rule off 4 cm at the start. In here goes the entry category, the entry number and who wrote it.
2. Each category has a number, such as 3 for quotes. So, if I enter a quote, it gets the number 3 in front. If the quote is an inspirational quote, it will get 34 at the start.
3. After the category number, I put a horizontal line, and then enter the number of the entry. So, if the entry is the 50th entry in my commonplace book, and is a quote, it will get 3|050. 
4. After I have entered the category and the entry number, I write the person who said the quote or the source. So, for example, if I had a quote by Albert Einstein, I would write 3|051 Albert Einstein.

My first spread in my commonplace book

I write the category of the entry in pen, and then the number of the entry in pencil. This makes it clearer, and means that the category and entry number do not merge together.

I put a red Moleskine tool belt on the front of my notebook to keep my pencil and pen together, and to keep a ruler handy. I also have a Filofax pocket calculator tucked in there. I would certainly recommend that you try out the Moleskine tool belt.

After I finish a spread in my commonplace book, I scan it into Evernote. I put it in my .Timeline book; this allows me to search my commonplace entries, and also means that I will have all my entries in the unlikely case that I forget my notebook.

So, that’s my commonplace book! If you haven’t already, you can check out my post on what a commonplace is and how to set one up here.

Thanks for reading!

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