If you’ve noticed a more active T.G.S. over the past month, your eyes do not deceive you: I’m now working here about half-time, in addition to a day job. But that commitment comes with a healthy dose of reality - namely, how to successfully manage different projects that both require time and attention to detail, yet which are very different in terms of both hours and the substantive work involved.
Minimizing Context-Shifting by using Separate Notebooks for Different Projects
Though I may write mostly about pens and ink, paper has always been the focus of my stationery obsession, namely notebooks and organizers and how best to use them. People often ask how I work on multiple unrelated projects at once, but the truth is that I’ve been doing this my whole life. I have divergent interests, and while I sometimes have to “thin the herd” by shelving projects and hobbies that I can’t do justice, over the years I’ve cultivated an analog-focused system that (mostly) maintains my sanity. The trick has been to compartmentalize where I can, and avoid having to switch back-and-forth between unrelated matters, which I find draining.
I picked up one of the A6 Hobonichi Yamazakura notebooks at the Dallas Pen Show just because I loved the cover design, which got me thinking about how much I missed using the Hobonichi products (particularly the daily quotes) and how I might incorporate them going forward without really changing my setup.
The big question from my personal organizational standpoint has always been this: Do I keep one notebook or planner with multiple sections for different projects, or multiple notebooks with each one dedicated to a single project? While I’ve experimented with both methods over the years, I prefer the latter approach because a dedicated notebook locks in my focus on that particular project and allows me to maintain my concentration. (I do keep a central “Planner” that I use to organize my time across projects and track what I work on each day. This is the only daily notebook that deals with multiple subject matters.) Each of the “projects” that I’m working on has their own binder, typically a Plotter or William Hannah notebook that lets me add individual pages, which can then be organized and subdivided into sections as necessary.
I’ve had a couple questions about whether or not the Hobonichi Cousins “fit” the Roterfadens. I’ve personally used this Roterfaden pictured here with Hobonichi and similarly-sized notebooks like the Nanami Seven Seas for years, but it can be a tight fit given how thick the Hobonichis are. If you want to ensure extra coverage for your notebook, consider one of the recycled leather versions (LB23 or LB15). For the cousin, I’d suggest the SO20, which is a thinner A5 leather cover without an elastic, and it seems to be cut slightly larger than standard A5 and can accommodate the extra thickness.
My Tentative Notebook Setup for the Remainder of 2023 and For the next year
Keeping in mind that this remains a work in progress, here’s my preliminary setup:
Working Journal/Time Block Planner. One technique that’s helped me avoid a sense of overwhelm is “time blocking”: managing my time in dedicated larger blocks as opposed to working off a mixed to-do list and jumping back and forth between projects throughout the day. My ideal setup would be to assign entire days to specific projects - made easier by the fact that TGS now has its own office space - but I’ll settle for a system where I can at least block out hours of time for uninterrupted focus, and my new work arrangement better allows for that. Time management techniques are somewhat beyond the scope of this blog, but if you’re interested in reading further (or testing it out yourself), the Time Block Planner 2.0 by Cal Newport offers a good introduction to this concept. I don’t plan on buying another Time Block Planner once this one runs out, however: I want to customize my layout and plan to use the Hobonichi Cousin as a substitute. (Note: the Time Block Planner 2.0 with the spiral binding uses thicker paper that works with fountain pens.)
Project-Specific Binders. Plotter and William Hannah. I use these ringed notebooks as “binders” to organize notes on the projects that I’m actively working. These binders tend to live on my desk where I can access them when I’m working on the specific project to which the notebook is dedicated. The one exception is the William Hannah, which serves as my “law notebook” and goes with me everywhere since the realities of legal practice requires that I have quick access to my case notes. My A5 Plotter houses T.G.S., and the Bible-Sized Plotter contains notes from a creative writing project I’ve been pursuing for several years and which I’ve decided to finish.
Personal Journal. Hobonichi Techo A6. I felt the most “put together” when I consistently took 20 minutes at the end of each day to reflect in my Hobonichi. The A6 page is small enough not to feel intimidating, and you can always write larger to fill it up a page with fewer lines if time runs short or you’re simply exhausted. I don’t plan on using a Hobonichi Cover. Rather, I’m going to choose a Roterfaden in the A6 size. The leather and recycled-leather Taschenbegleiters are just big enough to fit a standard Hobonichi A6, though you may be limited to just the Hobonichi or the Hobonichi + a slimmer second notebook. (I plan to carry just the Hobonichi in the cover and use the multiple clips to mark off different sections of the Planner.)
This proposed setup isn’t all that different from my current rotation, just more streamlined, which suggests that after a decade of experimentation I’m finally settling into a long-term system that works for me. If you were to ask me what notebooks I envision having in my bag at any given time, I would say it will be (1) the Hobonichi Cousin and a Plotter Notepad in my A5 Roterfaden; and (2) the William Hannah, which are pictured at top. The Plotter A5 will live on my TGS office desk, and the Plotter Bible in my home office with my personal journal. Again, the goal is to stay organized and focused by having separation between the (very) different worlds in which I spend my time, while still preserving flexibility where necessary.
Though you can (and should) take my opinion with a grain of salt since T.G.S. is a Roterfaden retailer, I’ve used the Taschenbegleiter Organizers for years, and love their versatility as dedicated binders that can be used to organize specific projects, or simply as portfolios to hold papers and writing pads.
While these are the notebooks that I plan to use most often, I do keep a multitude of others in rotation, including an A4 Roterfaden Taschenbegleiter with larger format paper for longhand drafting; my Midori 5-Year Diary that I irregularly update as a 30,000-foot record of my life, and a Standard Traveler’s Notebook that’s both my periodic travel journal and pen club notebook. For those who will ask, I do use my Plotter Mini-5 as my wallet, and it’s also an excellent “capture” notebook for when I simply want to go out with a notebook in my pocket and not lug around a bag. That said, none of these are mission-critical to my workflow, and I don’t allow myself to get stressed if I’m not using them regularly because they have specific purposes that don’t arise on a daily basis.
I don’t consider myself a productivity nerd - I’ve actually come to dislike the term “productivity” as it evokes widget-cranking and isn’t consistent with how I believe people actually want to live and work - but I do have a longstanding fascination with information management and how people organize their time and thoughts using both analog and digital tools and systems. Of course, this led me to notebooks, notebook systems, and anything remotely related. Have you developed your own system for keeping your life (relatively) organized? Drop a comment or send me a message through the site. I’m all ears!
The Gentleman Stationer is supported entirely by purchases from the T.G.S. Curated Shop and pledges via the T.G.S. Patreon Program. This post does not contain third-party affiliate links or paid advertising.