10 unusual ways to use the empty notebooks you keep buying
because productivity is, frankly, not the point
My name is Amy, and I am addicted to buying notebooks. It feels good to admit that. Or at least, it feels good to type it out for a bunch of people on the internet to read.
If, like me, you cope with any minor or major inconvenience in life by buying a new notebook, you’ve probably accumulated a stack. Blank ones, staring at you slightly judgmentally from a drawer as you appear with yet another one.
I firmly reject the idea that everything in our lives needs to be optimised for productivity, so these ideas are not designed to make you more efficient. I hope they might, instead, make your day a little more fun or interesting.
1. Joy lists
A series of lists documenting glimmers of joy throughout the day. Especially helpful on sh*t days when everything seems to be going wrong.
I saw a very old sausage dog. I got two seats to myself on the bus. I got the last chocolate croissant at the coffee shop. I made a baby laugh.
2. Overheard conversations
Snippets of conversation that caught your attention
Two older ladies sitting in a cafe. One says to the other: “did you read [very popular book] yet?”. The other replies in a stage whisper: “yes, I thought it was crap. I taught [author] when she was at Cambridge, and I always thought she was a moron.”1
3. Pet peeves
Irksome things that are too petty to dedicate an entire journal entry to, but you need to get out of your system.
People who walk three abreast on the pavement and expect you to evaporate into thin air or launch yourself into traffic rather than moving aside for five seconds. People who type as if they are trying to kill a small infestation of ants inside their keyboard in a quiet library. People who let their kids harass pigeons and think it’s cute.
4. Unsent letters
Letters which you cannot send for one reason or another— old friends, ex-lovers, family members, or simply people you can’t stand.
Sorry—you’ll have to pry an example of this out of my cold, dead hands.
5. Good phrases
A log of phrases you happen upon and want to remember. Can also include incorrect ones.
“She’s got a foot in lots of windows” — something my friend once said, which we think was a muddle of “a finger in lots of pies”, “a foot in the door”, and “sometimes you’ve got to close a door to open a window”??
6. Manifestations
A journal-style notebook, but recording things which have not yet happened. Could be an account of how you hope tomorrow will go, or you in 10 years’ time.
I am sitting in the bay window of my flat, drinking
a glassan entire bottle of champagne. It is October 2026, and I have just submitted my PhD thesis…
7. People I’ll never see again
Descriptions of people whose path you have briefly crossed. Why did they make an impression on you? Where do you think they were going?
A very friendly barista. An intimidatingly cool girl on the train. Someone who asked if they could share your table at a bar.
8. Games
A notebook for playing noughts and crosses, hangman, pictionary. Ideally a pocket-sized one that you can produce at the pub or on long journeys. An alternative to doomscrolling when you have to kill time.
9. Characters
A list of character profiles that you might one day write into a story. Or not. Can be based on real people (though I’d advise amusing pseudonyms if so).
Name, appearance, occupation. What is their signature outfit? What are their mannerisms? Their best and worst qualities? Do they inhabit our world, or another?
10. Things I changed my mind about
A log of opinions, beliefs, and decisions that didn’t hold up over time. Not necessarily times you were wrong, just things that no longer fit.
I used to think I didn’t like sci-fi. I used to think I was bad at making small talk. I used to think I would be married with three kids by thirty (which, technically, could still happen, but I’d have to get a move on and redirect every other plan I currently have).
This was a real conversation I overheard a few months ago. As a professional eavesdropper, this felt like hitting the jackpot. I shan’t reveal who it was about..
I am glad to know i am not the only one with notebook and stationery issues!
I’m obsessed with this list and will be borrowing one or two of them haha