Anyone here use journals at work or home?

[ive]

And if so, what do you use.

I am currently using a blue line executive handbook. I like it, but it’s a bit big.

Use it for everyday to do lists, projects at home and work notes.

Any suggestions for a well made compact journal?

 

[sportfan]

I used to before I retired at the refinery. I kept detailed notes on all the equipment that I rebuilt. Just before I left two of the bosses ask me to be sure I left them by book. I should have burned it after the way they treated me. P-666 *****. I don't know what is on the market now. I used the same journal for about 35 years.

 

[clutchee]

I use a Franklin planner. I’ll have to look up certain size, but for 18-19 years same one. I don’t adhere to all the normal Franklin uses, but it keeps track of mileage, daily meetings, business expenses, and just great organization of notes. Plus yearly they have refills.

 

[Bubba Fett]

I'm using a garage journal right now.

 

[SILVERPLATE]

Many years ago my employer sent all of us on staff to a one day class on the Franklin Planner and gave us all our first planner. Being dedicated to and using a Franklin Planner can be life changing. Made a big difference in my life and being organized and more proficient. Even in retirement I still use it.

 

[Captain Spaulding]

I did when I worked. I always used a scientific notebook with graph paper pages. Worked well for sketches, schematics, tables and flow charts as well as writing. I had a stack of them in my desk drawer when I retired and spent several days thumbing through them before I left. Unfortunately, I generated classified information, so they all went to the shredder.

 

[thool]

ABSOLUTELY. I have a bunch of steno pads to keep track of meetings, tasks, conversations, and topics discussed. I'm on #15 right now.

Why? When I first started at my current employer, I had a lot to keep track of. I dropped the habit when I felt confident, and got stung by someone who had a history of taking pleasure putting people on the spot and watching them struggle to recall all the details. From that point on, I log:

Date, time, person/people present, key points, action items by person.

I love the ability to use it any time, update it with sketches and arrows, no power needed, can hang colored tabs off the side, etc.

 

[B Hansen]

I use different Moleskine style notebooks for various things: work, around the house, race car prep, woodworking projects, etc. Lined when I need to write more or grid if I need to sketch parts, etc.

 

[purplezr2]

My company provides laboratory notebooks with the company name on the front, I write what I typically do in a day in them, meeting notes, programming ideas, and general notes, I typically write the date, use stars to denote general info, dashes to indicate action items, that I can later put a check mark on, if I need multiple items under a note I use bullets.

I know a lot of people I work with use onenote, it is nice as you can grab pictures, graphs, etc and drop them in, I should catch up, but I really like had writing, I feel like I remember more that way. I believe one note is searchable also.

I usually dedicate 20 minutes of my day to note writing if I haven't taken notes as I go to document what I have done.

 

[4xdog]

I keep a travel journal -- have for years. And I keep notes and sketches from projects around the house in journals.

The travel journal is kept chronologically. The project journals can be dedicated to a single project (like modifications to my 2015 Tacoma) or a collection of many notes and contacts chronologically.

I now make sure to put my name in the front of every one, after losing a travel journal at O'Hare one time (ugh).

As one who's spent his life in the paper industry (starting with a paper science and engineering degree at university), I'm probably a bit fussier than most around paper grades.

My travel journals are Insiprit Eco Journals. Impossible to find here in the US, so that recommendation is really of no help (mine were brought by me or friends from South Africa). The characteristics I like, which might be a help, are a flexible cover on a hard-bound journal of about 200 pages. A5 size (5-7/8 x 8-1/4 inch / 148 x 210 mm) for my travel journal -- it packs well. I prefer quadrille ruled when I can get it, but I can live with lined pages. The most important characteristic for me is paper quality. I like relatively smooth paper (so many cheap journals have rougher paper for no good reason) with relatively hard sizing (the papers resistance to absorbing water). Hard sizing helps control ink feathering, especially with a rollerball, and can give a bit more dimensional stability. Paper is a very personal choice though, so there's a big component of what-ya-like.

My project notebooks are all kinds of things over the years, but for the last three or four years they've been composition notebooks from Daiso, the Japanese dollar store. These do come in quadrille ruled pages, in A5 and A4 size (8-1/4 x 11-3/4 inch / 210 x 297 mm) with a slight preference for the A4/letter size. I get them when I'm at a Daiso store in San Diego, and although Daiso has an online store, they don't offer the kraft-covered notebooks I get. Nice hard-sized, smooth paper made in Japan -- where they really take care with their papermaking.

Costco sometimes has a 6-journal mulitpack of Moleskine journals. I have no first-hand experience with 'em -- but hey're probably OK -- it's a reputable name -- although the ones I've seen are made in Vietnam, so the papermaking could be anywhere on those from super to crappy. Flexible hard cover, 120 ruled pages in a jjournal measuring 7.5 x 9.75 inch. They come in and out of stock, so like most things at Costco, it's a roll of the dice.

Moleskine is a pretty well distributed brand, though, so it can be found at any art supply store and many other places.

Most of the free notebooks one gets at conferences or trade fairs or whatever go straight into my recycle bin. The paper just isn't very good from my (admittedly snobby) experience.

 

[txvwnut]

I used to at work when I was a tech, but after moving up to management I quit using it as I rarely do any repairs.

 

[Stooge]

I dont really use them to keep track of the day's events or particulars, but i have a handful of 6x9 steno pads floating around home, the laboratory i work in and my garage. From quick reminders and notes, to car project ideas and sketches, part numbers, test data, wiring pinouts, art project ideas, doodles, etc. there's usually one close by. We have one note at work and while theres some stuff i use it for that needs to be easily shareable, i still like to write things down, and i think it helps me to remember things too.

 

[Adk Mike]

Franklin Planner for me. Just a place I keep everything form shopping lists , receipts, car Maintance. Plus the Calendar to keep track of stuff out 18 months .

 

[Kscardsfan]

Used to use a Talley book to keep time and data recorded and leave notes between night and day shifts in my oilfield days. I have a few Write In The Rain spiral bound notebooks I keep some notes and information in. I’ve been known to just write information down directly on a machine with a sharpie etc for myself.

 

[neverdone]

I use simple spiral notebooks to keep track of project notes, calculations, and sketches. I use one per project, and then scan them onto the server when the project is complete. I’m cheap, so I just buy them at Target when they have back to school sales.

 

[jeffmoss26]

I just use a legal pad at work

 

[dscheidt]

Used to use a Talley book to keep time and data recorded and leave notes between night and day shifts in my oilfield days. I have a few Write In The Rain spiral bound notebooks I keep some notes and information in. I’ve been known to just write information down directly on a machine with a sharpie etc for myself.

Writing on the machine (or things like filters or batteries) is a big help to the next guy.

 

[Kscardsfan]

Writing on the machine (or things like filters or batteries) is a big help to the next guy.

Well assuming that it’s good information lol.

 

[Indexmill]

MS Outlook.

 

[gatewaysysop]

A subject I have dabbled in over the years, both for professional and personal (travel mostly) use. After a lot of trial and error, I've settled on what I consider the absolute standard, and will accept no substitutes.

For work use: Rhodia Meeting Book, A5+, 90g paper, polypropylene covers, made in France.

For life/travel: Rhodia Webnotebook, A5, 90g acid-free, pH-neutral, Clairfonataine paper, leatherette covers, made in France.

I have yet to find anything that even comes close, and I'm satisfied enough that I have stopped looking. They are a joy to write in, either with mechanical pencil or ink (gel, roller, ball point, felt, I've tried them all in these). Almost no bleed through, feathering or smearing. Not scratchy to write on, even down to .3mm mechanical pencil. There's simply no comparison to over-priced, over-hyped garbage like Moleskine. I will never use a cheap journal again.

FWIW I've also started keeping a writing board with me to make it easier to journal on sub-optimal surfaces. Current favorite is the Kyoei Orions Shitajiki A5 writing board. Nothing fancy, and it gets the job done.

 

[afazz]

I use Field Notes memo books. They fit perfectly in my back pocket, I've been using them for 9 years now at work. I use them to jot things down, make sketches, write short notes, or whatever comes up. It typically takes me 2 months to fill one up and they hold up well over that time frame. They make a few sizes if you're looking for a larger notebook.

Memo Books, Notebooks, Journals & Planners

Field Notes offers smartly-designed, vintage-inspired pocket notebooks, notepads, journals, calendars, planners, and writing accoutrements.

fieldnotesbrand.com

 

[sz0k30]

I've kept a daily journal for close to 30 years. I use those real thick (maybe about 200 pages) spiral bound college notebooks. Right now I'm on number 7.

 

[neophyte]

I like moleskine, but they tend to be pricey
(ie. $15-$25) if you don’t find them on sale.

 

[gatewaysysop]

I like moleskine, but they tend to be pricey
(ie. $15-$25) if you don’t find them on sale.

For what they are, that entire range of pricing is outrageously steep.

 

[mikeb27]

I use the TUL Discbound notebooks from Office Max/Depot, one for work and one personal. Have a few different sizes, and I like that the pages can be moved around or new paper added where I want. They also have different types of paper (graph, notes/tasks, etc).

 

[FuzzyTiger]

I sometimes use OneNote but I've stopped. Mostly because I never look back at my notes, or because if I do I'm just left thinking "What sort of idiot would think/do that?".

 

[thool]

I sometimes use OneNote but I've stopped. Mostly because I never look back at my notes, or because if I do I'm just left thinking "What sort of idiot would think/do that?".

I've tried no less than 5 times to use OneNote, each time vowing to finally become a convert, but have failed. I end up struggling with trying to make it look like my steno notebooks, and being slightly OC, had issues with things not being aligned and consistent. Funny, my notebooks are ok being organic and I accept visual disorder, but not for an electronic medium!

 

[4xdog]

...For work use: Rhodia Meeting Book, A5+, 90g paper, polypropylene covers, made in France.

For life/travel: Rhodia Webnotebook, A5, 90g acid-free, pH-neutral, Clairfonataine paper, leatherette covers, made in France.

I have yet to find anything that even comes close...

These are very good choices. Listen to @gatewaysysop!

 

[engineer2]

I use a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet on a key ring flash drive.
Column A is calendar dates, columns B, C, D are to-do items for each day. Plan as far ahead as you like.
Column E is for shopping lists, Menards/HD, Amazon, food store, etc.
Second spreadsheet tab is for dates in the Past. Easy to look up when you bought that garbage disposal.
Other tabs for each car's maintenance list and history, appliance/tool models/serial numbers, contacts list, **** to sell, house project history and so on.
Stuff to do this week and shopping lists get printed out and shoved in my pocket.

I didn't intend to do this. It started as a to-do list and supply list for a landscaping project. Then I realized to was a handy way to schedule everything and keep records, and it grew from there. Been using it for 11 years now. Just back it up to a hard drive every week or so.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

I always used a scientific notebook with graph paper pages. Worked well for sketches, schematics, tables and flow charts as well as writing. I had a stack of them in my desk drawer when I retired and spent several days thumbing through them before I left. Unfortunately, I generated classified information, so they all went to the shredder.

Did they look like the classic brown ones on the left?! It's hard to beat Uncle Sam's price. I have dozens of them going back nearly 30 years, work (class and unclass environments) and home for all the reasons you cited, especially tables (nothing is more powerful than an XY matrix for organizing the world) and also great for checklists. I would not survive without an engineering notebook in my presence, and I guard mine like money. My whole life is in there. But I suspect they're too big for the OP. The green ones, also govt supply, are a nice handier size, but not graphed, unfortunately.

 

[FuzzyTiger]

I've tried no less than 5 times to use OneNote, each time vowing to finally become a convert, but have failed. I end up struggling with trying to make it look like my steno notebooks, and being slightly OC, had issues with things not being aligned and consistent. Funny, my notebooks are ok being organic and I accept visual disorder, but not for an electronic medium!

Yeah. I don't know what it is but OneNote seems to throw away the strict formatting of traditional electronic documents but at the same time I still find myself fighting it's formatting almost more than MS Word.

OneNote also absolutely ***** for any kind of technical note taking. I'm a programmer for example and I can get MS Word to handle pieces of code better than OneNote. Formulas or calculations are hit or miss but they're definitely not as natural as they should be. Its all fine if you're a student, but not for actually working in my opinion. They also killed plugin functionality and a lot of other features after OneNote 2016.

I've thought a lot about making a proper note taking tool for people that aren't students but I have a lot of other projects to finish first. Maybe some day...

 

[FuzzyTiger]

I use a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet on a key ring flash drive.
Column A is calendar dates, columns B, C, D are to-do items for each day. Plan as far ahead as you like.
Column E is for shopping lists, Menards/HD, Amazon, food store, etc.
Second spreadsheet tab is for dates in the Past. Easy to look up when you bought that garbage disposal.
Other tabs for each car's maintenance list and history, appliance/tool models/serial numbers, contacts list, **** to sell, house project history and so on.
Stuff to do this week and shopping lists get printed out and shoved in my pocket.

I didn't intend to do this. It started as a to-do list and supply list for a landscaping project. Then I realized to was a handy way to schedule everything and keep records, and it grew from there. Been using it for 11 years now. Just back it up to a hard drive every week or so.

If you're primarily going based off building a list - Microsoft To Do is pretty fantastic. I might knock OneNote for being a ****** tool, but To Do does it's thing really well. I have it installed on my computer and my cellphone. Its actually one of my cellphone's home screen page things so I don't even need to open the app. Just unlock my phone and my list is always there.

 

[oldwino]

During my work career I used the hard bound Daily Diary with predated pages. Being dated and my notes were in ink it could serve as evidence in a dispute if needed.

 

[FMB4]

I use the blank sides of junk mail and bill envelopes to 'post' various small 'to do' notes on my work bench. Every now and then my wife will state "you're going to need a bigger work bench" in her best Chief Brody impersonation. RIP Roy Scheider.

 

[DeeKay]

AT-A-GLANCE 2022 Standard Diary, Daily, Red, Medium, 7 1/2" x 9 1/2" | Daily Journals & Diaries | AT-A-GLANCE

Organize your thoughts this year within the AT-A-GLANCE Standard Diary.

www.ataglance.com

We use these at work, one for each site. We're starting to switch over to excel sheets on OneDrive though.

 

[jhelrey]

I do at work so when something goes sideways, an email/phone call isn't responded to, etc. I look back at my notes and say on this date, I did indeed contact you about XYZ. Vendors is where this comes in handy for billing, what they did, the PO #, etc. Sometimes I don't remember things 3 months later.

 

[Jim_No_Garage]

I use generic journals at work to track my day - sort of like a free form daily planner. I'm a lefty so I write primarily on the left hand page and write other notes on the right hand page. I almost NEVER look back at prior books but they are like a safety blanket. When I moved offices several years ago I read through and recycled journals going back 10 years. There were notes on meetings about projects that were already retired and other notes on other projects that have been iterated on 4 or 5 times to no success.

Most of my journals for this purpose are free swag from vendors. Right now I'm using some leather covered Microsoft journals I bought at a garage sale for $1.00 each. I got them from someone who worked for Microsoft so they are "generic" Microsoft and not branded to a specific package or OS. It would be cool to be writing in a Windows NT of Windows for Workgroups notebook . . . I wonder if my brother has any IBM OS/2 swag around - he worked in their FSD before they sold them to Lockheed-Martin.

I prefer something around 6-1/2 x 9 (B5) as it's small enough to carry but large enough to write in. Software vendors seem to have settled on 5x8 as the size for their "branded" journals so I have a few of them in line to be used, along with a few 8-1/2 x 11 journals.

I also have 2 AT&T Bell Laboratories 200229 journals (not the 200362 Laboratory Notebook) and a corresponding Lucent Technologies journal #3200229. I bought these at a garage sale and they are for personal use . . . Now if I had anything to say . . .

My daughter just gave me a Leuchtturm1917 Dot journal that I will use for home notes and drawings. It replaces a Fabriano dot journal that I bought but didn't realize that it was an old school "glue bound" tablet and the pages were intended to be torn out - which wasn't what I was looking for.

I gathered up most of my unused journals and it points out that I seem to hoard capacity without actually using any of it. Sort of like all my 1/2 drive sockets and the 6 1/2 drive ratchets - most of which I've never used. . .




Cheers

Jim

 

[Dumber than lumber]

I keep a travel journal -- have for years. And I keep notes and sketches from projects around the house in journals.

The travel journal is kept chronologically. The project journals can be dedicated to a single project (like modifications to my 2015 Tacoma) or a collection of many notes and contacts chronologically.

I now make sure to put my name in the front of every one, after losing a travel journal at O'Hare one time (ugh).

As one who's spent his life in the paper industry (starting with a paper science and engineering degree at university), I'm probably a bit fussier than most around paper grades.

My travel journals are Insiprit Eco Journals. Impossible to find here in the US, so that recommendation is really of no help (mine were brought by me or friends from South Africa). The characteristics I like, which might be a help, are a flexible cover on a hard-bound journal of about 200 pages. A5 size (5-7/8 x 8-1/4 inch / 148 x 210 mm) for my travel journal -- it packs well. I prefer quadrille ruled when I can get it, but I can live with lined pages. The most important characteristic for me is paper quality. I like relatively smooth paper (so many cheap journals have rougher paper for no good reason) with relatively hard sizing (the papers resistance to absorbing water). Hard sizing helps control ink feathering, especially with a rollerball, and can give a bit more dimensional stability. Paper is a very personal choice though, so there's a big component of what-ya-like.

My project notebooks are all kinds of things over the years, but for the last three or four years they've been composition notebooks from Daiso, the Japanese dollar store. These do come in quadrille ruled pages, in A5 and A4 size (8-1/4 x 11-3/4 inch / 210 x 297 mm) with a slight preference for the A4/letter size. I get them when I'm at a Daiso store in San Diego, and although Daiso has an online store, they don't offer the kraft-covered notebooks I get. Nice hard-sized, smooth paper made in Japan -- where they really take care with their papermaking.

Costco sometimes has a 6-journal mulitpack of Moleskine journals. I have no first-hand experience with 'em -- but hey're probably OK -- it's a reputable name -- although the ones I've seen are made in Vietnam, so the papermaking could be anywhere on those from super to crappy. Flexible hard cover, 120 ruled pages in a jjournal measuring 7.5 x 9.75 inch. They come in and out of stock, so like most things at Costco, it's a roll of the dice.

Moleskine is a pretty well distributed brand, though, so it can be found at any art supply store and many other places.

Most of the free notebooks one gets at conferences or trade fairs or whatever go straight into my recycle bin. The paper just isn't very good from my (admittedly snobby) experience.

I agree with the thing about Japan and papermaking. It is such a great thing to handle and write on higher quality paper.
For my shop notes I use spiral notebooks and the bound black composition books. It is nice to see my drawings and measurements in one place when I finally get back to some project, etc.
Franklin Planner - my employer sent me to lots of the training. It is useful instruction, but I found the thing to be over-thought. Let's say it is for a certain type of personality, and not for everyone.

 

[Captain Spaulding]

Did they look like the classic brown ones on the left?! It's hard to beat Uncle Sam's price. I have dozens of them going back nearly 30 years, work (class and unclass environments) and home for all the reasons you cited, especially tables (nothing is more powerful than an XY matrix for organizing the world) and also great for checklists. I would not survive without an engineering notebook in my presence, and I guard mine like money. My whole life is in there. But I suspect they're too big for the OP. The green ones, also govt supply, are a nice handier size, but not graphed, unfortunately.

No, though we had some of those for particular jobs. I used these https://www.amazon.com/dp/1939718139/?tag=atomicindus08-20