Notebook fussiness: the split ring therapy

I always wanted to have a daily journal. But there was always one issue: every time I tried, I either couldn’t start writing the first page, or after that, I wanted to start a new notebook to make it cleaner.

This summer, I finally started actively looking for a solution to this problem. I ended up discovering ring binder notebooks, which allow you to reorganize the pages, and so remove them if needed. That sounded perfect for me, except… they are super expensive. If you’re lucky, you may find an A6 or B5 leather ring binder for about 50 bucks, but that seems like far too much money for what it is.

I then found another solution: I bought a basic B5 ring notebook, and replaced its rings with split rings (the kind that can be opened and closed), which allowed me to lower the burden I put on myself, because what I wrote didn’t matter: I could get rid of these pages and write them again.

So I started writing.

And it clicked.

I could write an entry every day, close the notebook, and feel nothing else than the sense of accomplishment of journaling. The fussiness was gone, the words simply flowed down from my head, through my pen, straight onto the paper.

After the summer break was over, I switched to a normal B5 notebook, one without rings, preventing page removal. The fear of wanting to remove the pages was gone, because with the split ring notebook, I had learned that you always want to keep the pages: even if it’s a small temporary thing, you may find that page much later and be happy to see a glimpse of that day.

I’ve started this new notebook on September 1st, and have been filling its pages ever since, two or three at a time. I have also added another notebook which I carry around everywhere as a phone note replacement. When there’s some event at uni where I want to take notes, I simply open that notebook and start writing, treating it as if I could erase the things that are on the pages (turns out I can: I just don’t open these pages again!)