I recently changed to just using one notebook for everything (ideas, lists, reminders etc.). I love this format, because it simplifies my life. When the notebook is full, I write the time span on the cover and start a new one. I love the idea of simple life tasks, such as grocery lists, being mixed with abstract artistic ideas. It seems like a very honest and authentic look at my life. Great video!

I started a birthday journal a few years ago! Every year on my birthday I write an entry, kind of like a letter, to myself. It can be about whatever I want, but I try to focus on the last year of my life and what I’m feeling in the moment. The only things i have to include in every entry are my current reads and my current favorite quote. :)

I write letters to my cat that passed away. I write it in a journal.

omg ariel i feel this! i always start a notebook with one idea and then i rip out pages because i'm unsatisfied but i tell myself to stop because it wastes paper!!! great video!

The ones I've got going currently are: -quotes/poems I've collected over the years -"field notes" aka new words and concepts I learn -to-do list (in a pocket-size reporter notebook) -personal journal/brainstorm (for whenever I want to word-vomit about myself) I recently reorganized and reprioritized all my notebooks thanks to your last notebook video!

When you got up to get the book and we could see your reflection i was ... just ... i loved it I don’t know why

I just want to say that I really like your filming setup. Particularly, that we can see your bookshelves through the mirror behind you. One thing I love about your channel is that you do more than just book hauls and reviews and I think that shows in your setup. But the fact that we can still see some of the shelves, remind us all what we are here for (to talk about books) without getting distracted or overwhelmed by the books themselves.

"It just doesn't feel as mystical or fun" That is exactly how I feel about typing creative ideas or writing stories on my laptop!

I use a lot of notebooks and when people see them, they're always mesmerised by how do I do this because most people are afraid of messing up the notebook??? And I'm always like IT DOESN'T MATTER!!! JUST USE IT!!!!!!! So this video was a big loud YES!!!! And a classic tip: If you hate a page you did, you can just make some collage to cover whatever it is. I do this all the time. Anyway, I keep: - a bullet journal; - three art journals (different sizes, so I can practice different perspectives); - a notebook for letters I write myself every five years, where I talk about my life in the present, what I'm thinking about and the doubts I have about the future, which I LOVE. I spend weeks writing it, and forget about if for five years, and then I read everything and it's always very emotional and calming, I recommend the experience!; - a ~money notebook~, for all the projects that give me money (podcast, freelancing stuff etc.); - a tarot study notebook; - an astrology study notebook; - a ~letters journal~, which is basically the Sugar thing you're doing. I write letters to people about my feelings and the things that we've been through and never send it, because the goals is just organize the thoughts and feelings, not say the stuff to the people THAT'S IT!

I think archiving to-do lists is a unique spin on keeping a diary. And it would be fascinating to see how our daily/weekly tasks evolve over the years and adapt to different seasons of life.

Yes thank you for this video, if nothing else I feel solidarity with you because I always feel scared to write in notebooks in case I 'mess it up' or change my mind about what I want to write. I've recently started a reading journal and try to take notes while I'm reading, because sometimes when I get to the end of a book I've really enjoyed, it's hard to remember all the details and reasons I liked it so it's really helpful to have somewhere to track my thoughts while I'm in the process of reading.

I've recently started going to therapy and i've thought about starting a notebook and writing a short entry after every session to summarize what i need to work on incorporating into my thought process when i feel overwhelmed by anxious and depressing thoughts into it, all i need to do is find the **perfect** one if you know what i mean xx

Notebooks are best for doodling - especially for doing doodles of goblins.

I LOVE the idea of articulating one's problems into a letter. I think I'll start adopting that excercise too. I think its a good way to rationalize and break down our own thoughts and make them easier to approach and solve.

This feels kind of overwhelming to me. I like to keep everything (besides novel planning and grocery lists) in one notebook so I always have it on me and it becomes a chronological organization of my thoughts in one place. I think it's beautiful and interesting when it's messy and honest.

I saw this video in my sub box and literally said “YES ARIEL” i love all the videos you’ve been making recently and also adore the new set up xxx

I feel you girl when you said, they are so beautiful and full of potential.

Another idea: Dedicate a notebook to be your "record collection". These days most of us doesn't own physical copies of the albums we like. So write the titles and artists down in a notebook, so you don't forget the music you once loved. I'm looking forward to flipping through mine when I'm 50, and re-discover my old favorites.

i struggle with this daily, i love notebooks so much and don't want to mess them up and just never use them, lately I've been trying to actually use them and just be messy and free with them - these are some great ideas for notebook uses by the way

I bind my own sketchbooks when I'm stressed...I have about 20 from the past year all unused. I've started giving them to authors at signings lmao. I do have one devoted to my mom's recipes though. She does the thing where measurements are proportional and not numeric so I have her scale system written down for each recipe I get from her.

I've limited myself. XD I buy 1 pretty notebook for myself. ONE. And I use it for everything in my life. Recipes in games. Ideas. Journal entries. Course ideas for my next term. To do lists. Doodles. Some pages have my class notes , particularly on days when I am too emotionally exhausted to go to class / use my binder. People call this a bullet journal. But that didn't work for me because there was SO MUCH PRESSURE to make that beautiful, organized, make this beautiful thing with tape and with objects. Just blah. It's my notebook. It's titled "Cierra, Fall 2017 - xxxx" xxx is when I finish it. :) But I definitely want to get more beautiful notebooks. XD but I'm scared of the pressure!

Ariel, all of your DIY and not-directly-related-to-books videos always leave me so inspire to do work and create things, and I just wanted to let you know I really appreciate them. (Not that I don't love the book content too, it's just that these hit my soul in a different way.) Thanks. Keep it up. (Also, I'm having trouble staying motivated and getting through grad school as well so I guess I'd like to say that we can do it, we can get through it! I believe in us!)

I love the letter-writing idea (as well as Tiny Beautiful Things!). I might try that too. I have one notebook where I list all of my goals for the year, and then keep track of my progress (reading, writing, KZfaq, organizing, budgeting, etc.). I've had it for the past year and a half and it's been really helpful.

Honestly, the video you made on your travel journals revolutionised my life. I remember being really inspired by that video, and a week or so later I got my own journal from Flying Tiger. I've now kept it up since November 2015, which means I've recorded getting to know some of the most important people I have ever met, some of my best friends, including my current roommate. I've recorded moving abroad and starting university. I love that I have these journals, for the same reasons you love the notebook idea for the books you've read. I love journalling so much, it helps me keep writing even when I don't have time to work on my novels, and I kind of owe that to you lol thank you

I kept a ‘dream diary’ for a while, as I’m really interested in psychology, and wanted to see if I could find any correlations between my real life and my dreams etc. It was an awful experience, as that act of me recording my dreams seemed to trigger an increase in their occurrence, as well as them getting progressively more and more nightmarish... which in a way was actually really interesting, and added a new dimension to that little experiment I conducted with myself! I think that keeping a dream diary is an awesome thing to try at least once, but I warn you to tread carefully, because it ended up being far more confronting than I’d expected.

I started myself a reading log in my bullet journal and I'm absolutely in love with it. I track title, author, rating, number of pages, amount of total books read, dates I started and finished, and my thoughts. It's so much more fun than Goodreads. I like the idea of Goodreads and it seems like something I should love but I'm so ambivalent about it. My reading log however makes me so happy. Being able to start an entry, read the book, and add the rest of the entry is so satisfying.

i loved all of the ideas you suggested in this video so much! for me it has always been like i have to overcome the fear of messing up my pretty notebook, it not being totally neat and perfect. that has often kept me from turning my notebooks into the objects that i want them to be, which are a garden for my thoughts, a place to store and remember a part of myself. the fear of not being 'aesthetic' enough should not stop me from expressing myself in my notebooks, because they belong to no one else but me, and don't have to live up to any standards (just like i don't have to be a certain way to be good) i now use my notebooks any time i feel like i need to scribble down a thought or impression or to write down something i learnt that day. this video has inspired me to be even more creative and free with my notebooks and again reminded me that it's not about your notes being neat and prestine, but instead about them being your very own✨

I use one of my note books to write my dreams, like exactly in every detail I can remember I sometimes also put notes on them, Actually I think that I can make a novel from some of them or at least a short story. it's a very useful way.

I have WAY too many empty ones it’s ridiculous

I love this!! Your idea of writing letters to the author of Wild is such a cool idea! For me, once I gave up the idea that a nice notebook had to be used for something special, it made mundane things feel so special. And it also felt great to have used the whole notebook. I'm also a firm believer in using the same notebook for all ideas and projects, especially when the projects are still in their very nebulous first stages.

I heard this idea somewhere but I think it's really cool. You make a character journal. It's basically a journal/diary but not of your life. Rather it's the life of a character you made up or anyone else who is not you. I think it's a really good writing exercise

My favorite notebook is my movie diary(the one where I write the number of the movie, its title, the date of me watching it and the rating). I know you can perfectly well use Letterboxd or whatever, but I'd save this notebook first if my house caught on fire

Great video! I recently started using multiple notebooks for different reasons and it has been SOOOOO awesome. I stopped using Goodreads, and replaced that website with a notebook and it had taken the stress off.

Every time I watch one of your videos it feels like you're sending me excitement through the screen!!

I love this video. First of all you took the words out of my mouth for my attraction to notebooks (and pens). Secondly, most "ideas to fill notebooks" videos come up with these intimidating ideas that take a lot of materials and time, but this video focused on the point of not being intimidated and just take a pen and write. I just subscribed!

Your "Dear Sugar" journal made me think of a movie that you might want to check out. It is called The Answer Man. I love it, but I know not everyone loves it. The main character wrote questions down and sometimes he found the answers and wrote them too. It's definitely a good idea :) Also, as someone who has a reading journal, I will never stop doing it, so I can't recommend it enough.

all of my journals are all over the place and I think that's the most convenient for me personally. just mixing up every signle idea, recipe, to do list, memory, dreams. it's like a treasure box!! and it is aboslutely phenomenal to get back to old journals and look bak at how you have grown etc.

I started the Reading Journal for this year and I really love doing it. It helps me see all my books and thoughts on it as I go through the year. I can't wait to see how it ends for the year. I was thinking of doing one for each year lol

how tf does your hair just do that. its so beautiful. i use my notebooks for writing ideas and japanese practice :)

I used to keep a reading Journal. Now I keep a 'normal' diary in which I often incorporate thoughts on the books I ve read and movies I ve seen! Loved your video, as always! :)

I THOUGHT I WAS THE ONLY ONE!!! I always have the urge to buy new notebooks, collect them, but I either never write in one or I begin to write in one but I don't keep it consistent. This video helped a lot, thank you.

One of my most treasured notebooks is a black Moleskine reading journal which has designated alphabetised tabs for the books you read, and each page has room to write the name of the book, publication date, awards won, author nationality etc. as well as space to write your opinion on the book. It's honestly revolutionised the way I read, as I can physically keep track of my thoughts and write down quotes and actually think about them rather than just copy and pasting them from Goodreads. I love notebooks and I loved this video! Thank you for making such cool and helpful videos like this

this is way more inspiring than i thought, so thank you!!!! i have a notebook i use for the days where i'm anxious or overwhelmed, and detail in it exactly what i'm thinking or feeling, without the pressure to make it sound totally comprehensible or pOeTiC. its reserved just for those bad days, and i feel like its a really helpful as a de-stresser. on the other hand, after watching your video, i was thinking of starting a notebook where i talk about all my favourite things/the things that make me happy, whether that be certain books, movies, bands, etc. i think you're right when you said it'd be cool to go back and read about someone's opinions on books, so i was inspired by that!!! good job on this ariel,; this was a video i didn't know i needed💜

I started bullet journaling this year, which I loooove (one for work and one personal), and I do a spread whenever i finish a book with the rating and draw my favorite quotes of that book. I doodle things that have to do with the book as well! I love it, and because it's interspersed with my bullet journal it's chronological. For books, since they're a part of my life i can incorporate it into bullet journal. Now, for wedding planning I had a completely separate notebook. So we all have to find a out what works for you in a separate notebook (like a big project!) and what would blend all together in your main journal. Great video! :)

This video is therapeutic. I'm wrangling with the same feelings about the notebooks I've accumulated. And because I like writing first drafts of stories in notebooks, it's not easy to get the story out while I'm trying to keep the notebook pretty and organized, because a first draft ain't always pretty and organized. So this video is reducing my anxiety about finally putting my notebooks to use. Thanks!

I've been trying to get myself to make a dream journal because theres always that one dream I dont remember, that gives me the feeling that I loved it, and it's gone forever. Plus dreams are such a good place to find inspiration since anything can happen in them. Not only that, but I want to write a little blurb about how my day was before I slept, because I think the correlations between that and your dreams is rather fascinating.

I’ve been LOVING your videos. They’re so eclectic. I really like the way you make videos about so much more than popular fiction. Please keep making stuff like this!!! This was so full of cool ideas. I particularly like that you have an app idea. I have so many ideas that I think are weird so I never write them down.

Ariel you've quickly become one of my favourite youtubers ever. Your content is so unique and inspiring, that often I find myself watching your videos over and over and I'm like " I WANT TO READ AND WRITE EVERYTHING YAY"

I have a beautiful notebook with my favorite theme, space, and I wanted to keep it for something special. I was so afraid to mess it up so finally I decided it was silly just keeping it around, notebooks are to be used! So I decided to atempt something I wanted to do for a while, start my Bujo. It was the best decision I made this year. This is a great video! Hope more people put them notebooks to use. :D

Hey! Love all the different ideas. Once I rediscovered a notebook with two pages filled of something that I didn't like anymore, so I ripped them out, cut them up and used them to make a cool new collage on the new first page of the notebook. Recycled them, basically. Felt really liberating.

You're speaking to my soul, Ariel! I have over 20 journals and I always feel guilty about getting a new one, but I can't help it! They're all so pretty. I'm definatly going to implement some of your ideas and suggestions!

I've been using a notebook lately to journal every night, which isn't a novel idea, BUT I dedicate one or two pages to my writing about my day and then use the opposite facing page to doodle and draw out my day creatively. It's a nice way to unwind and to pick out the things that stuck out the most each day.

I always do that...I always rip out my pages

From what you described sounds like a commonplace book combined with a planner. I love my commonplace notebooks. Changed my life :)

i have a notebook in which i take notes on the books i'm reading and make lists of books i want to read soon (which is always funny because sometimes i look back at one of those lists that i made 2 years ago and go "oh i still haven't read that one") or just any book related lists. it feels great to have my thoughts on the books i read all in one place. i filled one entire notebook doing this, i used it for 3 years long and it's great to see how my notes changed over time. it shows what you find important in books and how that changes over time, and there are books that are now my favourite books, of which i have notes from when i first read those books. for me there's nothing more fun than reading back my live reaction as i was reading my favourite books for the first time. i do annotate books as well by the way, but i use annotations more as a direct way of "talking to the author" and just to underline passages that mean something to me (because it's annoying to copy that all over into my notebook). the notes in my notebook are more along the lines of "omG YOU NEVER GUESS WHAT JUST HAPPENED:" or just me going on 2 pages long rants. it's great.

Love the idea of a notebook with book reviews and thoughts. I could call it my Book Book ha! Awesome ideas xx

I recently started keeping a reading journal and I'm really enjoying writing on it and decorating it

I loooove little thin empty notebooks. And I love when I write in them and fill them up and they're fat with words and ticket stubs and stories and confetti. There's just something about it - giving substance and weight to memories!

I have a reading journal (well multiple- I started in 2014) and it is so fun when I am rereading books to go back and see what I thought of books when I first read them and then record my current thoughts!

stationery videos are my favourite types of videos!!! (after book videos of course)

Like that idea of reading journal. Nice to have it to look over without opening phone. I keep a journal next to my bed. I have good ideas when I am at the “moments between sleep and awake” that I otherwise forget.

I love your background, I love your ideas and I love your personality!

My favorite notebook that I decided to use is just a plain comp decorated and I keep it with me at school and I just open it whenever I'm bored in class. I use it to rant or to write playlists of my days or doodle and paint or just make a list but I always have it with me at school so whenever I have a good poem idea or drawing it's just all in that notebook instead of randomly on paper or on an assignment. I found it so refreshing to not care how nice it looked and to just write.

A great one I want to start is writing down interesting words i hear and their meaning. Also a recommendations book for tv/books/restaurants and then keep space with the entries for a review!

Hey Ariel! I never comment on your videos. Usually, I'm a lurker who merely watches every one of your videos silently, but today you mentioned one of my favorite books of all time and I couldn't pass up the opportunity to leave you a note! Tiny, Beautiful Things is such a great read. It's not the kind of book I really gravitate towards, but I'm glad you like it and are introducing one of Cheryl Strayed's less popular books to your viewers! Great video, as always.

I am so glad I found your video! I have an addiction to buying notebooks, and over the years or few weeks in my case the collection has grown. Some of them are so gorgeous I don't or never end writing in it. Now that I've saw your video I have some ideas on what to write in some of mine. I am now a subscriber! Thank you! Please continue making these awesome videos! -love and light

Would love to see an updated video on how you went with your entries and if you have any more ideas 😊❤

Needed this! Recently I've been trying to stick to the same one until full by writing a date in the corner whenever I start a new thought and making peace with the fact it is more a stream of consciousness than a specific theme per book. Like the idea of pocket notebooks though, I get most of my writing thoughts when travelling too and it's so awkward opening up backpacks or satchels sometimes.

I started a reading journal at the beginning of this year and I’m so glad I did, I love it so much. I’ve never been big on goodreads reviews but I love being able to put all my personals thoughts down somewhere 😊 loving your videos recently! xx

Ahh I love this video! I was just thinking today about making a video similar to this! I sort of have two categories of notebooks: my writing notebooks, where I scribble down book/story ideas, and my diaries. I used to do very classic diary entries of the "here's what I did today" variety, but recently I've given myself permission to just DO WHATEVER, so I've been writing poetry, drawing little doodles, writing down song lyrics, etc., and it's been super fun.

I have a reading journal. I take notes about things that I find important, my feelings, etc. I like being able to go back and look at the books I've read and see if my feelings have chnaged as I get older.

I have 4 notebooks on the go right now: a to do list one (not pretty but it works for me), a new to me vocabulary notebook that isn't used as much as I would like, a notebook the is all these inspiration things (quotes, ideas, anything that has caught my imagination side of my brain in the off chance I would write a book one day, an example I wrote half a page summary of an introduction to a novel I'll never write on what it would be like if earth had rings like saturn) and the final notebook is a mash up of a reading bullet journal and a 'scrape book' of my year were over the year I'll write a one line note about things that happened and at the end of the year I put them all together into a nice reminder. I'd really like to journal semi regular but it would be hard to start and then continue that habit over time but I think it's so neat to have a chronology of your life.

Great stuff, Ariel! I have one small notebook that I lay down next to my bed and whenever I have an idea I just spill it out in the middle of the night, whether it's something that should be on the next day's to do list or a storyline idea, or a thought that I don't want to forget. It's just my spill-it-out-book and then the next day I check what's in there and do with it what I want to do with it. I recommend it to everyone who doesn't want to fck up their pretty notebooks, it allows you to have one dump place of thoughts :)

I got a beautiful set of 3 notebooks that are roughly pocket sized. When I first picked them up I had no specific plans for them but then I realized they'd be perfect itinerary guides/planners. I always bought these yearly planners but then never really stuck to using them. With these I figure that I'll use each page as a separate day but the difference here is that they'll only be used for trips that I KNOW I'm taking. Not only will I have a handy place to look at for confirmation numbers, trip ideas, reservations, etc but it will be a really cool thing to look back on years from now. :-)

this video just gave me the strength to start using a notebook i've had unused for probably 5 years!! new reading journal! yay! 😝

This was such a great video! I always have people complaining to me that I have too many notebooks and I shouldn't buy anymore but with the help of your video and from everyone's comments down below, I NOW HAVE 20+ IDEAS SO NOW I HAVE PROOF THAT YOU CAN NEVER HAVE TOO MANY NOTEBOOKS!

I once tried to start a travel journal like twice, but I ended up failing both times. I used to use journals for writing down random thoughts and ideas, mostly ideas for stories. I got super inspired to this after reading Agatha Christie's Notebooks, which is this biography about how Agatha Christie wrote down her ideas for her novels and how she amassed a collection of such notebooks. I hadn't finished reading it tho since like 2012, but I would highly recommend checking it out when you can.

I had so many notebooks I was too afraid to use (because I didn't want to taint them) and too many uncompleted notebooks or 5 different ones at once and that was very stressful for me. I gave them all away except one and I keep EVERYTHING in it. It is my agenda, to do list, journal, drawing/painting book, brainstorm book and so much more. I keep it organized with a table of contents and bookmarks. My whole life is in it. I've finished 2 now and I'm about to start my 3rd.

you know videos like this remind me just how different we all tend to organize things. for me I write from one notebook till I fill it up then move to another. and inside it I either just write whatever story I'm currently writing or just putting in ideas on the same page but I circle those so I can tell what's what.

shes amazing! and i love her energy and personality

I have one small notebook, like the size of your travel notebooks, that I use for writing down new words that I come across in books and their meanings. It’s really good for if I am reading an older book or a classic, cause there are so many words I just haven’t come across before that I don’t want to forget!

keeping track of plants and gardening and lists that aren’t to do lists ( like a favorite things list)

yesss! i love this so much. empty notebooks are so overwhelming, but never again!!

I have a reading journal that I started when I was something like 10 years old and it's the best thing to go through it! The notebook is huge, so it'll still last me for years and years to come. Even though I use goodreads too, the notebook just gives me the feeling that it'll last me forever whereas I have a feeling that one day I'll no longer use goodreads, so the journal is very very special to me!

Oh my gosh someone who truly understands! You literally mentioned everything I feel when it comes to notebook

I have a reading journal! I got it off amazon and it’s really motivated me to read more

I have a quote journal and I love to just flip through it and read the beautiful words and such that i’ve collected.

The idea of a bullet-journal really was a game changer for me. I used to have notebooks for each different thing or just lots of empty pretty ones that I didn't think were deserving of any of my ideas. But having different notebooks for different things was too much for me. I get ideas or need to jot something down at any time day or night and I'm not going to have that particular notebook I need. So I've really been liking bullet-journalling, everything in one. And then later on I may rewrite some things in prettier journals (like in my favorite quotes journal done pretty and such). Other journal ideas: gratitude journal, favorite quotes, prayer/good thoughts journal, goal journal (perhaps a section for each goal, list of tasks, progress etc), accomplishments journal, stream of consciousness journal (my person fav!)

I love your content, it's so unique and it's refreshing to watch something new

I have created a great 2 notebook system. 1 journal that I don't have to worry about any format. I dump stories of my life, poems, drawings, etc. The other is for "business" (I'm still a student). Notes from meetings, research, brainstorming, to-do lists, and anything else. I ALWAYS keep this in my backpack. So nice to always have it on me.

I keep a book-log in my bullet journal/everything journal and it's been really great! I don't rate or review each book but I do record the title and author and the length and have done for over ten years (most of my adult life, lol). It's spread across several notebooks at this point, which is unwieldy as an archive but better in the day-to-day.

I have so many notebooks for so many different things. Dream Journal, calender, ideas, to do lists, quotes, thoughts about books, things i want to do, places i want to see, projects, recipes, stuff about games soooooo many topics 😂 but i love all of them

Great ideas Ariel, I also have the tendency to collect notebooks and I have been thinking that I really need to start to fill them up!

A READING JOURNAL! THAT IDEA IS AMAZING! My life has been made infinitely better. I'm calling it now.

I used to have a HUGE notebook that I used for writing projects, but also remembering passwords, drawing doodles and keeping scores in different cardgames. It's kinda bittersweet looking back at memories from 4 years ago at people who back then weren't in super good spaces mentally, emotionally or phsycially, but seem to be doing better now, even though I've lost touch with them.

Very useful! I have a little notebook full of quotes I like from the books I read or lyrics I love. I write them down so eventually I can grab the notebook, open it in a random page and be inspired by the quotes 😍

Using pretty notebooks for to do lists is how I tackle bullet journaling. Because I don't like how intricate and complicated bujo-ing has become. It's original idea was a lot more simple and functional. So rather than spending hours of my day creating layouts and trying so hard to making it look "pretty", I use beautiful notebooks for to do lists (some short journaling too) and it feels the same as how bujo-ing has evolved to now. Idk if I'm making sense haha I'm not being that articulate in explaining myself I think. I feel like there's just too much pressure in the bujo community to be all fancy with layouts and decor. For me, it all takes away from productivity.

This is the exact video I needed at this exact moment. Thank you Ariel!

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

This was really useful Ariel thank you! I have so many unused notebooks laying around. Now I know what to do with them.