My Journal Ecosystem (July 2026)
It’s been a couple of months since my last notebook check-in and, since many of you are usually curious to see how I’m organising and planning on paper, I thought I’d share my current journal ecosystem as it stands in July 2026. I’m incredibly happy (and productive) with this setup, and it works perfectly to balance my personal writing, everyday admin and task list, day job, reading/book notes, and wedding-planning. If you’re new here, I have always been a paper person. I’ve flitted from my beloved Filofax of my teenage years and early twenties, to a bullet journal lovingly set up weekly for nearly five years, to a ring agenda (again), before settling on today’s assortment.
My Everyday Carry
Notebook: Traveler’s Notebook Regular in Black.
Somehow, I’ve evolved to a two-folio carry for my everyday. And I’m loving it! Once upon a time, a catch-all bullet journal suited me fine to combine life, work and play, but I am just doing a lot more at the moment, and this is where I’ve settled.
My Traveler’s Notebook (regular size) is my lifeline. In here, I keep the Traveler’s Notebook weekly free diary, organising my weeks by using the left page for appointments and work ‘things’, and the right grid page for my daily to-do lists and notes. I am still using the bullet system, because it works perfectly with my brain and I do still often need to migrate, cancel and check off tasks, plus use the limited space to combine notes within the list.
I then keep a Traveler’s Notebook dot grid notebook for commonplacing. Lately, this looks like: & Chai collection planning or test notes, packing lists, favourite quotes from books or magazine articles, content ideas, essay drafts for Substack, a running list of things my girls and I want to do this summer, grocery lists… You get the gist.
Finally, I have my blank book that I use to collect eki stamps. Of course, I haven’t added to this since our Japan trip last summer, but it’s ready and waiting for our next visit! (And, I just love looking back at all the places we visited before, during and after we got engaged!) I really wish more countries adopted kitsch travel initiatives like these, because it brought Eddie and I so much joy throughout our Japanese travels!
Since we last caught up, I’ve removed my monthly diary insert. I really love this insert, but I found that I rarely referenced it anymore, preferring to use my Google Calendar. Life is just very busy and appointments change constantly, so it’s more functional this way. Instead, I’m planning to add a monthly diary to another notebook stack…
Pocket Daily Carry
Notebook: Paper Republic Le Grand Voyageur.
Back in February, I treated myself to a Paper Republic. If I’m honest, the quality doesn’t even come close to my Traveler’s Notebook, but here we are! This smaller size appealed to me since there are some things that just don’t require a huge page, and I thought it’d be great for keeping a book list and my wedding-planning notes in. Fast forward to July and that’s precisely what this pocket carry is doing. In fact, I’m loving this so much – quality aside – that I’ll be adding a monthly diary to the stack for easy reference. My first insert is a beloved limited-edition Prada book, used to write a simple running list of the books I’ve read. I decided to keep a list with no ratings or reviews or notes because I want this to be a years-long notebook and, more than likely, I won’t always be rating and reviewing what I read.
Next up is my most-used insert: a grid notebook that contains our wedding notes. Most of our planning is happening in an Excel spreadsheet (the budget!!) and my planner is acting as a scrapbook, but all of our vendor questions, notes from meetings, to-do lists and ideas are going in this insert.
After that, I have a dot grid insert that I use to collect ephemera. Wax seals from the snail mail club I’m subscribed to, fruit stickers from my daily snacks, tidbits from my travels… It all goes in here with practically no rhyme or reason. It’s fun having a real junk journal outside of my long-form journal (where I also paste ephemera in a storytelling, scrapbook fashion).
9-5 Job Diary
Notebook: Papier Mid-Year Diary.
For work, I’ve long abandoned my catch-all bullet journal in favour of something that allows me to easily capture daily tasks and notes. I really love this Damson Madder design, and that the pages provide ample room for all the ins and outs of my day job. What I love even more is that it means I can keep work life and personal life separate.
