I picked up the Midori “Commonplace Book” ($5 and available in 2 colors) . This A6-sized, 61-numbered-page mini notebook includes a paper bookmark that is printed with lines to add your own key, a place to store your key in the book, and a 2-page spread index that is numbered to match page numbers.
The Commonplace Notebook Features
There is a little brochure included with the notebook that includes information on how to utilize the notebook. Unfortunately, the brochure is written in Japanese so I am following along with the pictures to try to best understand its use.
The idea is that users will utilize the margin area on each page to color code the content in the main area to the key.
Then you can use the Index pages to annotate more specific information about what appears on each page.
Then the main part of the notebook includes 2.5mm grid on smooth, cream Midori paper with numbered pages.
There is a solid (-ish) line about five grid spaces from the left edge on each page. This area is designed to be used to color code your notes.
How NOT to Commonplace
The more research I did about this notebook, the more complicated it seemed and the less confident I felt about using a commonplace system like this. This notebook made me realize I am not great with Commonplace notebooks. My brain is not that organized.
But its a nice, pocketable notebook with great paper and a stellar price point ($5 for 61 pages of Midori paper!). So I wanted to figure out another way I could use this notebook? So I turned it into a junk journal! And by junk, I mean I started gluing in quotes, scraps, stickers, washi and random bits. I typed out quotes I like on my old manual typewriter and cut and pasted them into the book. I wrote things in from books and ideas I heard in podcasts.
So in the end, it did become a sort of commonplace book but not one that was stringently organized, color-coded or indexed.
So, if you are curious about this notebook but don’t think you are a “commonplace book user” don’t fret. Just stick a sticker over the title on the cover and chuck the bookmark. Make your own magic on lovely paper with. micro grid. Don’t feel constricted by the original intent. Make the notebook yours. There is no Notebook Police that will hand out citations for misuse of a notebook and if there is, kick ’em in the shins. Their laws don’t apply to you!
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