Minor notebook update
August 5, 2025 at 9:53 PM by Dr. Drang
I started a new notebook last week and thought it worth writing another update on how I’m using it.
I’m still using Feela A5 notebooks because they hold up well and are cheap—as am I. I’m still using a Pentel Kerry mechanical pencil; that’s it tucked in the notebook’s loop. I’m still keeping my index of pages in an iCloud file called Notebook index.txt, and most of the index entries are still added through dictation via a Shortcut on my iPhone.
What’s new is that I’ve started keeping a to-do list in the notebook. I’m not busy enough to have a daily list, but a weekly list works well. Every Monday I write out two lists on a two-page spread: this week’s tasks on the left side and future tasks on the right:
A few things I want to mention:
- I took the photos for this post this morning. I have since done the weeding that’s third on the list, and I added a task for writing this post. I add the date next to the checkbox when I complete a task. I know there are systems that suggest markings other than checkboxes. Too fussy for me.
- The future tasks on the right are not the sort of overarching life goals you often see productivity gurus suggest. I don’t need to write down goals like that. The tasks on the right-hand page are basically the same sorts of things that are on the left-hand page, although typically a little less detailed. The only real difference is that I don’t expect to do them this week. I still write them down because otherwise I’d forget them.
- I add washi tape to tab the weekly task page for quick access and slice off last week’s tag with an X-ACTO knife. Washi tape is one of those things notebook freaks like to use, and of course I learned about it from Brad Dowdy and Myke Hurley. Sometimes I print out images from my computer to put into the notebook; I now use washi tape instead of Scotch tape to stick them in place. Apparently washi tape is not too fussy for me.
My notebook index file currently covers 8 notebooks and has over 500 entries. I got those numbers via egrep. The entries for each new book start with a line like
Book: 2023-06-12 to 2023-09-24
so I can count the number of books using
egrep -c '^Book:' 'Notebook index.txt'
Each entry line starts with the date in yyyy-mm-dd format, so they’re counted using
egrep -c '^\d{4}-\d\d-\d\d' 'Notebook index.txt'
I’ve been doing the one-notebook thing for about three years now. It’s one of the few productivity undertakings that I’ve stayed with for multiple years with no breaks.