I spent years frustrated by my journaling habits. I would promise to keep a specific book for each theme and within days I’d be jotting down everything in one notebook. It wasn’t until I learned what Commonplace Books are that I realized they were what I’d been creating all along!!
These special books are a place to collect all your musings, ideas and experiences. I love to keep a Traditional or Multi-Use, as I like to call them, notebook. But I also have specific Commonplace Books for projects, research projects, and books I’m studying. I have a gardening notebook, a grief notebook, I even create a notebook for each class I create.
Over the many, many years I’ve been creating these books I’ve found there are such wonderful benefits to Commonplacing…yes, it’s a thing 🙂
1 – To Remember
The world is moving so fast and it’s so easy to forget the interesting passages or turn of phrase. I always think I’ll remember, but I don’t! I keep a small travel Commonplace Book in my purse and car so I have a notebook close by at all times.
2 – Helps You Focus
I can’t tell you the number of times I’m working on something and a great idea comes up or I come across some piece of research that would be perfect for another project or idea and it distracts from what I was working on. I’ve found that if keep a Commonplace Book with me I always have a place to jot down the information and then return to the project at hand knowing that special tidbit is safe and I can’t return to it later.
3 – Get To Know Yourself
When you look back at a completed Commonplace Book or even one that’s mostly filled in, you’ll begin to see your own unique take on things. It’s like a snapshot of your life.
4 – Saves Time
If you use Commonplace Books for research projects, whether for class creation, novel writing, lecture notes or a project, having a place where all your research is collected will save time when you need to find something.
5 – Contemplate Your Ideas
When looking back over your notebooks, you’ll be able to see the connection and insights you may not have seen otherwise. You’ll get a big picture of the information that inspired you.
6 – Increased Awareness
The more you Commonplace, the more you become aware. You’ll start to find quotes, figures of speech, and inspirational lines or lyrics in your everyday.
7 – Keeps Your Brain Sharp
The physical art of writing things down keeps your mind sharp. As a person ages they need more brain exercises and writing things down, especially things that you connect to, will keep you sharp as a tack.
The benefits of Commonplace Books are so vast. I’ve found that Commonplacing has helped me with Self-Care, especially when working through Grief.
Having a Grief Commonplace Book allows me to collect all the things that connect to me and offer support and guidance all in one place. I can quickly flip through it to see things I know will offer support and sooth during difficult moments.
I’m teaching a new class all about Commonplace Books. Here’s the post I wrote all about the class.
Heidi Cogdill 