Re: I started a "dirt notebook"

15 Jul, 2026

In I started a "dirt notebook", BearBlogger kwist describes his reluctance to take messy notes in his regular notebooks:

"I start cherishing every notebook that I start. I can't seem to keep my notes messy. Eventually, I start structuring the notes, doing cleaner handwriting, adding a cover or some stickers ... and before I know it, the notebook is too well-organised for simply scribbling into."

To counter this tendency, he started a dedicated "dirt notebook":

"I've nicknamed it "The Drainage Channel", because it's just a place for whatever is going through my head right in that moment. I'm using an old, empty notebook that I found lying around the other day. The paper quality is pretty bad; every kind of fountain pen ink bleeds through so I'm forced to use cheap ballpoints and it doesn't open flat, which makes it hard to take clean-looking notes in."

This is a really good way to work against such perfectionist tendencies.

When I saw his post, I thought I'd add two tipps and tricks about how to overcome the fear of "messing up" a notebook that many analog note-takers seem to have:

1. Start with the inside of the cover: Purposefully "mess up" the part of the notebook that's not really for taking notes. Put a coffee stain or some stickers on it, give it a silly name or at least a number, doodle something.

I use the blank inside of my notebooks for all sorts of things:

• the start and end dates of me using that notebook,
• its running number,
• my contact info and sometimes the promise of a finder's fee,
• the page numbers of single remaining empty pages,
• the best quotes or ideas that made it into that notebook etc.

2. Embrace scrapbooking: Every note you "messed up" is an opportunity to increase the scrapbooky¹ feel of your notebook: Tear a random piece of paper and glue it over the messed-up note, or cover it with a piece of a sticky note. Then, write the note again.

This comes down to taste, of course, but curiously, even many notebook users who are afraid of messing up their notes actually enjoy the vibe of a scrapbook.

I go even a little further: Whenever I take a note about a larger topic im currently working on in my pocket notebook, I consciously write it on a fresh page. Later, instead of re-writing that note in the notebook that I use for thinking about that particular topic, I rip or cut it out and glue or staple it in. Saves time and makes the whole thing more organic — and more scrapbooky, which is always a good thing.
The result might look something like this:

Hope this helps — 'til next time, fellow notebookers!

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Footnotes

#JulyReply #analog #notebook #stationery