I go through a variety of notebook-using habits. Lately, I tend to have about 3 going at once. I have a soft-cover Moleskine with graph paper pages that I’m using for daily jottings: to-do’s, French vocabulary, notes on books or movies to read, etc. A lot of these kinds of notes are things that I was putting into my Treo for a long time, and I still enter a lot of them there. I also tended to jot small lists of immediate to-do’s for a day, like “clean bathroom” and “pick up drycleaning” on index cards as well, but I’ve found that I enjoy using the Moleskine for these instead.

I also carry a hardcover Moleskine sketchbook, which I use as a journal. In the past, I’ve used these sketchbooks to capture some daily jottings, and occasional drawings or watercolors, but lately, it’s just been used for longer journal entries, maybe once or twice a week at most.

Then I have a small sketchbook that I use for drawings and watercolors, a HandBook pocket journal. The paper is a bit rougher than the Moleskines, but of a good weight for markers, pencil, and watercolor use. I don’t carry it with me and mainly use it on the weekends. When going on a trip, I sometimes start a separate one, such as the one I did for a recent 2-week safari. I started a new one for my trip to Paris, though I wasn’t able to fill it in the time I was there, so it will end up being used for other travels.

The two Moleskines are close to being finished. I have a blank page softcover Moleskine ready to go, as well as a couple of spare Moleskine sketchbooks. I’m tempted to go back to just keeping one notebook that would capture everything: notes, journal entries and drawings. But can a notebook addict like me limit herself to using just one? I love the nice flexy feeling of the softcover, but the paper in those doesn’t hold up for artwork. The HandBook sketchbook is chunky and great to draw in, but I don’t think I’d want to write journal entries and lists in it, as the paper isn’t as nice for a regular rollerball pen. The Moleskine sketchbook does the best job of meeting all needs, and that’s why I’ve gone through so many of them over the years, but I’d miss using the other notebooks too.

How many notebooks do you use on a regular basis, and what kind?