There are certain things this nerd goes really nerdy for – books, stuff in antique stores, dresses, interior design, Apple products and — notebooks. Yes, I have a strange attraction to notebooks.

I enjoying trying out and collecting different kinds of notebooks. I’m not talking about the plain ruled kind you’d use at school, although those classics always work in a pinch, but I’m talking about the classy kind that make you feel like an intellectual just for owning one.

I will say my nerdiness is slightly redeemed by admitting to that fact that for all of my time spent collecting and money spent buying, I never keep the notebooks once they’re filled up. As a matter of fact I’ll often get bored of a notebook and want to move on about halfway through, relishing the moment when I finally fill up that last line so I can pitch it in the trash and try another.

I’ve traditionally used my notebook for two main things and have recently added a third item to the list.

  1. The main thing they’re used for is when I’m busy developing a site. I tend to fill up a good two pages with the names and dimensions of the necessary image and div sizes as well as text sizes and styles. This has sped up my development time so much, I never code without it.
  2. The second use I’ve found is for a to-do list. There’s nothing more satisfying than handwriting those tasks and drawing a huge fat lime trough them when I’m done. To-do apps just don’t do it for me in this area.
  3. The new use I’ve found for the notebooks actually involves writing. I’ve been doing a lot if writing lately, as I’m currently working on one printed book and just finished two ebooks.

Writing articles, books and use the notebooks for dev is really easy. I don’t even have to have a lined notebook. Finding something perfect to write a to-do list on, however, is a bit more difficult. Recently, I’ve been going around purchasing some popular notebooks to see how’d they work for writing my to-dos.

Moleskin

The traditional notebook of all artists, the Moleskin has always been one of my favorite (I’ve got the Limited Edition Pacman version you see above). While I love writing in this book, it’s definitely the most expensive out of all the notebooks I’ve ever bought, making it uneconomical and wasteful to just write to-dos in. Fantastic for your blog posts and dev pages though.

Field Notes

Inexpensive and tiny, Field Notes is great for carrying around. The brand sells these tiny notebooks in three different papers: graph, lined and blank, and a myriad of colors. The make the colors collectible and you can even subscribe to them. While I like their look and feel, the pages start falling apart once you reach the lsat quarter of the book. Also, I still think the notebook size itself makes it wasteful for a to-do list, which is typically one column long. This notebook is ok for doing dev work on, but definitely too small for writing articles in. I probably won’t buy anymore once I run out.

Behance Action Runner

My first impression of the Behance Action Runner? This is gonna be one sexy to-do list! With it’s velour black on black cover and surdy design, I can’t wait to have something to write in here. You can order the spiral notebook in three different Pantone colors, and the front of the page is the checklist while the back has Behance’s dot matrix grid for writing or sketching. A little pricey at $8.50 for each notebook (of about 30 pages), but looks like it’ll be well worth it.

Muji

The Muji memo pad, cheapest of the notebooks at $1.75 for 40 pages, is a paired down version of the Behance Action Runner. It’s small, but sturdy, has has a see-through plastic cover. The Muji seems to be better fit for longer lists than the Action Runner, although it includes a regular bound, so it may end up being less durable.

Predictions

I’ve yet to try out any of the to-do list notebooks yet. I regret deciding to take the weekend off the week these arrived. However, I’m already starting to think the Action Runner is going to be my favorite. It’s just too swanky looking. Somebody give me some chores to write down!

Know Of More To-Do List Notebooks or Just Some Cool Notebooks in General?

Please share with me!!

Amber Weinberg

Amber is a freelance front-end developer specializing in semantic and accessible custom WordPress themes. She works with agencies and other freelancers to bring their designs to life using custom ACF flexible layout builds - making them more performant and less buggy while allowing the client easy customization without breaking the design system.