I put my life in one notebook, and I'm not looking back.

I used to have a stack of journals: a composition book for long form and creative journaling, one for prayers, another for writing, a catch-all notebook for random thoughts and notes, and a planner that had blank pages in the back, where I kept track of reading, expenses, etc. I thought it was nice to have a separate notebook for everything. It made it easy to find information, and it was like my brain went into a different room when I used a particular notebook for a particular purpose. I dove into poetry and fiction in my writing notebook. If I wanted to write about my day or make a creative spread, I went to my daily journal.

Then I felt the friction. If I wanted to write about an issue or an event that needed prayer, that could be placed in both my daily and prayer journals. A random creative idea would pop into my head. Catch-all notebook or writing journal? I began to realize that sometimes being too organized can actually drive me nuts.

So, I searched the web for ways to put my life in one notebook. I was inspired by this video and the grail method. I think social media and consumerism has encouraged people to have multiple journals when, for some, keeping everything in one place is the best method.

In August, I abandoned my Sterling Ink B5 academic planner I'd purchased this past June. It was one of many failed attempts at keeping up with a planner. After using a single notebook for two full months, I was free of the dated boxes, blank spaces, and the pressure to keep up. I no longer had to reach for multiple notebooks to write down certain kinds of information. I fused daily journaling with some bullet journaling techniques and came up with these monthly spreads. I'm currently using the coffee and books dot grid notebook from Shop Rongrong. Here are my spreads for October:

After the calendar, I draw a habit tracker and use the right side for monthly goals, reminders, etc. Then from there, I continue journaling.

So, to sum it up, I plan around my long form journaling. If I need to write a to-do list, I will usually put it on a framed sticker and place it in my journal. If I don't want/need to write something one day, then I don't, and I no longer have to feel the pressure from pre-dated pages. Whatever I want to write down ends up on the next line in my notebook. This means I can have things like a line I thought of for a poem, a random word I looked up, or a book I want to add to my TBR list below or next to my daily journaling or to-do list.

Is this disorganized? Sure. But if you watch the grail method video I've included in this post, that's the point. Collect all your information in one book. Ditch self-editing, filter out bad ideas, make connections, and review your notebook constantly. Remove friction.

And it's working great. I no longer question where to put information that could belong in two different journals. I simply grab my notebook and jot it down. My screen time has decreased. I read and write more. I do flip through my journal and review past information. Perhaps organizing our writing too much assures us that it's in the right place, which causes us to just leave it there and move on. My notebook is now my daily journal, planner, and the place where I put brain dumps, writing ideas, prayer lists, and random thoughts and rants. It's also so much easier to travel with; I have all my writing with me and no longer need to pack multiple journals.

I only keep my language study and morning pages separate from my everything notebook. I prefer to keep morning pages in one place because it's three pages of stream of consciousness writing that takes up a lot of space and having it in one book does make it easier to browse through and notice patterns and connections in my morning thoughts. And language study? I'd prefer not to hunt for batchim rules and Korean verbs in my journal.

With planner season among us, I have been tempted to try a planner just one more time. The colors and clean layouts are aesthetically pleasing, but I remember how many planners I've failed to keep and stay with my notebook. I continue to create and make messes in the journaling method I created for myself.

I wrote morning pages for 30 days. Here's what happened.

Photo by Therese Vercellone

I learned about morning pages several years ago when I discovered Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way. I loved the idea of writing three pages of longhand stream-of consciousness. I even read Cameron's The Miracle of Morning Pages a handful of times with the intention of starting the habit. Writing three pages longhand felt intimidating. Can I write three pages a day? What if I get stuck and have nothing to put down? (It's okay to write I don't know what to write, and if you let your mind wander, you will have more to write.) I wrote pages a few times last summer, but it wasn't until mid-June when I finally made morning pages a daily part of my life, and after a thirty-day streak, I can't see myself starting my day any other way. Here's why:

They're like morning stretches for my brain. I wake up with too many thoughts in my head. I love to get up, go to my desk, and open my notebook to a clean page. There. Three pages to mentally stretch out. I throw my first thoughts onto the page and go from there, unpacking whatever comes to mind. This slows down my rapid thinking and gives me the clarity I need in order to get set up for the day.

They help me stay productive. Ever since I released my debut novel, I got sucked into social media so I could market my book. Too many times, I'd grab my phone when I woke up, and I'd end up doomscrolling after I was done with my posts. Now I wake up ready to flesh out my morning pages. Starting my day with writing keeps me writing. I've been keeping up with journaling and using up the hoard of art journaling supplies and stickers I've accumulated. Sometimes I write the to-do items that have been nagging me for a while and writing them down creates the commitment to get them done. Finishing something first thing in the morning gets me going. Dumping my morning thoughts onto the page also means carrying less weight and stress around throughout the day. Thanks to morning pages, I'm more present and have cut back on my screen time.

Morning pages can be cleansing. I've been writing for thirty years, so I know journaling can bring up unpleasant thoughts. When these come up, sometimes I will make a note of the intrusive thought that passed through my head. Other times I process it. It's uncomfortable. It hurts. But I do it to rip it out of myself. It's on the page. I can close my notebook, leave it there, and sigh in relief. (NOTE: This point taps into mental health. Everyone has different coping skills. Confronting intrusive thoughts on paper might not work for everyone.)

They provide clarity. My morning pages can get repetitive sometimes. I've spent a lot of time writing about my frustrations with trying to find my people in the publishing community. The Quiet Edge of Memory doesn't fit neatly into a box, and I'm okay with that. While it's tough finding my place, I've found so much comfort in writing affirmations in my morning pages about who I am as a writer, and how confident I feel in my own skin, pushing against the mainstream and writing what I want and need to write.

I've unearthed literary gems. I love writing freely and openly first thing in the morning. When I get caught up in the flow, I put down some pretty awesome stuff. A few times, I've written lines to what I'd love to turn into poems for my forthcoming chapbook. One morning, I thought of a book title that I'm tucking away for future use. Morning pages don't have to be neat, flowery, or make any sense, but when they do, I catch those words, then highlight those sections when I'm done so they're easy to find when I need them for a project.

Morning pages made me a morning person. I used to be a night owl, but after having kids, I've had no problems falling asleep, which has made it easier to rise earlier. Now I make sure to wake up before my husband and kids and write. Sometimes I stop writing, I pause, and I take in how quiet it is. I can hear my own thoughts, sort them out, and write them down. I can finish something with no interruptions. Morning pages are a glorious dose of me time. They're such a normal part of my life, I was able to roll out of bed at 4:30 a.m. last month to write them when we were out of town and had to be on the road at 7:30. I mean, I wanted to keep my 30-day streak going too. ;)

I'll end this post with an excerpt from my pages today: Morning pages are the place that holds rants, grief, joy, on-the-fly to-do lists, memories, a constant change of subject, sloppy writing, sloppy grammar, impromptu poetry, deep reflections ... and me.

Morning pages hold me. Thank you for that.

If you have considered doing morning pages, I strongly encourage you to give them a shot. They might change you, awaken something inside you, and reveal some rewarding--and sometimes hard--truths about how you live and create. What you do with that information is up to you. I've read that some people destroy them, but I'll hold on to mine. They're a reminder of all the days I've chosen to start my mornings taking care of my mind and my creative self while doing what I love most.