The Notebook Method

A notebook works best when it stays light. The method here is small on purpose, so it survives busy weeks and quiet ones alike.

Use three kinds of line

For most notes, three lines are plenty. One line for the fact of the thing: the title, the place, the date. One line for the feeling of it: what it was actually like to be there or to read it. And one line for where it might belong later: a city page, a draft, a question already half-formed.

That small structure keeps a note useful without making the notebook heavy. It is enough to find the thought again, which is the only job a note really has.

Build an index slowly

An index does not have to be complete to be helpful. It only needs to point the way back: books, places, recurring themes, the names of rooms and walks. A page or two at the front of the notebook, updated whenever it is convenient, is usually enough.

The best notebook is simply the one that remains easy to reopen. Everything in this method is in service of that.