How (and Why) I Carry a Pocket Notebook WITH My Bullet Journal

Ever since I start to bullet journal regularly with an A5-sized (read: the “standard” size) notebook for a bullet journal, I had switched away from pocket-sized notebooks I used to use for my to-dos and other reminders.

As anyone can guess, the major difference between my pre and post-bullet journal notebooks includes how much easier it is to go back and find valuable information from the latter than it is for the former, as well as how said info is streamlined well (thanks, rapid logging!).

Still, I did like the idea of carrying a pocket bullet journal for a bit, but I have come to realize how useless it feels if I try to use it as a portable version of my full-sized bujo:

• I tend to use different kinds of pens on my full-sized bullet journal compared to a pocket-sized equivalent. The inks I like to use dry slowly, which is not ideal for a pocket-sized notebook.
• Trying to cross-reference between notebooks feels redundant at best and like a chore at worst. I end up feeling like I want to write things in my full-sized bujo most of the time, so my pocket notebook usually feels unnecessary when I do remember to carry it.
• I wasn’t sure how to balance the necessities of a bigger bullet journal with that of a smaller one. How do I incorporate a future log, detailed index, and other things without the effort to maintain it feeling futile?

Even if I figured out a good way to make my pocket bujo feel more useful, that still came with the very real risk of my full-sized notebook feeling useless. What could I do?

Because of these issues, I felt it was largely useless to carry a pocket notebook around, which is annoying for me. How was I supposed to get the biggest advantage (portability and the ability to easily write anything on the go) with a pocket notebook if I was more concerned with how I would organize it and reference it again later?

Fortunately, while I was at work today (I’ve been busier at work lately), I found a possible solution!

This video was recommended to me on some of the little downtime I had today, so I decided to give it a watch, and I LOVE this idea. It seems that EZ Book Notes helped me come up with a brilliant way to actually get full advantage from pocket notebooks without eclipsing my bullet journal or making it feel useless.

After watching the video, I decided to use an A6-sized Japanese notebook I bought years ago and left sitting in a drawer collecting dust until now.

I was initially confused when watching the video when EZ Book Notes set up the mini index, as I didn’t get what the point of having the numbers at the top and bottom was. However, I think it’s largely for measurements? With that said and done, I marked the grid paper in this notebook with numbers and divided into a different series of categories:

• Remember
• Idea (General)
• Idea (Work)
• Inspiring
• Other

I also skipped the colored sticker system because 1: I don’t have any colored stickers on hand, and 2: I thought it would have been easier to get the same setup using hand-drawn symbols on the right-edge of the page to help label the divided spaces.

The symbols I used to remember the categories were square for Remember, circle for General Ideas, triangle for Work Ideas, rhombus for Inspiration, and hexagons for Other.

Another thing I noticed was how difficult it was to evenly divide the spaces for 5 types of notes, so I purposely made the “Other” category the smallest.

As for the rest of the bullet journaling aspects, such as a full-sized index, future log, and other layouts, I decided to scrap those entirely. I wanted to focus on making this notebook feel as simple and streamlined as possible.

Overall, I’m pleased with this practical idea. Now I feel like my pocket-sized notebook has become much more useful instead of feeling like an unnecessary thing I carry extra in my pocket.

How do you use your own small notebooks, especially if you bullet journal? Or do you only use one notebook at a time? Are there other practical ideas I could possibly implement into this workflow?