The Notebook That Goes Everywhere with Me

How carrying a pocket notebook changed my life and how it could change yours.

How many times have you been listening to a seminar or reading something online that really resonated with you, and you wanted to remember it later? Or how often have you been getting ready to head to the grocery store, making a mental note of what to get, only to get sidetracked and forget that critical ingredient you told your spouse you wouldn’t forget?

We’ve all been there, but what is the best solution?

Some might say, “Well, just make a note in your phone!” and I can appreciate the fact that cell phones have gone from indestructible Nokia brick phones to ultra-powerful minicomputers that give us access to just about anything we want, but it also comes at a price. Most of the stuff on our smartphones works incredibly well at making sure we spend as much of our time on it as possible and nothing else. The problem is, once you open your phone and navigate to your notes app, you’re inevitably going to see that ominous red bubble in the upper right-hand side of Facebook, Instagram, X, etc., letting you know that you have a notification, and it’s all downhill from there. Next thing you know, you’re 30 minutes into doomscrolling, and you’ve forgotten why you opened your phone in the first place.

Fear not, I have a solution! I give you the pocket notebook! More specifically, a Field Notes memo book!

Photo by Heath Vester on Unsplash

I have carried a Field Notes brand memo book every day for the last 7 years with no signs of stopping anytime soon. I first discovered Field Notes in the Fall of 2018 when I saw them in an ad for a different product on my Facebook feed. After doing some extensive research into them and seeing all the different varieties they had, I settled on one of their Pitch Black memo books with a dot grid interior. When they arrived a week or so later, it didn’t take long for me to get hooked and start going down the rabbit hole like many folks do when they take up a new hobby. What really got me on board with them was how affordable they are and just how good the quality is for that price. Something of this quality and made in the U.S.A. could certainly fetch double what they were charging, but Aaron Draplin, one of the co-founders of Field Notes, wanted to keep them affordable. You see, Aaron is a Midwesterner like us, a real humble and honest man, and that’s one of the many things I like about him. Aaron’s philosophy is that while typing something into your phone might be fast, your hand with a pen or pencil is just a little bit faster when it comes to taking notes.

“I’m not writing it down to remember it later, I’m writing it down to remember it now.”

Field Notes’ Slogan

Studies have shown that when you physically write something down, you have a much higher chance of remembering the thing you wrote down. There is something that connects in our brains when we put pen to paper as opposed to typing on a screen. I, for one, love going to the grocery store with a physical list and crossing the items off as they make their way into the cart; it’s very satisfying. I also enjoy it when I start my day with a to-do list, and as the day progresses, I slowly cross things off. Again, it is very satisfying.

As you can see, I am a huge fan of Field Notes. To date, I’ve used a total of 37 of their standard memo book-size pocket notebooks. On the inside cover, there is a space to put the date you start and finish it, so you can keep track of how long it took you to fill it and keep track of what information it contains. In a way, these memo books have become little history books of my life. I hope that I can one day pass these down to my children so they can have a little look into my life. Below is a short video of all of the memo books I’ve used so far.

I hope that by reading this, you’ve gained further insight into one of my many hobbies, and you can now appreciate pocket notebooks as much as I do. I would encourage everyone to start physically writing their grocery list or keeping a notebook with them to jot down ideas or notes.

Take care!

AP