00:00:00
back in 2023 everyone wanted to know
00:00:02
about commonplace books as of then I had
00:00:05
been keeping commonplace books for 10 or
00:00:07
11 years and so I started making YouTube
00:00:09
videos about commonplace books one of
00:00:11
those videos caught on and exploded and
00:00:13
because of that I accidentally became a
00:00:16
notebook Zar now I have a masters in
00:00:18
theological studies another in
00:00:20
Systematic Theology and a third in the
00:00:22
philosophy of religion and what I came
00:00:23
to find out through my various YouTube
00:00:25
projects is that people care much more
00:00:26
about how I study than what I actually
00:00:29
study and that's fine I guess that makes
00:00:30
sense but again it turned me into the
00:00:32
notebook Zar how to use commonplace
00:00:34
books what are compendiums what's the
00:00:36
difference between a journal and a diary
00:00:38
what about pocket notebooks and
00:00:39
catchalls and everything else that you
00:00:41
can do with a notebook so I started
00:00:43
applying some of the tools that I
00:00:44
learned in My Philosophy master's degree
00:00:46
in order to chart the logical space of
00:00:48
all notebooks I started analyzing the
00:00:50
notebooks that I actually keep myself I
00:00:52
started thinking about other notebooks
00:00:53
that you could keep I started new
00:00:55
methods myself and then I came up with a
00:00:57
whole system for adjudicating which
00:00:58
notebook is best for you now I did a
00:01:00
whole video on that so if you want to
00:01:02
see more on that just check this video
00:01:04
up here and though I've come up with a
00:01:06
taxonomy of the different notebooks you
00:01:07
could keep people continue to ask me the
00:01:09
same question the most straightforward
00:01:11
version of the question is which
00:01:13
notebooks do you bring with you but
00:01:14
often times people ask how big are your
00:01:16
pockets like how do you fit these giant
00:01:18
notebooks in your pockets how do you
00:01:19
bring them with you how are you lugging
00:01:21
around so many notebooks my friend Jared
00:01:23
Henderson remarked that I should have a
00:01:24
wagon to bring all the notebooks with me
00:01:26
so in this video I'm going to show you
00:01:28
the two most important notebooks for me
00:01:30
that is the two that I always bring with
00:01:31
me everywhere I go but sometimes I carry
00:01:33
more than these two notebooks so I'm
00:01:35
also going to show you how I lug around
00:01:36
all my notebooks and books with me when
00:01:38
I need to so spoiler alert it's not a
00:01:41
wagon instead it's a Saddleback leather
00:01:43
flight bag this is the chestnut color
00:01:45
it's beautiful and awesome I'll give you
00:01:47
guys a quick little review of this after
00:01:49
I show you the two most important
00:01:50
notebooks that I carry with me okay so
00:01:52
something simple like a little notebook
00:01:54
can help massively improve your life
00:01:56
don't just take my word for it try it
00:01:57
yourself but there are multiple ways
00:01:59
that you can use a notebook book and you
00:02:00
need to determine which way is best for
00:02:02
you based on your needs so I found that
00:02:04
there are three basic categories for
00:02:06
keeping a notebook there are notebooks
00:02:07
for thoughts there are notebooks for
00:02:09
experience and there are notebooks for
00:02:10
self-mastery so keeping a notebook for
00:02:13
thoughts could mean that you're keeping
00:02:14
a notebook of your own thoughts this
00:02:16
would be called a journal or could
00:02:18
include keeping the thoughts of others
00:02:20
like a commonplace book where you're
00:02:21
collecting quotations or it could be for
00:02:23
keeping information like a compendium
00:02:25
notebooks for experience include things
00:02:27
like Diaries where you're capturing your
00:02:29
daily experience expences and emotions
00:02:31
you're logging what happened and you're
00:02:32
logging how you felt about it and then
00:02:34
notebooks for self-mastery would include
00:02:36
something like a Time block log where
00:02:38
you carve up all the hours of your day
00:02:41
and you assign different tasks to each
00:02:43
time block to help you be more
00:02:44
productive it could also include a
00:02:46
workout log where you're logging your
00:02:47
lifts or your runs or whatever exercise
00:02:50
you're doing but those are the main
00:02:51
three categories that I found now I use
00:02:53
lots and lots of notebooks spanning all
00:02:55
three categories but I don't always
00:02:57
bring them with me however at all times
00:02:58
I have at least one not notebook with me
00:03:00
and most of the time I have two
00:03:02
notebooks with me both of these travel
00:03:03
notebooks come from the thoughts
00:03:05
category the one I always carry with me
00:03:07
is a pocket catchall notebook and then
00:03:09
depending on the situation I'll either
00:03:11
bring a pocket commonplace book or a
00:03:13
pocket compendium now why do I choose to
00:03:15
bring these two with me well a catch-all
00:03:17
notebook is basically my working memory
00:03:20
this is where I jot down tasks and ideas
00:03:22
and thoughts new blog posts podcast
00:03:25
ideas Park notes video topics plot lines
00:03:28
for the science fiction novel that I'm
00:03:29
working on chapters for the park notes
00:03:31
book that I'm writing life goals grocery
00:03:33
lists everything everything goes in here
00:03:36
this is like an extension of my brain
00:03:37
and it's been the most beneficial tool
00:03:39
in my life now I know that sounds like
00:03:40
hyperbole you're just saying this for
00:03:42
the video genuinely I used to sit in bed
00:03:45
for hours with all these ideas rushing
00:03:47
in my head and I'd have to rehearse them
00:03:48
because I was so afraid that I'd forget
00:03:50
them and so it was seriously impacting
00:03:52
my sleep but then I started keeping a
00:03:53
pocket notebook and writing down my
00:03:55
ideas throughout the day and I didn't
00:03:56
have to worry about losing them while I
00:03:58
was sleeping now I sleep much better so
00:04:00
at all times I have a pocket catch all
00:04:02
with me this is just an English tan
00:04:04
cover it's made by stride Ridge on Etsy
00:04:06
you can find a link in the description I
00:04:08
believe it's horn we leather so that's
00:04:10
pretty cool and it's just covering a l
00:04:11
term 1917 A6 the pocket one and while
00:04:15
this one's my favorite it's also
00:04:16
interchangeable it's a little bit more
00:04:18
on the bulky side so if I'm going to a
00:04:19
wedding or somewhere that I need to wear
00:04:21
a suit I'll often use a field notes memo
00:04:24
book it's much Slimmer this is just a
00:04:26
lost Dutchman leather cover on a field
00:04:29
notes memo book but I use lots of
00:04:30
different pocket notebooks with lots of
00:04:32
different leather covers to function as
00:04:34
my pocket catchall the particular
00:04:37
instantiation of the catchall is not all
00:04:39
that important what matters is that I
00:04:40
can bring it with me and use it for its
00:04:42
functional role it's catching all my
00:04:43
ideas and thoughts anything I need to
00:04:46
remember is going in my catchall I use
00:04:48
lots of different brands one of my
00:04:49
favorites to use is myy creative Co I'm
00:04:52
actually an affiliate with them so you
00:04:53
can get 10% off your entire order with
00:04:56
my promo code Parker notes at checkout
00:04:58
find the link in the description and
00:05:00
some of you might like the field notes
00:05:01
memo book to function as your pocket
00:05:04
catch all I'm also an affiliate with
00:05:05
them so you can get 10% off your entire
00:05:07
field notes order with promo code Parker
00:05:09
notes and you can find that link in the
00:05:11
description as well I always try to find
00:05:13
a discount for you guys if I can so
00:05:15
that's a notebook for catching my
00:05:16
thoughts I also carry with me a notebook
00:05:18
where I collect other people's thoughts
00:05:20
like my pocket contemplation compendium
00:05:23
sometimes I call this my contempla I'm
00:05:25
sure that's not the right way to say the
00:05:26
Latin but oh well and my pocket Proverbs
00:05:28
commonplace book I bring these kinds of
00:05:30
notebooks with me to keep myself from
00:05:32
the infinite scroll when I'm waiting in
00:05:34
a Lobby or in a doctor's office when I'm
00:05:36
stuck in line anytime I'm tempted to
00:05:38
pull out that infinite scroll I pull out
00:05:40
notebooks full of ideas that I want to
00:05:42
reflect on instead now maybe a little
00:05:44
scrolling is okay but I have a pretty
00:05:46
addictive personality and I get sucked
00:05:48
in very easily so I found that keeping a
00:05:50
notebook full of ideas that I think are
00:05:52
interesting fascinating that I want to
00:05:54
think about more that I want to chew on
00:05:55
that I want to master and become an
00:05:57
expert in is much more beneficial to me
00:05:59
than scrolling going through a bunch of
00:06:00
crap so in my contemplation compendium I
00:06:02
just put a whole bunch of information
00:06:04
that I want to master I'm not putting
00:06:05
quotes in here I'm just abstracting out
00:06:07
ideas and information and putting them
00:06:09
in here for me to reflect on so I cover
00:06:11
this more in detail in a video up here
00:06:13
if you want to see that but a compendium
00:06:15
is a collection of information and
00:06:17
that's what this is so I have things
00:06:18
like K's critique of decart current
00:06:21
artificial intelligence and artificial
00:06:23
general intelligence projects I want to
00:06:25
be a good philosopher of mind and
00:06:26
philosopher of artificial intelligence
00:06:28
so I want to be well versed in the
00:06:30
current projects so I've researched them
00:06:32
and I abstracted out the information and
00:06:34
I put it in my compendium I have some
00:06:35
stuff on pythagoreanism and stoicism
00:06:38
transcendental arguments the neoplatonic
00:06:40
Trinity it's going to be a lot of
00:06:42
Theology and philosophy but that's what
00:06:43
I'm into that's what I want to be an
00:06:44
expert in so I fill this up with
00:06:46
information I want to master and I bring
00:06:48
it with me to learn on the go but if I'm
00:06:50
not bringing a compendium with me I
00:06:51
usually have a commonplace book this is
00:06:53
my pocket Proverbs commonplace book and
00:06:55
the idea is super simple while I'm
00:06:57
reading books I'm looking for wise
00:06:58
sayings I'm looking for aphorisms and
00:07:00
Proverbs nomic statements riddles and
00:07:03
just general wisdom when I find
00:07:05
something I want to add to my pocket
00:07:06
Proverbs commonplace book I highlight it
00:07:08
and I write proverb next to it when I'm
00:07:10
done reading that book I go back through
00:07:12
I find all the Proverbs and I add them
00:07:14
to this now this is genuinely one of my
00:07:16
favorite possessions this represents
00:07:18
hundreds of books that I've read TV
00:07:20
shows I've watched audio books
00:07:22
conversations I've had where I've found
00:07:24
wisdom it's super cool this is my Book
00:07:26
of Proverbs when I'm stuck at a red
00:07:28
light when someone's late to an
00:07:29
appointment when I'm in an awkward
00:07:31
situation and tempted to pull out my
00:07:32
phone I pull this out and I rehearse
00:07:34
some of my favorite wise sayings instead
00:07:37
of mindlessly scrolling now this one
00:07:38
also looks super cool with the black and
00:07:40
gold it's a ly term 1917 gold pocket
00:07:43
notebook and I have it in a Norman con
00:07:45
original leather cover this is also horn
00:07:48
leather Norman con makes the best
00:07:50
leather goods he's a master I like to
00:07:52
keep my notebooks in leather covers
00:07:54
because it gives distinct character to
00:07:56
each one of my notebooks it helps me
00:07:57
remember what's inside each one and it
00:07:59
protects the notebooks from wear and
00:08:01
tear when I haven't used these the black
00:08:03
covers get peeled off or the memo books
00:08:05
get all crunched up so I really like
00:08:07
using leather covers but you don't have
00:08:08
to for those of you who don't want to
00:08:10
use leather covers but still want to
00:08:11
protect your notebooks you might really
00:08:13
like lockb covers these are wax canvas
00:08:16
not made from any animal products they
00:08:18
have a cool little zipper lockb makes
00:08:19
their own pocket notebooks that go
00:08:21
inside here but it'll also fit a field
00:08:23
notes memo book that slides right in
00:08:25
there and you can zip it back up and you
00:08:27
have a vegan pocket notebook cover now
00:08:29
I'm an affiliate with lockb as well you
00:08:31
can get 10% off your lockb stuff with
00:08:33
promo code Park notes you don't have to
00:08:35
remember all these promo codes just
00:08:36
check the description and I'll have them
00:08:38
all there for you like I said if I can
00:08:39
get you guys a discount I'm going to do
00:08:41
that so those are the two styles of
00:08:42
notebooks that I'm going to bring with
00:08:43
me everywhere I go I always always
00:08:46
always have a catchall notebook with me
00:08:48
and most times I'm going to have either
00:08:49
a Commonplace Notebook or a compendium
00:08:52
notebook so I have ideas of others and I
00:08:55
have my own ideas these are coming with
00:08:57
me to help bolster my intellectual ual
00:08:59
life and keep me from becoming an
00:09:01
infinite scrolling zombie but a lot of
00:09:03
times I bring my briefcase with me so I
00:09:05
can get a bunch of work done I bring my
00:09:07
laptop with me I bring a bunch of books
00:09:09
and a bunch of my other big notebooks
00:09:11
and that's why I love my Saddleback
00:09:12
flight bag this thing is durable and
00:09:14
beautiful Saddleback has a 100-year
00:09:16
warranty so if anything breaks they fix
00:09:18
it I've personally never had anything
00:09:20
break on any of my Saddleback things I
00:09:22
love these guys I've been trying to
00:09:23
become an affiliate of them for years
00:09:25
and years and it finally happened they
00:09:27
sent me this bag and it instantly became
00:09:29
my new favorite it's got these two front
00:09:31
pockets where I put my pocket notebooks
00:09:33
you can also slide them in behind here
00:09:34
so there's like four front pockets it's
00:09:36
got this super wide mouth it fits my
00:09:38
laptop back here in this little flap and
00:09:41
it fits a bunch of books and notebooks
00:09:43
it's actually pretty surprising how much
00:09:44
to this little bag fits and it's much
00:09:46
lighter than other leather bags that I
00:09:48
have this is their new chestnut color
00:09:49
it's got a nice Sheen to it which is a
00:09:51
little bit different than their Old
00:09:52
Chestnut stuff it's got a nice document
00:09:54
flap on the back here it's got these two
00:09:56
handles man I I love this bag so much so
00:09:59
to answer the question I get all the
00:10:00
time this is how I carry around all my
00:10:02
notebooks this is how I have so many
00:10:04
pockets this is it I carry a briefcase
00:10:06
with me almost everywhere I go so I can
00:10:08
lug around all my stuff on the rare
00:10:10
occasions I can't bring this thing with
00:10:11
me I make sure to bring a catchall with
00:10:13
me and a Common Place book or a
00:10:15
compendium so there you go if you guys
00:10:17
want to check out Saddleback stuff check
00:10:19
out my link in the description all right
00:10:21
so that's it those are the notebooks I
00:10:22
carry with me and that's how I lug
00:10:23
around all my stuff I don't know if
00:10:25
that's beneficial to you guys but I hope
00:10:26
it was if you made it this far into the
00:10:28
video leave me a not notebook Emoji so I
00:10:30
know who the real ones are and I want to
00:10:32
hear from you guys leave me a comment
00:10:33
what's your favorite notebook and which
00:10:35
notebook do you carry most all right
00:10:37
that's going to do it for this video
00:10:38
I'll catch you guys next time
