Moleskine/ Rhodia uses

[mikeman]

Just curious as to what you guys use your notebooks for, if you're no longer in school? Random, I know.

 

[StephenHero]

Nothing really. Conservatively, I'd have to guess that 99% of Moleskines are never really filled up. They're a great piece of marketing. "Instead of tying a bandana around your neck, buy this notebook to demonstrate your commitment to the inconveniences of 19th century scholarship." They're cute little notebooks (at least Moleskines are), but I prefer printer paper or bond paper for sketching or writing stuff down, because most of the things I'd draw or write are disposable. I scan the ones that aren't. Even the little tiny ones became obsolete with my phone. I type things I need to remember in it. I'd buy another one if they came out with an 8.5" X 11" softcover with 95lb coldpress paper or better. The stuff they use in the softcovers is really crappy.

 

[Thomas]

I have no experience with either but when I started sing a fountain pen I picked the Staples ARC notebook system - the paper is good and the price reasonable. The bad news is that I never quite feel like anything I write down is worth paper that good.

 

[Flambeur]

I guess I'm one of the 1% that really puts the Moleskine to use, and I pretty much swear by it.

Basically, I've used it throughout grad school, and now use it at work. I typically take notes during all my meetings or when I plan things, but I do transfer certain things to MS OneNote. At work It usually takes me about 4-5 months to fill a standard moleskine notebook up, although I've have really busy periods when it was more like three months.

I've tried all kinds of notebooks and systems before, and a moleskine just works for me. I use a graph paper one, and always with a good pen - usually a rollerball with a threaded cap (so I can clip onto the notebook and not lose the pen) and an ultrafine cartridge. After trying different approaches for a while, it totally works for me, and I'm very satisfied with it. I have a mini-library of notebooks now, and they come in useful - for example I was just using one from a year ago to write an article about a project we were working on back then.

 

[Joffrey]

My boss has one and uses it extensively. I prefer the free full size notbooks we stock in our office supply.

 

[nootje]

I use one on a regular basis, the A5 size. Every meeting outside the office gets jotted down, and important parts are converted to digital meeting reports. I just like being able to look back to meetings that were a few months ago, and its useful in my line of work..

 

[impolyt_one]

I've got several - I need scratch paper because I'm doing creative work, I'm a drunk and I forget all my important memos unless I write them down, and I'm deaf, so it's better that people write things for me sometimes. Been carrying it around my jacket pocket, it's not all that inconvenient. I just wish the spines were hollow so that they could hold a pen properly.

 

[smc]

I am in school, but I don't use my notebooks for class.

I've actually got a couple I write in frequently.

In my grad work, I find a lab notebook comes in handy. I essentially write down everything I think of, and everything I do in the lab. Keeps a record of the work I've done/plan to do, which can be important.

I keep a daily journal just to vent about daily bullshit.

I carry a small one in my back pocket pretty much all the time, to jot down random crap. Phone #'s, email addresses, title of a book I want to read, lists of stuff I need to do, whatever.

I fill up a lab book every few months, journal about every 6, and the pocket book never fills up, they just fall apart after a while, I never fill them up.

Here's a question, does anyone know of a better alternative for a back pocket book than the moleskine? (specifically, these guys: link)
The hardbound ones are too thick (200 pages), but these aren't tough enough.