One Journal to Rule Them All

One journal to find them, one journal to illuminate our thoughts and in its pages bind them

🌸 ikigai 生き甲斐 is a reason for being, your purpose in life - from the Japanese iki 生き meaning life and gai 甲斐 meaning worth 🌸

✨ I fell in love with the Lord of the Rings trilogy as a teen (dreaming of Arwen Evenstar, obviously). Just as one ring bound together Tolkien's entire world, I've found that one journal can weave together all the scattered threads of my life, it might lack magical elvish inscriptions, but it holds its own kind of power ✨

… I just watched someone on YouTube asking why so many people are now obsessed with pocket notebooks (as if stationery lovers need much excuse for buying more hehe).

His method? Three different pocket-sized notebooks. A rough book for messy thoughts, a log book for recording his life, and a commonplace book for quotes and insights.

All I could think was...why complicate something so beautiful with fragmentation?

My A5 hardcover dot grid journal goes everywhere with me. Stuffed into bags, surviving food spills, and bearing the scars of more than a few drops and bashes.

It's not just a notebook, it's the command centre of my entire life *grin*. This single journal approach has really driven my personal development, bringing clarity where there was chaos and connection where there was none.

Arguing the case for only one journal at a time does slightly run contra to my love of buying them, but I also get through it in about 6 months, so I get to start a new one often enough for it to be fun but not so often it's a pain!

The magic of one

How much mental energy do we waste deciding which app to use for which type of thought?

In the digital world it is common to have an app for tasks, another for journaling, another for creativity, another for tracking habits... and then there's the notifications, the updates, the subscription fees… suddenly your simple desire to organise your life has become yet another source of stress.

I love that lots of people are rediscovering the joy of analogue, but for those advocating for multiple books how do you remember exactly which notebook you jotted that brilliant idea in?

There's something magical about having just ONE place where everything lives.

When everything goes into in a single journal, you eliminate decision fatigue. Every random thought, shopping list, future plan, creative spark and daily reflection has a home. No more "which tool or book for which purpose?" anxiety. Just turn to the next blank page and start writing.

One of the most powerful aspects of a single journal is the way it mimics how our brains work. Our thought trains don't come neatly categorised. They're messy, interconnected, and often surprise us with unexpected links between seemingly unrelated areas of our lives.

My bullet journal reflects this beautiful chaos. One page might contain my monthly calendar, the next a brainstorm for an essay, followed by notes from a podcast, then a list of books I want to read. This natural flow creates connections I would never discover if these thoughts were siloed in separate notebooks or apps.

I honestly can't count the number of times I've flicked through my journal looking for something specific, only to stumble upon an idea I'd forgotten that suddenly seems relevant again. These serendipitous discoveries just don't happen when everything is separate.

Perhaps my favourite aspect of having one comprehensive journal is how well it serves as a time machine. Within its pages, I can travel back to exactly who I was then, complete with all the hopes, fears, and half-formed ideas I'd otherwise have forgotten.

Digital tools, with their emphasis on the present and future, often erase or hide our past. That task you completed last month? Archived. That journal entry from last year? Buried deep in the app. But my physical journal preserves these moments, complete with sensory remembering of the feelings of rushed handwriting when I was excited, and the careful lettering when I was taking my time in a more reflective or grateful mood.

Flicking back through old journals lets you see the seeds of what become central themes in your life, learnings that might have been lost forever in the ephemeral world of digital notes.

A weapon against digital distraction

Let's be honest, we're all fighting a war against endless scrolling and digital distraction. My bullet journal is a strong weapon in this battle. A place to create, think, dream or read at a slower pace.

There's something about the physical act of writing. The pen gliding across paper, the slight resistance and the permanent nature of the mark. It creates presence in a way typing never will. When I feel the pull of my phone, opening my journal instead creates an alternative activity that's both productive and mindful.

Neuroscience backs this up. Writing by hand engages different parts of our brain than typing does. It improves memory retention, encourages deeper processing of information, and even sparks creativity in ways digital input simply can't match.

Plus, there's no risk of suddenly finding yourself scrolling through Instagram when you only meant to write down a shopping list, ahem!

Finding your imperfect system

For me, A5 size is the sweet spot, large enough to write comfortably but still portable enough to carry everywhere. The Leuchtturm1917 dotted Bullet Journal Official is my current fave, with its numbered pages and paper that handles my Pigma Microns and Tombows without bleeding through.

Admittedly, finding the perfect bag to carry it in has been an ongoing quest! A journal needs to be accessible, if it’s buried at the bottom of a big bag, it becomes too much effort to pull out for a quick note. If anyone finds one let me know, I’m toying with ordering something like this in yellow, but it looks a little too big! I just want to carry my book and a few pens ideally, with a safe place to put my phone away too.

The beauty of a bullet journal is that it adapts to YOU, not the other way around. There's no right or wrong way to do it. Some days my pages are colour-coded works of art; other days they're messy scrawls. Both are perfect because they captured what needed capturing in that moment.

Social media would have us believe our journals should be museum-worthy works of art, but the most useful journals are often the messiest. My journal contains crossed-out lists, half-finished thoughts, and pages I started with one purpose that morphed into something else entirely.

And that's the point! A journal isn't a performance; it's a working tool, a thinking space, a place to process life as it happens.

This permission to be imperfect is perhaps the greatest gift of the bullet journal method. There are no deleted files, no edited posts, no curated feeds. Just the raw, honest record of a mind at work.

AI + Analogue

While I'm firmly Team Analogue when it comes to capturing thoughts and planning, I've discovered a brilliant bridge between paper and digital in AI tools.

When I've created a particularly useful mind map or collection of ideas in my journal that I want to develop further, I take a photo and upload it to Claude. You can ask what it sees and what it thinks it means. It can transcribe my handwriting, organise my scattered thoughts, and even help me expand ideas further. No need to tediously retype everything.

This fab partnership gives me the best of both worlds. I get the cognitive benefits and distraction-free environment of handwriting in my journal, plus the organisational power and expandability of digital tools when I need them. It's like having a thoughtful assistant who can read my journal and help me develop my ideas.

From analogue ideation to digital development.

This approach preserves the irreplaceable benefits of analogue journaling while acknowledging that sometimes, digital tools offer advantages for developing and sharing ideas. Rather than seeing them as opposing forces, I've found that they can complement each other beautifully when used intentionally.

One book to rule them all

By simplifying to ONE journal, you actually expand your capabilities. Everything connects. Everything has context. Everything is findable.

Over time, this collection of journals becomes more than the sum of its parts. The story of your life, captured in your own handwriting, complete with all the mistakes, revisions, hopes, and achievements along the way.

When it feels like everything is becoming more complicated, fragmented, and digital, there's a quiet joy in this return to the simplicity of pen and paper. One journal to capture it all.

This approach aligns perfectly with ikigai, a single journal creates space for all the elements of life to coexist and interact, helping you discover connections you might otherwise miss when life is compartmentalised.

Like the One Ring that connected the fate of all Middle-earth (though with considerably less evil), a single journal creates unexpected connections between different areas of your life. That work challenge might suddenly find its solution in the quote you jotted down from the podcast you listened to last week.

What about you? Are you team "one journal" or do you prefer specialised notebooks for different purposes? I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments! And if you feel comfortable sharing, I'd love to see photos of your journal spreads too.

Sarah, seeking ikigai xxx

PS - If you're curious about deepening your own bullet journal journey, here are my top tips:

• Focus on what actually helps YOU, not what looks pretty on Instagram

• Give yourself permission to be messy and imperfect

• Experiment with different layouts until you find what works for your brain

• Remember it's a tool, not a work of art (though it can be both!)

What Lives in My One Journal?

Here's some of what you'll find within the pages of my single journal

• Monthly and weekly planning spreads — keeping my schedule visible

• Project trackers — for writing, learning, and creative endeavours

• Reading notes — insights from books and podcasts that spark ideas

• Mind maps — for brainstorming new projects or solving problems

• Gratitude entries — little moments of joy worth remembering

• Process reflections — what's working, what needs adjustment

• Random ideas — captured before they disappear forever

PPS - Journal prompts to think through for a "one journal" practice;

1. What's an aspect of my life that feels fragmented right now?

2. How might bringing these thoughts together in one place create new insights?

3. If my journal could tell the story of who I am becoming, what would the current chapter be titled and why?

PPPS - For a soundtrack to journal setup sessions, I can't recommend Ludovico Einaudi enough. His piano compositions create the perfect backdrop for reflective writing time! Light a candle, take time for you and see where your mind takes you.