50+ Creative Ways to Fill Up an Empty Notebook! 📚

I’m sure you’ll LOVE them! #analuisany 💛

📚

Are you obsessed with collecting notebooks like I am? Does the devil on your shoulder whisper that you should buy that new beautiful notebook even though you already have a stack at home? Are you running out of storage space for your unused notebooks? You're not alone and I'm here to help!

In this week's video I'm sharing 50+ creative ideas for filling up your empty notebooks & journals so you can track your progress, express your creativity, take steps towards personal growth, and more!

Do you have ideas I missed? leave a comment sharing them so we can all use up those empty notebooks taking up closet space!

✨ CHAPTERS
0:00 admitting I have a problem...
0:31 my most used journals
1:02 treat your mom for mother's day *sponsor
3:14 some more specialized ideas
5:20 notebooks for learning & growth
6:23 journals for your passions
6:50 journals for day to day life
7:29 notebooks for your adventures
7:42 all the things you love in one place
8:03 learning & growing part 2
8:57 notebooks for messy brains
9:23 words & music
9:50 home & money
11:08 journals to care for you & others
13:14 a friendly competition

✨ Check out videos showing how I use some of these ideas in my own notebooks:

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What does your channel name mean? I picked "Plant Based Bride" for my blog when I started it back in 2015 as I was starting the process of planning my vegan wedding and wanted to document it. I have been vegan for 8+ years and married since 2016!
What's your real name? Elizabeth
Where are you from? I'm a Canadian from Toronto, Ontario now living in Saskatchewan!
Are you a natural redhead? No, I'm naturally a brunette. I dye my hair using Herbatint 8R.
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[Suzite]

A caregivers journal is another idea. For all the doctor visits what was said, what needs to be done. I kept one when taking care of my Dad, it was invaluable.

[hushingsilence]

A suggestion if you feel you have nothing to write about in your daily life .

Example #1. "I walked down to the mailbox. Nothing but bills. Ho hum"

Example #2. "I walked down to the mailbox with my trusty Rusty, our dog we love. Any walk excites him! The clouds were big and white, and I saw/heard a bluejay, and then a hawk high up in the sky. Acorns starting to drop off the tree in the yard, early signs that Fall is on it's way! Fall is by far my fav time of year. I'm going to Youtube Fall DIY projects, even if it is only August."

It's a way to notice more things during the basic daily stuff we do. And add a bit more when you can't think of what to write. This helped me, hope it helps someone else. 🙂

[Dora-tksq]

I saw someone on TikTok do it, and really liked the idea:
a journal where you write down the first chapters of your favourite books
it's a great way of practicing different handwriting styles and you end up with a journal filled with "samples" of your favourite books that you can return to or give to a friend looking for recommendations

[JessicaSmith-gdfu]

Thanks for all the good ideas. Here is another. Keep a journal for each child recording all the funny, interesting, thoughtful, or thought-provoking things they do or say from day one. Present it to the child when they graduate from high school.

[sharks]

One journal I'm about to start is a research journal. I'm just now finishing up my dissertation, for which I had to keep a lab book. But what we could do with it was quite limited, and I really regret not also keeping a personal bullet journal specifically for my research. Will certainly be using one for my summer research project and PhD. Things to include are:
-summary of experiments run/key results/where the data is stored etc
-ideas of how to plot data
-lists of papers read
-paper summaries
-advisor meeting plans/notes
-gantt charts/timelines
-conferences
-research publication pipelines


I have also found it super helpful to keep a notebook for my assignments in university. I don't use it for every assignment, but it's great to keep track of progress, readings, grades etc. I use the back of the journal to keep track of internships I apply to, and things I can add to my CV. Then, whenever I apply to a job, I can flip to that page to find all the relevant experience to include in that version of my cv

[krishnapatel]

i m using these-
1. fill ur book with motivation, stories, poems etc
2. write ur dreams in it
3. write ur favorite food
4. make habit trackers
5. make media list and rate it
6. keep a catalog of all ur pen and books.[helps to remember what u have]
7. write some gifts to get for someone
8. write your pocket money in and write you budget about what u get for who etc...
9. make occasion plans
10. write everything about you
11. your favorite recipe
12. bucket list
13. write all ur thoughts that u have throughout the day.
14.  A happiness writes
15. a sad writes

[ThaBloodWitch]

One more idea: gaming notebook! I have one for D&D and it's one of my favorites!
A fun followup to this would be tips for keeping up with the special notebooks you start that you might not use on a regular basis. 😊

[angelafasold]

I loved this soooo much! I can hardly contain my excitement to try out maaaany of these ideas.

I have a journal that I nicked named “letters to quantum”. She’s my best cat buddy and I had to help her go over 🌈 right at the pandemic outset. Somehow, writing to her in a letter the way I used to talk to her has unlocked my stuck words.

It feels/sounds a little silly but it’s been such a wonderful therapy journal. It’s the first journal that as I thought about it, I instantly found a pen and just began writing, it wasn’t even a worry about what pen or how to write. (And I have a LOT of options 😹)

Sharing in case it helps someone unlock their trapped words. 😻

[TabyNL]

1) Traditional bullet journal
2) Reading journal
3) Gift journal
4) Wedding or event planning notebook
5) Long form journaling (e.g. diary or morning pages)
6) Moving journal
7) Crafting journal
8) Sketchbook
9) Scrapbook or memory journal
10) Junk journal
11) Vacation journal (for planning & memories)
12) Handwriting & lettering practice
13) Finances & budgeting journal
14) Hobby journal
15) Astrology journal
16) Tarot journal
17) Personality type journal
18) Note taking / study journal
19) Fitness/wellness journal
20) Therapy journal
21) Dream journal
22) Vision journal
23) Love note journal
24) Movies & TV journal
25) Recipe journal
26) Meal planning & grocery list
27) Gratitude or affirmation journal
28) Work bullet journal (or career planning notebook)
29) Bucket list
30) Nature or hiking or bird watching journal
31) Swatching journal
32) Quote journal
33) Language learning journal
34) Pregnancy / parenthood journal
35) Skill journal
36) Goal tracking journal
37) Brainstorming / list journal
38) Password journal
39) Music journal
40) Vocabulary journal
41) Wish or shopping list
42) Decision notebook
43) House renovation or decor notebook
44) Household management journal
45) Worry journal
46) House plant journal
47) Self reflection journal
48) Project tracker of Kanban notebook
49) Collections journal
50) Happiness journal

[mybookishdelights]

I'm late to comment on this one, but another idea is a family history journal. Personally, I do genealogy and have started a notebook for research. I really wish I had done that way back when I started. But if you don't actively do genealogy you could start a notebook with all the family information you know, childhood stories, family legends, memories of older family members... It's a great thing to pass on to children or other family members and it's fun to do and look back on.

[daniellezambuto]

Another idea is a Bible study journal! I’ve been growing in my spirituality, and it doesn’t just have to apply to one religion. Writing down connections I’ve make in my daily life to my own spirituality has been so helpful. ❤️

[rayraycreates]

Love the language notebook!

Another idea is a chronic illness journal. I suffer from a chronic illness and it’s nice to have a seperate journal with symptoms, feelings, anything that relates to my illness that I don’t want in my daily journal. That way everything is in one place so I have it ready for drs appointments

[pamelamurrell]

I have a commonplace notebook, which to me are many of the journal ideas you listed combined. I just write in it things or ideas that I want to remember to reference later. Also a I keep spiritual journals, a scripture/prayer journal and a manifestation journal. I am afraid to count the number of journals I have. 🙂

[Rachelsjourney]

Similar to the caregiver journal mentioned already, I have a journal for my cats' health. As my senior cats aged, I needed to track doctors visits and issues. One cat had a lot of health issues, so it expanded so that I could schedule, log his medications, fluid injections, etc. List the foods he could/would eat, track issues with vomiting, notate their weight, and document the blood work levels we needed to track. The vet would send me their info via email so I could look it up anytime, but having it all in the book...readily available was a huge help. And when I take the book with me to the vet visits I can clearly explain their progress, and issues, and remember the things I needed to tell them or ask them.

[kyleenorfleet]

What fun and clever ideas!! I would also add a trouble shooting journal for those times we need to figure out how to fix things (electronics, phones, etc) and may forget down the line until it happens again 😅

[Kdmud]

This was just so fun! I’ve just added a lettering journal and another journal for copying a novel so I can practice my growing lettering skills in a long form situation. I love journals and yes, I am addicted too😳🤣🤪💕Thanks for the ideas and the fun!

[melindaforbes]

In my my new brain storming notebook I have a list of 23 new ideas for notebooks from your list of 50. This is the best news ever because I now have all these reasons to purchase new notebooks. Thank you 😊

[NCdoll]

These are all amazing ideas! I have a journal for language (learning Tagalog), caregiver journal for my mother and myself for drs and medicines and stuff, dream journal, tracker journal for specifically yearly things, bujo obviously, swatches washi and markers, passwords, a journal for brainstorming bujo spreads, a quote journal for just quotes I love, and as a regular journal just to let things on my mind out.

[mariaalfredsson]

Another idea for a notebook is s jobb searching journal, very useful if you are unemployed and applying to multiple places. ☺️

[sophien]

I have a traditional bullet journal, a bullet journal just for tracker, playlists and room to try new things, a reading journal, a work out journal, a brain storm/lists journal and a lyric journal. This video inspired me to start a quote journal. I love journal and hell yeah, I am obsessed with it too