Blueprint >> Commonplace Book

Disclaimer: This document is in raw form as I process and distill 4 years-worth of my personal development notes. Expect some typos and cryptic language for now. I will be updating frequently and polishing up.

Prescription: Keep a commonplace book.
Related Concepts: Journaling, Read

What is Commonplace Book?

...

Why is it Important?

If you want to be a creative, influential person, you need to keep track of your ideas. If you're an active thinker, your mind cannot possibly organize all the ideas you're having and all the information you're taking in. Things will start to click and come together for you much faster if keep a commonplace book.

If you don't get ideas out of your head and on paper, you will eventually stall. Things won't make sense and you don't be able to move on because you are so lost you don't see the big picture.

It's necessary to develop those long hunches. ¹

Commonplace Book Videos

[coming soon...]

Commonplace Book: Key Points

Keep a single notebook that catalogues all your ideas, beliefs, hunches, theories, and accumulated tidbits of knowledge. This "notebook" can be real or virtual. A commonplace book is not a traditional journal. A commonplace book is for collecting and organizing ideas. A journal is for recording a train of thought. Do both!

You will keep this book for the rest of your life, building up an ever-large repository of information and insights. The beauty of the commonplace book is that it's your personal compilation. The best of the best for you! It organized your mind.

A commonplace book is especially important for: writers, designers, artists, creative-types, entrepreneurs, theory-builders, inventors, researchers, scientists, and philosophers.

A commonplace book is much easier to manage in electronic form. Electronic is better because:

• Search — As the book grows large, you can still find exactly what you need.
• Easy to edit — Lots of editing and renaming will be necessary.
• Linking — Linking pages and notes together is invaluable.
• Portable — Easy to carry around between home, office, and travel.
• Backup — Easy to backup your most important work.
• Unlimited size — Don't have to worry about it growing out of hand.
• Copy & paste — Connected to the internet so you can copy & paste, grab snippets, embed links, etc.

Best software for Commonplace books:

• Microsoft OneNote
• Private wiki
• DevonThink

Extremely convenient and practical to have a laptop for your Commonplace book. This way you can journal from anywhere in your house, office, outdoors, and traveling. No need to share and sync files. Feels more like a notebook. You will be much more likely to jot down ideas when you don't have to sit at a dedicated PC.

References

1. Where Good Ideas Come From, Steven Johnson