Journal like a Renaissance Philosopher

[@ParkerNotes]

The first 500 people to use my link will get a 1 month free trial of Skillshare skl.sh/parknotes10241

[@biruth]

I bought a hard copy of Zibaldone in English translation

[@insequence2184]

Love your channel, thank you! But please know there will come a day when I will personally blame you when my wife questions my stationary spending habits.

[@ParkerNotes]

Hahah I'm constantly blaming you guys to my own wife. "I gotta buy more so I can test them for my subscribers!!"

[@insequence2184]

​@ParkerNotes We've got your back ❤😂

[@yashizarochan7931]

I dunno maybe I watched to many epic the musical video at once…but that was so Odysseus coded I laughed 😂 thanks

[@valhatan3907]

Ask your wife to join you 😂

[@akashbart2765]

WIVES!!! ASSEMBLE!!! HERE’S THE SOURCE OF ‘UNEXPLAINED’ SPENDINGS!!! 😂 (as I add yet another notebook to my Amazon cart 😅)

[@dominiquebouwer1854]

I went to a keynote at a history conference focussed on the difficult times we're in, and the one thing the speaker noted is that we need to be generating primary sources for the generations to come regarding what were doing and how we were getting through. Digital sources are well and good, but so much is lost to the cloud or to the graveyard of abandoned social media. These ideas seem like viable ideas to generate those sources - deliberate, meaningful ways of storing thoughts and ideas- as long as they don't just fall into the trap of mindless consumption, they can be such an act of hope and mindfulness. Loved the video!

[@snowysnowyriver]

You make some very good points. Even if one's "journal" of thoughts and news is only passed down through the family, it is valuable information.

[@Professor_Sex]

I had the idea of recording my thoughts onto vinyl disks, with the idea being that subsequent generations will copy the data on it onwards onto their consecutive digital storage medias

[@AlexandraKoken]

I was just thinking about the preservation of information when I came across some archival inks searching for supplies for my own book. I brushed it off because it felt a bit self-important but the way you contextualized what would have value and why is making me rethink.

[@dominiquebouwer1854]

@@snowysnowyriver absolutely. I've just had a grandparent die and the fragments of their life we've been able to keep have been such an intrinsic part of the grieving process. It's comforting and incredibly valuable to have something of a loved one when they're gone.

[@dominiquebouwer1854]

@@AlexandraKoken Honestly, you should rethink it :) Things are made to be used, and it creates such a meaningful material genealogy for your project. It could even be an avenue for reflection when you think about the history of the materials you've used in addition to the content you're writing :) Your work then becomes a part of that material history which is really cool!

[@ZimVader-0017]

I always struggled with journaling. Everyone in my family journals in the classic "Write everyday and put bullet points" way, but I have ADHD and CANNOT keep a journal. I tried to and got bored five days in. I found out about commonplace books and zibaldones recently and realized that Ive been keeping zibaldones and catch-all notebooks for years. I have a bunch of little pocket notebooks with random tidbits of information I picked up here and there. Right now, I have a proper commonplace book for my master's degree. I use colored tabs to mark the pages where there's info for the Introduction of the thesis, where's the bibliography, quotes taken from articles I've been reading, etc. and it has been very helpful.

[@hameley12]

I have been on the spectrum for thirty years. I used to hate reading and writing, as I found them boring and tedious. As I grew older and was presented to my family's community. I gave them a list of life skills I wanted to learn soon. So, my uncle bought me a small pocketbook. It took me at least three and a half years to get used to writing into a small pocket book which then led to keeping a commonplace book and later I kept and still do; I journal every day. But not as crazily as everyone else as they do two-plus pages of their daily lives. I keep one page or one and a half pages of my day. Its taken me years to get out of a dark place and journaling has helped me in retrospect. I even give some of my journals, every 6 months, to my therapist or my coach so that they know what I've been up to and how I am doing mentally. I'm the type of person to keep to myself a lot and never talk about my feelings with strangers or with my therapist. so journaling has been a release. I'm sure others AuDHD has felt the same way or haven't I don't know. But writing can be a burden or a release from one's mind.

[@greatcoldemptiness]

ADHD isnt real. Its a made up illness created to sell meth to children and profit off of them. The reason youre bored is because you lack willpower and initiative

[@DivergentIntegral]

Just as an aside: music students in 18th-century Italy also kept notebooks called zibaldone. These were used specifically to record basic building blocks of musical compositions that recurred over and over in that era (and which modern music historians call "schemata").

[@ParkerNotes]

@@DivergentIntegral I believe Roland covers this in his book as well, so cool

[@diego777cas]

This gives me more context as when I saw the thumbnail, I wondered if I had purchased a Zibaldone because the paper was artisanal and leather binding string was similar. Its previous owner was a talented artist. Now, it is basically a codex/index physically describing the chronologically ordered catch all journals I had mistakenly called commonplace books. I came across the idea of commonplace books because of the Series of Unfortunate Events. Lab notebooks contained boring syntheses, measured masses and volumes, statistical analyses or citations to relevant literature, but it didn’t describe the gossip I learned about the previous weekend or the cocktail recipe that I learned at the gay bar over holiday. Now I’m considering digitizing my diaries to extract as many quotes that hopefully won’t reveal too many personal details. I keep a travelogue to hold memories for family trips or get togethers. Maybe one day I’ll sit down to get working on a handmade family tree archive. I’m getting a sneaking suspicion that the “common” place might not have been physical: after so many years of sharing wisdom and experience, maybe it’s time to consider the possibility that those privileged to scribe memories to paper will always find common ground with penfellows who contemporaneously share a common love, or hope.

[@NandaMariaRocha]

Pocket catch all onotebook/Journal (Like an inbox notebook) Zibaldone: collection of different kind of things (favorite things, quotations, thoughts) Common place book: collection of quotations. You use Headings to catalog. You keep. You remember. General and Specific Treasury and Manuscript Mix and match 😅

[@Daaako]

4:35 „Im italian but i dont speak italien“ is the most american thing i heard today

[@dailyDorc]

Can't not think of Brad Pitt in these situations. "I speak the most i-talian... bonjourno"

[@drdoom8793]

Eurotrash love to let Americans live rent free in their heads

[@EchoByrnes]

Idk why I'm not allowed to associate myself more with the place my great grandparents are from than the hellhole I live in. I'm irish-american, but still, I don't get it

[@dailyDorc]

@EchoByrnes you're in America, so you're free to associate yourself however you'd like... but there was a reason your great grandparents left for what you call a hellhole. As a fellow irish American, I can tell you it likely had to do w fleeing religious persecution, economic hardships, and the promise of a life where they could feed and raise their children how they saw fit

[@MsQuikly]

​@@EchoByrnes because to be a member of a culture is to share a lived experience in the land or with it's people. Irish are irish wherever they are, they experience the remnants of living under english rule every day, the aftermath of the troubles every day, it's in their music, in their way of speaking, in the food they eat. Americans are americans wherever they are I recognize an american when I see one. I can tell an irish-american when I see one. You are not irish and that's okay. You are an american of irish descent, an irish-american. You have your own culture, you have more in common with other americans of any race and descent than any irish person and there is no need to unilaterately attach yourself to a culture that is not your own. It's the same reason latinos don't recognize americans of latin descent that don't speak spanish as latinos. Language is how you participate in culture. I know americans love their individual self-determination, it is part of their culture, but if everyone can decide to be everything then becoming anything by decision is meaningless because it's all the same. You have to participate in a culture to be part of it, an emulation is not enough. The emulations americans create to separate themselves from each other is the reason for many of the problems that make it a hellhole. And you are exporting that way of thinking to the rest of the world.

[@Briardie]

Sometimes you get recommended a pure gem of a channel. I found this video extremely helpful and informative. I had no idea I have been creating my own Zibal done books for decades. Now I need to embrace the Common Place book practice. I enjoyed the discussion with Roland Allen. I have listened to 25 minutes which have filled my head with ideas, creative endeavours and books and people I now want to research and read about. Thank you. I have subscribed.

[@jenniferadam2258]

📓 I index both my catch-all notebooks and zibaldone journal after they're nearly full by listing topics and page numbers, and then color coding subjects for quick reference. For example, I often jot down recipes I want to try in the midst of all the other notes. Then I highlight the margin of any recipe page (usually with a brown mildliner). I also tend to jot down ideas for current writing projects, and those margins are typically highlighted blue. Facts from nonfiction reading get a color, quotes from fiction another. Bible verses or theological quotes get purple margins. I add the color key to my index and then it's quite easy to quickly flick through my notebooks and see at a glance exactly what each page holds. I find there's less wasted space using this method of organization than if I try to guess ahead of time how much space to allocate any particular topic, but it's still simple to locate information for later reference.

[@kristinamarieasl]

Yes!! The color coding is an at a glance win! I have purple for Bible/spirit/personal development. 💜

[@Moss_196]

24:30 I think the secret to keeping everything organized is to make a zibaldone when your everyday journal gets full, and then make a common place book once the zibaldone is full. First filtering important information you've gathered, and then categorizing it.

[@MatthewEaton]

📓 The one way you can easily trim down the search is with a rear index. As long as you have some sort of page count in the bottom, you can always make the generic categories and page numbers visible. That way you are targeting your searches a bit better. There also could be a "master" index depending on the volumes of Zibaldones you have, where you would consult it first with maybe some more refined search methods (names, catchphrases, so on and so on). I think you might be onto something here and I am happy to give it a go for sure!

[@kristinamarieasl]

Master Index for sure! In mine I write a description of the notebook I am referencing (color, art on the cover) but I’m sure one could also number them or use stickers. Parker’s really cool stickers come to mind. 🥋

[@TheQwuilleran]

The ability to reference and cross reference my notes in the future is why my take on this concept is digital. Of course you don't get the Slow Living tactile feel to "counter the doomscroll" that people today popularize it as, but ctrl+F and hyperlinks are incredibly useful. This is also why I find social media like tumblr, which has a robust tagging culture, so great for sharing information. I'm only just now learning about this ancient tradition of personal notebook sharing and I can see how tumblr is a modern interpretation of this concept. (Sorry, I'm an anthropologist, so I find the evolution of human tools fascinating. I'm kind of geeking out rn)

[@MatthewEaton]

@@TheQwuilleran Electronic is a good tool to have, but there are distractions that can derail the note taking and flow. Granted, you also have to avoid the same things with writing in a journal in the wrong place (like with your phone or laptop within arm's length). It is all a point to comfort and ability to control distraction, of course.

[@elaineporter182]

Thanks!

[@judas_riot]

I'll probably add a new notebook now. I've been journaling in a diary, where I write down my emotions, past traumas, happy moments, and things I'm grateful for. It does help me regulate, but I think it would be more helpful to also have a book that contains my perspectives on things, ideas, principles, and boundaries, to stay in touch with myself and remain authentic, thankyou for the video! 📔

[@nebulakula5410]

I’m in the same boat! I have been journaling in a diary for over 8 years but I don’t have a journal for all my ideas

[@shaunhatlevig]

📓 Today I learned in my attempt to keep a commonplace book, I have been actually keeping a zibaldone!

[@NickyLindolls]

I learned I’ve actually been keeping a catch all. 🤣🤣🤣

[@SusanElizabethJonesArt]

Just ordered the Roland Allen book a few days ago and can't wait for it to arrive. So happy to find a tribe of autodidacts I didn't even know I belong to. I appreciate all your great videos!

[@yuebing7]

I've made my "catch all" notebook a small A7 ring binder, so that I can easily separate and categorize all of my thoughts and ideas. It makes it so much easier to log what I need and discard what I don't. I've definitely had various zibaldone journals over the years. I was unaware that there was a name for it though. Very interesting.

[@sarahherrick830]

This is great! The commonplace book idea has always felt too rigid for me as I dont usually delve so incredibly deeply into specific topics but like collecting bits and pieces of many concepts. I had not heard of the zibaldone before, but it sounds much more like what I gravitate towards in my notebooks. I love the idea that people would share theirs and write in their friends' books as well. It goes to show that people are fundamentally similar across the ages and we all like collecting and sharing interesting information with each other, be it tumblr blog or zibaldone.

[@EverGreenElephant]

I can recommend to everybody to use fountain pens. Because fountain pens bring joy as they facilitate self-expresssion (different nibs, inks etc). This will keep you going and help to establish consistency.

[@laurenbernstein621]

The distinction between zibalsone and commonplace book was really helpful - I've been accidentally keeping a zibaldone for several years now, and will keep doing so. I'm now going to see if I can start organising a proper commonplace book or two 📓📓📓

[@keiaz5267]

This was actually super helpful, especially with the clear definition and description of a commonplace book. It’s been a topic that confused me until now as so many people are using them for seemingly random things. I want to get more organised with my notebooks and you have certainly put me on the right path

[@jsmxwll]

i've found that keeping an index to my notebooks really helps. i have an index notebook that has a keyword on the top of each page. when i am done with a notebook, i review it and add a reference to the notes under their associated keywords in my index. it's a pretty simple system. i replicate my index digitally for easier searching. if i'm on the computer i use digital notes, if i'm out and about or reading a book i usually use analog.

[@earmit007]

📓 I recently started my 3rd commonplace (Brain & Mind) book since watching this channel. I have also purchased my first fountain pen (Lamy Safari) with the EF tip and now find myself apologizing to friends because I'm busy writing lol

[@jamieferguson3131]

The fountain pen realm is dangerous! I just bought a twsbi & have multiple kaweco fp’s.

[@kristinamarieasl]

Thank you so much for going into such detail & just being naturally passionate about notebooking! I found this extremely valuable! 📓 I began bullet journaling in 2018 however these journals quickly became inconsistent & chaotic to look through. Each time I finished a notebook I would pull the best parts (similarly to when you finish your catch-all) & transfer them into the next one. Unable to focus while flipping through the catch-all/planner/collection pages I would become deflated. I finally decided to transfer any useful information from each notebook to index cards. The index cards helped me focus on a single idea or list at a time while no longer feeling the pressure that comes with a notebook. Touching & seeing each idea was a huge win for me as I could move them around freely without being bound to a spine. This year I found the Zettelkasten Method, Common Place Books & Zibeldone. With the information you provided in this video I feel like I now have a clear definition & truly understand the Common Place Books. Thank you Parker!!! Would love to hear your thoughts about Zettelkasten. Have you ever tried this Method?

[@diannad8905]

Wow, thank you for your content. Somehow, you climbed into my head and organized what my thoughts were based on how I wanted to capture my thoughts, insights, quotes, etc. Great! I get to add another notebook....

[@kristinamarieasl]

Can never have too many 💕

[@hushingsilence]

Nearly 50 years of journaling/writing, I consider my main book a commonplace/journal/quotes/everything book. I do have other notebooks, but after 50 years, I guess I have a bit of experience. Yeah, of course shopping lists and stuff go elsewhere. But my main books? Pure gold. Stacks of gold.

[@psychedianic]

Tell it! ❤It's pretty astonishing to look back and see all the notebooks I've filled over the decades. 😊

[@Leftover_Poutine]

50 years of journaling... how much is this in metric tons?

[@psychedianic]

@@Leftover_Poutine it’s a lot but mine measure in imperial

[@eris5497]

This came across my recommendation and just decided to watch it. I never thought I've been practicing this since then. I really love notebooks as a kid and as I grow, it slowly developed into wanting to write ideas, tasks, and journaling. I use it mainly for writing stories and as of now, it's scattered on other things 😅 Thank you for sharing this, I'll definitely put this into practice.

[@michaelns9887]

I think Zibaldone can be use like a Catch-all, but not the one that you carry in a pocket all the time, but rather the one that you pull out when listening to a lecture or reading a book. And, similarly to a Catch-all, you would move knowledge from a Zibaldone into a relevant Commonplace book.

[@ParkerNotes]

Yes! I like this. That's basically what I'm doing with my new Zibaldone, except I'm not putting tasks in it like I would a catch-all

[@nothanniballecktor9633]

Midpoint between zipaldone and commonplace book: put the category in the footer, you don’t need all of the same category to be together, but seeing the footer tag will help find things also.

[@ParkerNotes]

I have mostly kept them this way with just a title boxed out but I'm started to actually add commonplaces tags to help me too

[@helencooper286]

This contains a lot of gems thank you. I love it all - the Zibaldone, Commonplace, Marginalia - it’s so valuable. I agree with a previous commenter about documenting events now - they’ll be history and they need to be accurately recorded. Digital is too easy to change. It can’t be trusted. An analogue statement may be false of course, but you can see if it has been changed

[@yonashira3853]

This differentiation between a commonplace book and a Zibaldone is new to me.. With all of the different types of notebooks you speak about it would be nice to have something like a notebook types Wikipedia :)

[@ParkerNotes]

@@yonashira3853 i might be in process of writing a book... 😁

[@yonashira3853]

@@ParkerNotes So you are writing a commonplace book with own thoughts about (not only) commonplace books... It sounds weird for almost everybody else, bu totally normal for you 🤣 But thanks to your suggestion I ordered Roland´s book as well and will start reading it soon.

[@ParkerNotes]

@@yonashira3853 hahah yeah sort of. It's a philosophy book on doing practical philosophy with lots of different styles of notebook

[@sija906]

It is a helpfull distinction. I didn't know, that I need a zibaldone - a notebook for my thinking, and ideas, and quotations, and research plans - even the erratic ones - but a notebook thatbiscan intellectual tool without lists of household chores. Also - I've started to learn Italian, so the italian beginnings of zibaldone are very interestong for me 🙂📓

[@sjoaker1]

Great video! Really enjoyed the snippet with Roland Allen! 📓 📓 📓

[@ParkerNotes]

Thanks for this feedback! I wasn't sure if I should include the snippet or not

[@shyphirenflowerchild4631]

One of the things I do for a catch all book is buy cheap 5 subject coil bound notebooks. Each tab serves a specific purpose. Example being: 1 tab for a to do list, 1 tab for motivational or inspirational quotes or topics, 1 tab for researching topics like writing a book, 1 tab for events of any and all types and 1 tab for wishes, dreams and goals. It makes it so much easier to locate things quickly when I want to transfer information into a zibaldone about self improvement or a commonplace book like a Book of Shadows for my magical practices and spells. Each type of these books serves a purpose for me to be able to condense things into a much cleaner deeper path for my thoughts and emotions. It is also a way to open my mind to other ways of think. The same way it allows me to expand my knowledge. Adapt any new information as to how it applies to my existing knowledge. It also helps me become more open to different view points from others to be able to say I was wrong, I didn't have enough information about a subject or that what use to work no longer works in my life.

[@francesca6001]

📓 So very much intresting. I can't help but smile when you say "zibaldone" with an italian accent!

[@ParkerNotes]

😅😅😅

[@homesteadinghusband]

Just getting into notebooks...but it seems to me that in order to avoid the resistance to action on the commonplace book, being that it is indeed a lot of work to organize, I would suggest keeping the zibaldone daily, and then tasking yourself once a week to go through what you have added, categorize and index them into the commonplace book...since the zibaldone includes anything interesting its likely only 50% of it will rate migrating anyway. That way you only have to have extra discipline once per week instead of all throughout your day.

[@hannahcrossett3415]

I love this exploration of different ways of keeping records and collecting thoughts with which to craft things in future. Journaling and keeping bits of the past for future generations is a passion of mine. I am delighted to have just found your channel. :) And yes, you do have a fantastic mustache, as one commenter said. :)

[@kuya5k]

i realized that i inadvertently keep a "zibaldone" section in my commonplace book. i've been writing quotes in the very front pages

[@giorgiomera]

📓 Excellent video as always, brother. Been really upping my notebook-game for study and this helps to further my note-taking journey. Apparently I had a Zibaldone this whole time!

[@dihexa7256]

When I was a kid, my school encouraged journaling and scrapbooking, which was good, but I just sorta forgot about it until I got a journal for Christmas a couple of years ago and then slowly fell down the rabbit hole of commonplace books and other stuff like that

[@FelixTheAnimator]

Hm. I feel like a lot of folks' meme folder might be an exceedingly modern form of a "commonplace book".

[@TheCarolchereja]

Omg yes

[@BhavnaBheemesh]

I think it's a really helpful distinction, because ideas go through multiple stages and iterations before they are fully refined, and they need to interact with other sources of information. So, I think keeping them at different storehouses is useful. Additionally, as much as I would LOVE, to have a bunch of notebooks, at this point in time, it really isn't feasible or sustainable for me - so I'm working on creating a system w/ google forms and obsidian, where I can just catch information, search and organize, reflect every day, and just go back to obsidian to update, tweak or add. Loved the distinctions between the zibaldone and a commonplace - the distinction really helps and i will be reinfing my systems to match! Especially with the difference b/w treasury and manuscript.

[@xongkkerije]

Thanks for the distinction. I've been keeping a Catchall, but I can see the benefit of reviewing and transfer to a common book. I love the idea of a shareable Zibaldone. The idea that it was a fun way to interact with friends and others with similar interests. I am looking forward to listening to the complete Roland Allen podcast.

[@ashfordperry7505]

So good. Thanks for putting this together.

[@keira005]

I’ve never been able to keep a diary or a bullet journal as I find it too strict. But a zibaldone seems exactly like what I’d like doing! Thank you for teaching me about it

[@ViankaLemus]

I learned that my best pocket catch-all notebook is just sticky-notes and the notes app on my phone. I have so many notebooks and the small ones I can never feel comfortable writing in. Plus I forget them everywhere and never have one when I need it. I WISH I could amass a sick collection of little notebooks like yours!

[@ParkerNotes]

@@ViankaLemus haha we are coming from opposite places. I used to keep sticky notes all over my room. I looked insane!! And I'd always use my notes app but never checked the notes

[@Autumnwinds99]

This was a great video! I have been compiling a zibaldone this year without knowing what it was called. In the back of the book, I have what I fondly call a "reverse index". I start on the back page with page 1 and list with bullet points a short phrase describing the quote or topic I have on that page, then progress to page 2. At the bottom of that page is say page 10. I would then move to the next to the last page in the book, the page facing the one I just finished writing on, and would list page 11, progressing as I fill up the book from the front. Another idea could be to color code the index so you can find the topic you are looking for quickly if you are one that tends to fill it with specific things like recipes, quotes etc and leaving the ones with no category in black. A third idea could be to number each zibaldone book, and use excel to list the book, page, category and description so it could be searchable. Using excel will probably be my go to once I expand past my first book so I can find what I am looking for quickly, as well as listing a reverse index in the back of each book as I go along.

[@Clarisse777]

📓 Qué buen video!! Muchas gracias por darnos siempre una visión más profunda sobre los diferentes métodos para organizarse. Saludos desde España!🇪🇸

[@tonywalters1027]

Side note: I read through all of Invincible recently, for the 3rd time. So good. Arguably the best superhero book.

[@ParkerNotes]

It really is the best superhero story. It has everything and plays on familiar tropes without being cliché. It's just beautiful

[@sija906]

​@@ParkerNotesWhat book do you mean? I'm thinking about The Invincible by Stanislaw Lem, the author of Solaris. I like Solaris more, but The Invincible is very captivating as well. Do you mean that book by Lem or something else?

[@Sancahez]

It seems like they are referring to the Image Comics published Invincible by Robert Kirkman

[@ParkerNotes]

​@@Sancahez yep, that one

[@tonywalters1027]

@@ParkerNotes Love the stuff you're making dude. The Invincible books just jumped out at me off your shelf lol. You've really inspired me to keep a journal and think about life more.

This is amazing content. It's really cleared things up for commonplace book enthusiasts. ❤ Thanks

[@VeganDoris]

📓 Thank you! I think what I want to keep is a Zibaldone journal, but you are right - it would be haphazard and hard to retrieve information. That’s why I got the idea of keeping it on a Rolodex and moving cards around to keep it organized. It’s still paper and non-electronic. And the cards could be color-coded. You could also just have a box of index cards, and move the cards around to arrange and rearrange.

[@Hipsael]

As always, great video. I always end up taking something from your videos and I really appreciate that. 📕

[@aquariusjones69]

I keep coming back to this video

[@MollyFreibott]

I'm reading The Notebook- A History....now- love it. Loved the interview

[@emilyluker620]

📓 loved the in-depth analysis thanks Parker! I definitely keep all 3 types you discussed in this video. The other two essentially funnel into/feed my common place.

[@miety111]

this is funny because when I discovered commonplacing and did some research about it to start my own commonplace book, I literally called it Zibaldone because I'm italian and I was inspired by the Romantic era's Italian poet Giacomo Leopardi which kept a commonplace book and called it "Zibaldone di pensieri" (meaning "Zibaldone of thoughts")!

[@auroramacula]

that's a funny coincidence indeed; and I'll probably be picking his idea up as well haha, thanks for sharing

[@emilydixon3886]

I really enjoyed the descriptions of distinctions between the different notebooks 📓

[@yohanesliong4818]

Amazing weather. Thank you.

[@mizukarate]

I used different note books for various things. For exercise I have two note books. One for general exercise. The other for strength/weights with an attention to statistics. It helps me to separate the two books.

[@jamieferguson3131]

📗 I am a part of the planner community here & yes a lot of people call a zibaldoni (?) a common place book. One thing that a lot of us do is to use a key, they sell dot stickers in different colors, or highlighters, to color code what kind of info it is. So as you flip through the book you can see the topics by color. A lot of notebooks also have an index page and numbered pages, so you can flip back to the index page & write down the topic and page number there. I have been keeping books like this since I was a kid. The whole annotations book took stuff….yeah that’s old news, & has always been fun. All of the non fiction books I read have all the covers and front pages & margins full, & a lot of them also have sections in notebooks too. Thanks for this video I learned a lot and added a book to my tbr.

[@kevinwoodfield240]

Great discussion. Thanks for your work on this topic.📕

[@intermundosmagicae]

📕Loved the video and happy I found your channel :) I always used a notebook since as long as I can remember, but always had this issue of not completing them or not getting back to them... Just recently I stumbled on the term commonplace book and started going down that fascinating rabbit hole :D Now I'm hooked! Thank you for making such in-depth analysis, it was an eye-opener for me!

[@JohnNelson1]

Awesome , thanks again!

[@TheLKallis]

Thanks for this video. I think the distinctions are very useful. I certainly see the need to have a catch-all that is a different notebook from something that is more permanent like either a commonplace reading journal or a zibaldone of proverbs.

[@wiktorszymczak4760]

I actually write silvarium which is an XVI century form popular back then in poland. It consists of all diffrent quotes and obituaries and cooking recipies but its meant to be passed down in a family. It is a sort of family memory so you write down everything you think people should remember.

[@larryhoover7389]

📓 I am finding your videos to be very helpful. Thanks.

[@ParkerNotes]

Thanks for this encouragement!

[@NickyLindolls]

📕 this was so nice to watched. I really enjoyed the clip about the history about the zybaldone. I’ve been inspired to keep a commonplace book but I struggle with what to put in it. This actually helped a lot. Keeping a catchall is probably what I need to do. Then transfer the info. Great vid. Thank you.

[@stripeycrayons]

I have heard the zibaldone journal also called a miscellany journal, and I found it really useful for writing my dissertation

[@nizexlizzy]

Just letting you know that I ordered an Endless Stationary journal to try based on your advice, at least I think it was you. I would not recommend their books for a number of reasons. 1) the leather is cheap and thin and bunches up when you put the bands on it. Just looks cheasy. 2) The paper has a waxy coating or something that causes your ink to take a bit to dry completely. I wrote on it with a gel pen and was putting page numbers, that was going to be 3, and just flipping to the next page to write the next number caused the ink to bleed with the previous page and messed all the numbers up. I tried it out for a day and was completely uninterested in going further. So far, my favorite journal is the travelers tall book but I write in it side ways so I have wide pages. I love the way it feels and carries. I have ordered a few others you recommended but they haven't shown up yet. Oh, and the shipping time for the Endless was almost a month.

[@TimSleppy]

I have notebooks everywhere, all sizes and shapes but it's chaos. This video is going to help me get organized in a way I never thought of.

[@brookeclair0209]

Well it looks like all these years I've been keeping a Zibaldone style journal! I have journaled consistently since I was 12 (now 24) and have never seen anyone on KZbin journal exactly like me. My journals are first and foremost a diary and then I add in things like stickers, tags, business cards (junk journaling). I have pages that are just quotes from books I have recently finished. I use scrapbook materials to design pages for lyrics from songs that have been on my mind. I collage. I typically work in a Leuchtturm1917 A5 lined notebook and I use the provided index for organization. I recently started keeping a digital Writer's Notebook through MilaNote because I like the visual aspect and can add aesthetics to an idea I may have.

[@unichan5]

Going to write all of this down in my catch-all notebook, so I’ll remember it for next time. 😂 I already keep a zibaldone, which I call my “quotes book”, just full of quotes that inspire me. Don’t know if I have the stamina to keep a commonplace book, but thank you for making this distinction clear. It was really cool to hear from Mr. Allen as well, so thank you for sharing!

[@Crystalwren]

📗interesting video, and I just got Roland Allen’s book. I’m looking forward to diving into it

[@silviafrassineti5214]

I am Italian, you prince Zibaldone very well, speaking normally. Great Video.

[@ParkerNotes]

Haha yes! Thank you 🙌🤝

[@thestayathomewitch]

📕the distinctions are helpful- I now know that i have Zibaldon'i' and Catch-alls but i haven't graduated to the 'manuscript commonplace'

[@GregoryCM]

Hi Parker, great content, as always. I use what you call a "Catch All" book, too. I call mine HCE - after one of the characters of James Joyce's Finnegans Wake, HCE= Here Comes Everyone, so this notebook catches everybody, everything, all of it. No matter where I start a new entry, I put the date. At the very beginning I leave 3-5 Index/Context pages blank, so that if it is extremely important I can put the theme or category with the date (rather than page number - but you could do it that way too, I guess). When I come to the end of the notebook I can peruse through it and fill out the Index/Content/Context pages at the beginning with whatever detail it needs. I am not super consistent with it, but this is my method. Thanks for all you do here!

[@AndreHarrisIi-zb8tx]

It’s crazy I do all of this on my notes app on my phone with out really realizing

[@murilo_trading]

Dear Parker, if it’s not too much trouble, could you share more details on how you made your notes during your Master’s Degree in Theology? I’m about to start my own Master’s and would love some good ideas to keep everything organized-and you’re the best at that! Thanks a lot in advance. ps.: This could make a great Instagram post-I believe many people will enjoy it!

[@tjs8433]

I love your mustache, looks whimsical

[@coffeexwitch]

I keep a blended catch all, zibaldone, common place book... Sort of lol. But I definitely have had the issue of trying to find a specific thing in the 5-6 notebooks (I fill one and then get a new one). But I keep them all together and so it isn't the end of the world. And I transfer super important or pertinent stuff to the new one, so in theory I have it multiple places. But thank you for this! I watched most of the video and then ended up finding Roland Allen's book in a bookstore on a weekend trip. Of course I bought it and then I finished this video today. Thank you for the breakdown! *notebook emoji*

[@christinewong8436]

Great explanation of “common place” strategy.

[@MelanieEvans-rc7xv]

I’ve been using a “commonplace” book for some time but according to this video I need to start referring to it as a zibaldone. Haven’t heard that term previously. Interesting video. Thanks!

[@ParkerNotes]

@@MelanieEvans-rc7xv 🙌🤝💪

[@zentra435]

📓thanks! I just filled up my whole Leuchtturm notebook... it was a mess, but near the end it came to be more like a Zibaldone/Commonplace book hybrid. I like this idea of seperating the two. My next Leuchtturm notebook will link closely to Zibaldone, and I will look into getting a commonplace book for my particular interests. Thanks for your compilation of insight! 📓

[@SpicyBrown81]

Love the idea of the Zibaldone! 📓 I think it gives people permission to not be so precious about what they put in their book compared to commonplacing. Analysis paralysis is real.

[@icantchooseaname6903]

I'm so hydrated after taking a sip of water everytime you said "intellectual"

[@ParkerNotes]

😅😅😅

[@michaelbonesmusic]

sharing zibbledone quotes with eachother is like social media before the internet lol

[@ragsofheartplanning]

I loved this video. I will now binge watch your channel 😂 That is all.

[@RetroPlus]

Magnificent stache sir

[@z_bennet4208]

for my fellow ADHDers. mix catch-all and common place notebooks together. you can draw, writr your grocery list and use for headings and subjects you want to ramble about. and use the zibaldone (or whatever) for the more serious stuff you want to keep and remember that is of great importance to you that you have gathered in that common place & catch-all notebook. blurt it out in one notebook, categorize in another. this works for me. a lot. this way i dont forget what i want to say and i can actually finalize and form a readable paragraph from my gibberish rant in my commonplace catch all hybird notebook lol.

[@robynslater974]

📓 Brilliant tips. Over the years I've written so many notes on bits of paper, that I'm overwhelmed with bits of paper 😂 Love all the ideas given in this Video. Definitely going to start a commonplace book, for cataloging my Art Studies note's 📝 Have a great day 🌅

[@EFergDindrane]

This was very helpful! I, too, thought a zibaldone was a CPB, and I have a PhD in Classics, so you'd think I would have come across the distinction those wascally Renaissance men made. I do have topic CPBs, such as Ethics, one for Animals because I love zoology, and one for Irish Literature. I'm currently starting on on Natural History. I need to make better use of my pocket braindump and follow your suggestion of migrating its contents more often. I overthink indices, as well, though for now, I just have them per book, not an overall system like Jefferson, or even Bobby Burns. Such a fascinating topic! I wish there was a CPB club where we'd just get together and snoop. :D I'm curious about the differences between women and men, such as the contents of Virginia Woolf's book vs. Auden's.

[@ParkerNotes]

@@EFergDindrane this is a top tier comment!! Great to pass the test of a classics PhD 🫡🫡🤝

[@TheQwuilleran]

These are really cool. Thanks for sharing so much varied information on their history and use 📓! I didn't know it had a name! I've been keeping Word documents since I was little - documents so long that 90s computers didn't have the RAM to load all the pages 😅 Of /course/ humans have been doing this same squirreling of knowledge for millenia, so it's no wonder I was drawn to that same impulse to hoard quotes and notes important to me 📚

[@TheQwuilleran]

I'm surprised there was not a single mention of Feynman, but then again, you said you've done other videos on this philosophy of record keeping.

[@ParkerNotes]

I've only recently started listening to Feynman on studying. I usually start with philosophers and move out but people keep telling me to check him out

[@IanElliott-m8f]

📓interesting overview many thanks

[@ParkerNotes]

🤝🫡

[@ernestmov]

Apparently, I've been keeping a Zibaldone for years now XD. In order to separate the information, now I'm using 5 notebooks actually: 1. Zibaldone 2. Sketchbook, to work on drawing skills 3. Daily Journal, to review the day past and ahead, sort of meditation exercise. 4. Daily to do, this one is sort of new in an effort to be more organized with responsibilities (ADHD is a b..ch). 5. Study book, related to my career in IT.

[@markanza2908]

📖 Good stuff! I now work hard to index my valuable notes after I realized how difficult it was to find pertinent info. Also I’ve been keeping a ziboldone for years without knowing what it was. Unfortunately I’ve discarded most of them because I was if ignorant to their value at the time.

[@coltoncauthen8696]

📓📓📓📓📓📓📓📓📓📓 great video! I do have one major complaint though… this should have been posted and sent to me 4 years ago 😂. I have been doing some of these without knowing it, but these distinctions etc are great. Love it!

[@sfvalldeperas3]

📓Great video! The moment you said you were a philosopher/theologian I knew I had to hit subscribe

[@ParkerNotes]

🫡🫡🫡🤝🤝

[@DavinBryfogle]

Thank you for informing me that I've been making Zibaldones the past 2 years. Knew they weren't considered commonplace considering the vomit of poetry and sketches included.

[@richarde1142]

📓Thank you! Some interesting points that I can use to refine my process. Much appreciated.

[@beanpasteposts]

Great info!📓

[@ParkerNotes]

@@beanpasteposts 🫡🫡

[@the_bob_147]

Okay so i keep a "catch all" whatever you're overthinking this 😂 just write whatever wherever