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Start With How You Plan, Not the Notebook

It is tempting to begin in the shop, stroking covers and admiring ribbon markers. But the notebook that suits you best is the one that matches the way you already think and write. Before you spend a penny, answer three questions honestly.

• How much do you write each day? Three bullet points and a shopping list is a very different demand from a full page of reflections, meeting notes and timings.
• Where does the notebook live? A book that stays on a desk can be large and heavy. One that travels in a coat pocket or rucksack needs to be slim and tough.
• What happens to it afterwards? If you archive your planning pages for reference, durability and binding matter enormously. If you recycle them monthly, a cheaper, lighter book is perfectly sensible.

Write your answers down. They will settle most of the choices that follow.

Page Size and Format

Size dictates everything else, including how heavy the book feels after a week in your bag.

• A6 (roughly 105 × 148 mm): genuinely pocketable, but tight for anything more than a to-do list. Best for capturing quick thoughts on the move.
• A5 (148 × 210 mm): the everyday workhorse. Wide enough for a daily page with a schedule column and a task list, small enough to carry without resentment.
• B5 (176 × 250 mm): a generous middle ground, popular with anyone who plans in columns or sketches diagrams alongside their notes.
• A4 and larger: superb for desk-based planners who like to spread a week across two facing pages, but rarely carried.

Also consider page count. A 200-page A5 notebook is slim and light; a 400-page one is a commitment and will bulge in a bag. For daily planning, a book that lasts three to six months tends to be the sweet spot.

Paper Weight and Finish

This is where good intentions go to die. Paper that bleeds or ghosts through the page makes a planner feel unusable, however handsome the cover.

Weight is measured in grams per square metre (gsm). Around 70–80 gsm is standard copy paper territory: fine for ballpoints, risky with wetter inks. 90 gsm handles most everyday pens comfortably. Anything from 100 to 120 gsm feels substantial and resists show-through well, though it adds bulk and cost.

Finish matters just as much as weight. Uncoated paper with a slight tooth takes pencil beautifully and dries fountain pen ink quickly, but can feather with very wet nibs. Coated or smooth paper gives crisp lines and rich colour from gel pens, yet ink sits on the surface and can smudge if you close the book too soon — a particular frustration for left-handed writers, who should test drying time before buying.

Always test with the pens you actually use. A quick scribble in the shop, or on the first page of a new book, tells you more than any specification.

Binding and Build

• Casebound (stitched and glued into a hard cover): the classic archive option. Durable, elegant, and lies flat once trained. Slower to open at the very first page.
• Section-sewn with a soft cover: lighter and more flexible, still strong. A good compromise for a book that travels daily.
• Wire-bound or spiral: lies perfectly flat, ideal for planners you write in while standing or holding. The wire can catch on bag linings, and pages tear out easily — sometimes a blessing, sometimes not.
• Discbound or ring-bound: lets you remove, reorder and add pages. Excellent if your planning system changes shape month to month, though the rings take up space on the page.

Check the small details too: an elastic closure keeps loose inserts tidy, a ribbon marker saves hunting, and a rear pocket is quietly useful for receipts and appointment cards.

Ruling, Layout and Extras

Ruling is personal, but here is a rough guide. Lined paper at 6.5–7 mm suits most handwriting. Squared paper at 4–5 mm is superb for timetables and habit trackers. Dot grid offers the structure of squares without the visual noise, which is why it has become so popular for planners. Blank pages give total freedom and no guidance at all — wonderful for some, paralysing for others.

Then decide between dated and undated. A dated diary keeps you accountable and removes daily decisions, but punishes you for missed weeks and cannot be started mid-year. An undated book bends to your routine and never wastes a page, though you must date each entry yourself.

Finally, look for practical touches: page numbers, a contents or index section, perforated corners, and printed margins wide enough for annotations.

Before You Commit

Buy one notebook, not three. Use it for a fortnight with your normal pens and your normal planning routine. If the pages are too narrow, the ink smudges, or the spine will not lie flat, you will know within days — and you will have learned exactly what to look for next time. A well-chosen notebook should disappear into the background of your day, leaving you free to think. That is the whole point.