Why I Keep a Commonplace Journal (And How You Can Start One)
If you know me, you know I love to commonplace.
I’ve been keeping a commonplace journal for a little over a year now. I picked it up after I retired from dance and graduated from college. As I packed up to move away from campus, I wanted to explore hobbies I never had much time for as a student-athlete. Journaling had always interested me, and I’ve started many journals throughout my life. While I enjoyed the process, I could never make it stick. I didn’t feel like I had “enough” to write about, and the idea of keeping a daily diary felt daunting. I thought I had to write every day, which only made me avoid it.
As someone who craves structure, I also created too many unwritten rules about what a journal should be. At one point, I kept separate notebooks for personal writing, art, and creative pieces. I didn’t like mixing them together, but that rigid separation eventually turned me off journaling altogether.
I didn’t find my way back until I discovered commonplacing. One night, a random TikTok on my For You Page changed everything. A creator shared her commonplace book, and I instantly fell down a rabbit hole. A commonplace journal is simply a book filled with whatever resonates with you. Unlike a diary, there are no rules or expectations. It can look chaotic at first glance, but over time, patterns emerge and your collections naturally form their own structure.
Once I started and stayed consistent with commonplacing, I realized just how meaningful this practice could be.
Why Commonplacing Matters
Commonplacing bridges the gap between journaling and scrapbooking. It’s reflective, relaxing, and ultimately a snapshot of your life in a given moment.
When I look back at my first commonplace book, it perfectly captures the summer between undergrad and grad school, plus the first semester of my MBA journey. That was a huge transitional season of self-discovery, and the book shows it: event photos, notes from friends, curious research, random clippings. Together, those pieces tell a story of who I was at the time.
Commonplacing is less about polished entries and more about collecting and curating. It’s the raw fragments of your life: moments, ideas, and inspirations that, when captured in one place, create a fuller picture of who you are and how you’re growing. It's a journey of self-discovery and personal growth, a mirror that reflects your evolving thoughts and experiences. This aspect of commonplacing fosters reflection and introspection, motivating you to continue your journey of self-discovery.
So, What Exactly Is Commonplacing?
While commonplacing looks different for everyone, there are formal definitions that help explain the tradition. Prof. Lucia Knoles of Assumption College describes it this way:
“Commonplacing is the act of selecting important phrases, lines, and/or passages from texts and writing them down; the commonplace book is the notebook in which a reader has collected quotations from works s/he has read. Commonplace books can also include comments and notes from the reader; they are frequently indexed so that the reader can classify important themes and locate quotations related to particular topics or authors.”
Commonplacing isn’t a new trend. In fact, its roots stretch back to Ancient Greece and Rome, where orators and philosophers collected loci communes (common places): memorable passages and ideas to use in speech and writing. During the Renaissance, students were often encouraged to keep commonplace books as part of their education, and the practice remained popular through the 19th century.
Many well-known historical figures kept commonplace books or similar notebooks, including:
Thomas Jefferson, who maintained a Literary Commonplace Book
Ralph Waldo Emerson, who used a commonplace book to collect quotes and reflections
Isaac Newton, whose notebooks and “waste books” captured excerpts, drafts, and observations
Marcus Aurelius, whose Meditations isn’t a commonplace book in the strict sense but serves a similar role as a collection of personal reflections
One of the most systematic approaches came from John Locke. He began keeping commonplace books in 1652 while at Oxford, and later wrote A New Method of Making Common-Place-Books (first published in English in 1706). Locke’s method involved creating an indexing system that utilized letters and vowel combinations to categorize entries. It also included recording quotes, observations, and notes under these headings for easy retrieval.
Today, the definition has expanded. For me, commonplacing is simply a book of knowledge I’ve collected from my own life, whatever that means in the moment. Personal bits of wisdom, research, quotes, reflections, and even marketing examples I love; all of it belongs in my commonplace journal.
What’s in My Commonplace Book?
My commonplace book is a hodgepodge of just about everything. At its core, it’s full of personal moments and keepsakes from everyday life. I’ve pasted in flyers, cards, handwritten notes, and little trinkets small enough to fit on a page. If you’ve ever written me a note or given me a card, chances are it lives in my commonplace book. When I was cleaning out my childhood room, I even found old notes from middle school and tucked them in. Some of these notes were written to my future self, complete with “write back prompts” I left years earlier. It’s always a surprise to stumble on one and actually answer a question I posed to myself ten years ago.
Beyond keepsakes, my book also holds:
Takeaways from my MBA studies — condensed lessons or insights I didn’t want to lose
Event snapshots — photos, ticket stubs, or clippings that anchor memories
Quotes and images — anything I found compelling enough to revisit later
Printed images of my own work — graphics, mock projects, or marketing experiments
Notes from books and videos — ideas that stuck with me
Deep dives and interview prep — research on topics I wanted to master
I’ve even dedicated pages to examples of great marketing. One section has materials from the McDonald’s x Minecraft collaboration, a campaign I thought was brilliantly executed. In other places, I’ve pasted cutouts from 7Brew’s Swag Day flyers and Louisville Basketball promotions. These snippets remind me of what stands out creatively and why.
My philosophy for commonplacing is simple: if it fits on the same page and I like it, it belongs.
Benefits of Commonplacing
Commonplacing has given me more than just a book full of scraps. It’s become one of the most valuable habits I’ve built. It's a way to capture and preserve the essence of my life, a tool for self-reflection and personal growth, and a source of inspiration and creativity. It's a way to remember the past, understand the present, and shape the future.
For me, the biggest benefits are:
Relaxation — flipping through and pasting in content feels calming and almost meditative
Reflection — the act of collecting lets me slow down and think about why something matters to me
A snapshot of life — each page is a time capsule, capturing the exact moment I chose to save it
Over time, the book also reveals patterns. Looking back, I can see what consistently sparks my curiosity, what quotes I return to, and what experiences I’ve prioritized. These aren’t just mementos to me; they’re a record of what I value, and how those values shift.
It’s also more practical than I expected. In graduate school, I once pulled research from my commonplace book that I had done earlier on media misinformation. At the time, I’d only written it down because I was curious, not because I thought it would come in handy. Months later, that entry became the foundation for a class presentation. That’s the beautiful thing about commonplacing: the connections you don’t plan for can end up being the ones that help you most.
Lessons Learned
Commonplacing in a way that feels natural to me taught me that journaling can be whatever you want it to be. There is no “right” way to journal, and your version doesn’t have to align with traditional definitions.
A commonplace book doesn’t need to be pretty or Instagram-worthy. Mine often looks messy, but it makes sense to me. I use a simple system to stay organized by creating a key with symbols for different topics. This helps me tell at a glance whether something is a personal moment, a quote, a design idea, or something else. It’s not strict, but it gives just enough structure to help me navigate the collected chaos.
The uniqueness of each book is what I love most about commonplacing. No two commonplace journals are alike, and the way someone fills theirs tells you as much about the person as the entries themselves. That individuality is what makes the practice meaningful; your book becomes a direct reflection of you. Journaling is most powerful when it’s personal. When you make it your own, reflection becomes more meaningful and much easier to sustain.
How to Start Commonplacing
Getting started can feel a little intimidating, so here are a few tips that helped me build a habit:
Find a journal you love — Start with a notebook you’re genuinely excited to fill. For me, that meant skipping the plain spiral notebooks and choosing leather-bound, vintage-looking journals. Because I love the look and feel of them, I’m more motivated to use them. The one I’m currently writing in is actually from Barnes & Noble, which has a beautiful collection of journals to choose from. You can view the journal I’m currently using here.
Create a key — Many people make a symbol system to categorize entries, such as personal moments, quotes, art, recipes, or miscellaneous notes. It doesn’t need to be perfect, but it makes finding things later easier.
Don’t overthink it — If something resonates with you, add it to your book. You don’t need a reason or explanation for why it “fits.”
Remember: there are no rules — Every commonplace book is different, and that’s the beauty of it. The only guideline is to make it your own.
Final Thoughts
At its core, commonplacing is about capturing your life and your learning in a way that’s flexible, personal, and unique. It’s not exactly journaling, and it’s not exactly scrapbooking. Commonplacing is something beautifully in between.
Whether your book turns out neat or messy, artistic or chaotic, it’s valuable because it’s yours.
If you’ve ever wanted to journal but didn’t know how to start, try commonplacing. All it takes is a notebook and the willingness to fill it with what matters to you.
What’s the first thing you’d add to your commonplace book?
