February 2nd, 2010 in Featured, Productivity

Productivity Pr0n: 5 Unusually Useful Notepads

Hi. My name is Dustin, and I’m addicted to notepads.

I first realized I was addicted when I found myself prowling office supply stores in the wee hours of the afternoon, trying to score a college-ruled composition book. Pretty soon, I couldn’t go anywhere without my works – a battered red Moleskine and a black Sharpie click-pen.

And it got worse. I started thinking, “maybe there’s a perfect notebook out there for this particular project.” My Moleskine’s 192 leaves bound in pocket-sized covers wasn’t enough to satisfy my growing need for specialty papers.

The worst part is, I liked it. And I stand here before you, still liking it. Loving it. Yes, my name is Dustin, but I”m not a mere addict. I’m a paper enthusiast, a connoisseur of the carnet, a gourmand of the grid line, a foodie of foolscap.

Let me show you a few of my more exotic finds.

1. Rollabind

Also marketed as the Levenger Circa system, the Rollabind (or just “Rolla”) is an infinitely customizable, assemble-it-yourself notebook made using a Rollabind punch and Rollabind discs. Basically, you take the pages you want to assemble, punch the binding edge with the special punch, and insert the discs into the punches to hold it all together. The holes are open on one side, so you can remove and insert pages at will, and the unique design allows the whole thing to be opened flat, making them easy to write on.

The system can be used to compile planners, address books, journals, or just about anything else you can imagine, using pages of your own design, pre-printed pages akin to those sold for Dayplanners and the like, or templates from the DIY Planner site. Both Rollabind and Levenger sell a range of kits with punches, discs, and covers (from simple pressboard to luxurious leather). Circa/Rolla notebooks are a bit pricey compared to off-the-shelf notebooks (though some of the expenses, like the punch and reusable discs, can be amortized over years of notebook-making) but are pretty comparable in price to organizer sets from DayRunner or FranklinCovey.

2. Whitelines

Whitelines paper has white lines. Seriously.

If you’ve ever, say, tried to photocopy something you wrote or drew, you already know one use case for paper with white lines. If you’re a creative sort who maybe needs some lines to keep everything at the same scale but would rather not have to compete with those lines when displaying your ideas, you know another. And Whitelines has you pegged, because they make paper with white lines.

So here’s the deal: Whitelines notebooks are made with a lightly toned paper lined or gridded with white ink, so you can definitely see the lines while you’re working (meaning you avoid the “over-the-cliff” curve you get when you write on unlined paper) but step away just a bit and the lines fade away. And there are bindings for everyone, from hard-bound Moleskine-like notebooks to perfect-bound paperbacks to glue-bound notepads (so you can tear sheets off),

Available in the US only through specialty retailers (mostly book stores), Canadians and Western Europeans can find them at your national Amazon stores as well as in several chains. Prices are comparable to Moleskines of the same size and format. Use the store finder to find out how to get yours.

3. Behance Dot Grid Book

Behance notebooks are beloved of creative professionals, and the Dot Grid Book and Dot Grid Journal are a pretty good indication of why. Designers want the precision of a grid, but they also want the grid to “disappear”, to get out of their way so they can work. In other words, they appreciate good design in notebook grids as in everything else.

And these notebooks from Behance are nothing if not good design. The “Book” model has a semi-hard “suede touch” cover that is spiral-bound to lay flat on a table or other surface; the “Journal” model is hard-bound like a Moleskine for portable knee-top use. Both have a super-light but functional grid of dots to guide without constraining so you can do layouts, tight design work, or whatever else strikes your fancy.

4. Aquanotes

The age-old problem of how to capture notes in the shower may have found a solution. No more messy bath crayons or grease pencils – here comes Aquanotes! Aquanotes are suction-cup-mounted notepads made of 100% waterproof paper that can be written on however wet they may be. So you always have a notepad handy at what experts say is our most creative time, shower time.

The only problem is, where do you keep your pencil?

5. Notepod

Got an idea for an iPhone app? There’s a pad for that.

Notepod is an iPhone-shaped notepad, with an unlined writing area where the iPhone’s screen would be and gridlines on the back, packed in 100-page board-backed notepads. The implementation is new, but like the iPhone itself, the idea goes back a long ways, to the original battery-less paper Palm Pilot. Of course, you don’t have to be an iPhone developer to use a Notepod – it works just as well for on-the-fly note-taking and jotting down phone messages or, for the real low-tech, replacing your iPhone entirely (though you need a really good arm for the text messaging function…).

Know any other cool, super-functional (or just super-neat) notepads out there? Let me and the other addicts- er, afficionados know all about them in the the comments!

Dustin Wax

Dustin M. Wax is a freelance writer and project manager at Stepcase Lifehack. He can be reached though his freelancing site at DustinWax.com, where his various projects can be viewed. When he's not writing, he teaches anthropology and gender studies in Las Vegas, NV. He is the author of Don't Be Stupid: A Guide to Learning, Studying, and Succeeding at College.

Follow him on Twitter: @dwax.

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Mohan Arun L (@marun2 on Twitter) says on February 2nd, 2010 at 9:24 am
These are good, I personally prefer notepads that are un-ruled (i.e., just plain blank) it lets you write and draw and combine writings and drawings and doodles and mind maps on the same page. It somehow feels more ‘free-form’.
Helen Lathrope says on February 2nd, 2010 at 11:07 am
Hey Dustin! A man after my own heart! My husband cannot understand how I can spend more than 10 minutes in Staples or other stationery stores – I suppose it takes one to know one!
Having read GTD late last year, I’ve gone back to a filofax with blank dividers, which I’ve labelled according to where I am and what I do, and hence have become quite scarily well organised!
Keep up the excellent posts,
Best regards,
Helen
Matt at How To Get A Grip says on February 2nd, 2010 at 12:10 pm
You forget the excellent TweetNoteBook:
http://www.tweetnotebook.com/
I LOVE mine, and they make a great, surprising gift as well …
(no affiliation with the company, btw, although we do both come from Belgium!)
Eric says on February 2nd, 2010 at 1:58 pm
Great post! Did you ever find the college ruled composition book? I’ve been looking for those for awhile…
Dustin Wax says on February 2nd, 2010 at 2:07 pm
Eric: You know, I’ve only ever found them once. I can’t remember if it’s Office Depot or Office Max, but one of them carries a line of “Green” recycled-paper products that includes both wide- and college-ruled composition books. Unfortunately, if I remember correctly, the covers were soft, which defeats the purpose — the whole point of them, in my mind, is the thick cardboard covers for writing in anywhere (and holding up to backpack-residency).
Chris W. says on February 2nd, 2010 at 7:39 pm
I should mention this one: Barnes & Noble stocks a line of small square notepads called Pistachio. They’re made with thick cardboard front & back, so you can stuff it in a pocket without it bending around your leg. They’re 3×4″ with 50 sheets. Really handy to keep in your car or on desks.
(No, I don’t work for them, I’m just a fellow writer/notebook addict.)
Cynthia says on February 2nd, 2010 at 8:32 pm
This is great. We were just talking about To Do lists on MothersClick.com. I have notepad after notepad with lists and lists – but the aquanotes are too funny. I always get brilliant ideas in the shower – but what I really need is a voice recorder in the shower so I can record bits of articles that come into my mind or dialouge from my novel.
Great piece
rezyde says on February 2nd, 2010 at 10:15 pm
really like the notepod and aquanotes to jot down ideas.
Alexander Schwarz says on February 3rd, 2010 at 6:49 am
Here’s a customizable notepad available in Germany: http://www.roterfaden.com/index.php?language=en
Brett says on February 3rd, 2010 at 8:15 am
Dustin, you forgot the chronotebook. I always carry my Muji chronotebook with me and couldn’t function without it.
Jennifer says on February 3rd, 2010 at 11:46 am
Wow…I thought for the longest time my obsession was only with pens, and, well, writing instruments of any kind for that matter, especially click-top fountain pens and pens that write liquid graphite… sorry, off topic! But I have found recently that the surface on which you choose to write is just as important. I have greatly appreciated all of the items listed here and wanted to add one. I have come to love the Quo Vadis collection of notebooks and planners. They remind me a lot of the Moleskine products in terms of quality. The paper is super smooth and they are nicely bound and covered, coming in a variety of shapes, sizes and colors. They have an elastic band to mark your page and some have pockets in the back to keep small items. Can’t say enough wonderful things about them.
Judy says on February 3rd, 2010 at 5:05 pm
And I thought I was the only one.
Thanks for letting me know there is a community of us who LOVE writing instruments and papers.
Bill says on February 3rd, 2010 at 8:54 pm
Thanks for Aquanotes…I thought I had notepads everywhere. Now even in the shower!
dp says on February 4th, 2010 at 6:49 am
I see the beginnings of a support-group here
Nacho Jordi says on February 4th, 2010 at 8:16 am
A bit on the geek side, I also remember a pen with a tiny light to allow you write notes by night without disturbing your partner (I do not remember the commercial name, I could not find the reference).
Great post, I used to be an addicted too, but I’m cured now (well, sort of, haha).
Aaron Taylor - HelpCreatePlan says on February 4th, 2010 at 9:06 pm
AQUANOTES!!!!!!!!!!!! YES YES YES!!!!!! I’ve been wondering about ‘in the shower’ notepads for years….Excellent!!!! This is the time when i’m most creative, when i’m in the shower getting brainwashed – lol.
ALL HAIL AQUANOTES!
fab post – thanks.
bobby says on February 5th, 2010 at 4:55 am
i prefer a divers slate for shower use. no need to go through pages of waterproof paper and plus the larger ones usually have a tethered pencil.
Harry - GoalsOnTrack says on February 5th, 2010 at 6:26 pm
Wow, that notes in shower thing looks smart!
Helen says on February 6th, 2010 at 5:09 pm
Though if you’ve got time to come up with great ideas in the shower you are using too much water. Get in, get washed, get out.
Mark Knudsen says on February 6th, 2010 at 7:36 pm
Hi Dustin. Thank you for your feature of AquaNotes. We manufacture the product and are proud that it is durable, completly waterproof, and “green”. You questioned in your overview about where you would store the pencil. Actually, each notepad includes a cedar based pencil and a suction cup pencil holder. We would love to send you a sample product to try out. Please provide a shipping address and we’ll be glad to send one out to you. Cheers.
Dustin says on February 6th, 2010 at 7:53 pm
A couple of people have alluded to my “where do I keep the pencil” question. I thought it was pretty clear I was joking about that — you know, if I’ve got no pockets…
Mark Knudsen says on February 6th, 2010 at 10:31 pm
And to think we all thought we had a pretty savvy sense of humor here at the AquaNotes headqaurters. Now that its been explained to use we can all see the humor in your comment about the pencil . We’ll have to chalk it off to a long week in the office.
Willa says on February 7th, 2010 at 10:27 am
I’ve recently become *addicted* to Levenger Circa, and could spend hours (internally) debating about which size to buy, how many refill sheets do I *really* need, whether I want covers or not … I discovered that they’ve discontinued the Compact size, so I’m worrying I might not have enough refill sheets to last me until my next obsession. It’s funny how so many of us can understand and relate to this, but how many others will think we’re crazy. My husband has never understood my want/need for great pens; I’ve never discussed the notebook obsession with him, for obvious reasons.
All Women Stalker says on February 9th, 2010 at 12:50 am
Those are such awesome finds. Like you, I love my paper. Sadly, I can’t find good notepads here. I’ll just drool over the stuff you posted. I really like the Rollabind and the Notepod.
Ksenia from Unusual Business says on February 10th, 2010 at 3:58 pm
Cool finds! AquaNotes are already in my wishlist!J
DebraC says on February 10th, 2010 at 11:04 pm
The humble notepad should not be underestimated. Great for making to do lists. Keep it simple. It works a treat.
kerberos says on February 20th, 2010 at 8:35 pm
Why aquanotes when you can get Rite in rain pads?
http://www.riteintherain.com/
dott says on March 22nd, 2010 at 12:07 pm
I tend to use index cards for most scribbled notes on-the-go, so when I found a bright green silicone note card case FOR WAY LESS THAN 5 BUCKS by Oxford last week at Office Depot, I snagged it immediately. Only weird thing is that they packed it with a vertical note card, rather than index cards (Why??) and the stitching could be neater… Has an elastic pen loop and everything! Awesome.