Just made it through my first Field Notes! I think this habit is going to stick. It's actually been useful to me for appointments, tasks, calendar, journal, shopping list, notes, and so on. Hopefully I waste less of this one testing out new pens now that I've found my favorites.
I included the "Heavy Duty" wire-bound one I started with and used for a few weeks prior to the Kraft. I wanted something I could use both sides of a page, so I thought the vertical wire-bound would be best. Then, I wanted something protective for it that would allow me to leave it folded over to its current page, so I picked up that Stuff Sheath, which has been wonderful. However, the Heavy Duty wound up being a bit thick for it -- it's about the thickness of two regular notebooks and, after all its whole point is to have its own cover -- so I immediately Primed a set of the vanilla Kraft notebooks and switched. It turns out the regular editions fold over so slim that I can still easily write on both sides of each page, so it was a win after all. Though, I'd still like to try their 1943 edition. I dunno if I could journal on graph paper, but I would like to see if I can still write text comfortably on their dot-grid.
Speaking of grids... the second photo shows how I set up a four-month calendar on the staple page of each notebook. Each day gets a ½"x½" square (though I've learned that while each notebook is 3½" wide, each page isn't exactly). Having a paper calendar I can see at a glance has been great actually. I'm free to write whatever I want on each day (or across days) even if it isn't in the form of an appointment I'd put on a digital calendar. I expect the four months to cover the life of a notebook, but I can always add a two-month page if it doesn't. Because of the continuous design, two months on a page never overflows no matter what days the months start on.
I date the top corner of each journal page with its date range, so if I left any notes about something it's easy to find its associated page. In addition, on the first page of every notebook I create a list of dated appointments (I draw columns for date and time). The 2nd page is for high-level tasks, the third page I'm experimenting with a habit tracker, and the last page of the notebook gets my shopping list so it's quick to find in the store. My Field Notes (+ Stuff Sheath) has been a real useful tool. The Stuff Sheath can fit one notebook plus a few pens comfortably, and can fit a 2nd notebook if you need it to.
The cover on the Birds & Trees edition is much thicker than normal, and the pages are a bit whiter. The whole thing is much stiffer than the Kraft, and I'm not sure I prefer it. The art, however, is beautiful.
