Ive been keeping what I call a “Common Catch-all” for several years now, I’m an artist who is constantly coming up with ideas for new paintings throughout the day, and my small pocket common catch-all is the perfect place to quickly record quick sketches and notes on ideas, as well as anything I read or hear that’s inspiring. I also put mundane things like lists or little journal entries, and I love the immediacy and spontaneity of it. It’s become a completely indispensable part of my artistic process and my life in general! Its a free place to be as messy or clean as I want, without the pressure of my nicer, more polished sketchbooks or journals.
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.
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.
📓 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.
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....
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.
📓 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
📓 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!
📓 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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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").
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.
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 📓📓📓
📖 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.
📓 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!
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.
2 дня назад
This is amazing content. It's really cleared things up for commonplace book enthusiasts. ❤ Thanks
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 🙂📓
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 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.
📓 Hey Parker, I'm curious if your old videos (like a year ago) oversimplified the concept of commonplace books like you discussed here, or did they take into account zibaldones and the differences between these? I think this is the first time I've seen you mention zibaldones in a video, and I feel like your prior definitions of commonplace books might have been more general, but I can't tell. Thanks for the great video!
@@irvinkershner9142 yeah I've been studying the history of CPBs a ton since my first videos and I've since discovered the distinctions between them and compendiums and now zibaldones. People still conflate zibaldones and CPBs but I think the distinctions is really beneficial. CPBs are great for academic work and writing and zibaldones are great for inspiration
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!
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!
Been seriously debating going back to paper for some of my planning needs. I've been loving physical paper for journaling, but am still hesitant to fully go back to paper for work/life planning. I've still got two months to make a decision -- 2025 may be the year of the notebook for me. 📓 Thanks, as always, for the insightful videos!! 📓
@@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?
@@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.
📓📓 A Zibaldone sounds so cute to have. I find a commonplace book a bit much to think about i just want to jot things down and not to think where to write them first. So i think a Zibaldone would be perfect for me
So, do you have a giant book bag or backpack with you at all times, or do you keep everything in one spot and just carry around a catch all that you then copy into the proper notebook at a later time, or something like that? I find that I much prefer paper notebooks and paper reading books to anything digital, however it means that I have a huge tote bag that I have to carry around with me all the time. Just wondering how you address that issue?
I always have a pocket catch-all with me but I do have a decently big leather briefcase and I choose what extra notebooks to bring based on a what I'm thinking through. I get this question a ton so I made a video reply lol ruclips.net/video/Zb5PUAi4eAc/видео.html
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.
📓 Hi Parker. Quick question - just out of curiosity - I’m also learning about AI and write all my notes into the same notebook and some of my own comments. Would that be a common place book as well?
23 часа назад
I honestly don't see the need to keep an "intellectual catch-all" while also having an actual catch-all notebook (which I do) and an actual Commonplace Book (which I do) to copy quotes, aphorisms etc. into. But I share your general enthusiasm of clear distinctions and definitions - and of using notebooks as the main place for thinking.
I got my research paper published in the Journal of Artificial Intelligence and Consciousness! So that was a major win and felt like a great peak for that round of studying AI. I took a little break and dove deep into science fiction and fantasy and only recently started back into the literature on the philosophy of AI and looking under the hood at LLMs again
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.
The first 500 people to use my link will get a 1 month free trial of Skillshare skl.sh/parknotes10241
I bought a hard copy of Zibaldone in English translation
Ive been keeping what I call a “Common Catch-all” for several years now, I’m an artist who is constantly coming up with ideas for new paintings throughout the day, and my small pocket common catch-all is the perfect place to quickly record quick sketches and notes on ideas, as well as anything I read or hear that’s inspiring. I also put mundane things like lists or little journal entries, and I love the immediacy and spontaneity of it. It’s become a completely indispensable part of my artistic process and my life in general! Its a free place to be as messy or clean as I want, without the pressure of my nicer, more polished sketchbooks or journals.
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.
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.
Hahah I'm constantly blaming you guys to my own wife. "I gotta buy more so I can test them for my subscribers!!"
@ParkerNotes We've got your back ❤😂
📓 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.
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....
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.
📓 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
📓 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!
📓 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.
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!
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.
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.
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
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.
📓 I am finding your videos to be very helpful. Thanks.
Thanks for this encouragement!
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").
@@DivergentIntegral I believe Roland covers this in his book as well, so cool
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.
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 📓📓📓
📖 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.
I have heard the zibaldone journal also called a miscellany journal, and I found it really useful for writing my dissertation
📓 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!
Amazing weather. Thank you.
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.
This is amazing content. It's really cleared things up for commonplace book enthusiasts. ❤ Thanks
📓thank you for explaining about common place notebooks.
Thanks for watching! Glad you enjoyed it
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 🙂📓
4:35 „Im italian but i dont speak italien“ is the most american thing i heard today
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 :)
@@yonashira3853 i might be in process of writing a book... 😁
@@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.
@@yonashira3853 hahah yeah sort of. It's a philosophy book on doing practical philosophy with lots of different styles of notebook
📓Dude - you are fascinating. Thank you for promoting actual thinking.
Haha thank you!!
📓 Qué buen video!! Muchas gracias por darnos siempre una visión más profunda sobre los diferentes métodos para organizarse. Saludos desde España!🇪🇸
📓 Hey Parker, I'm curious if your old videos (like a year ago) oversimplified the concept of commonplace books like you discussed here, or did they take into account zibaldones and the differences between these? I think this is the first time I've seen you mention zibaldones in a video, and I feel like your prior definitions of commonplace books might have been more general, but I can't tell. Thanks for the great video!
@@irvinkershner9142 yeah I've been studying the history of CPBs a ton since my first videos and I've since discovered the distinctions between them and compendiums and now zibaldones. People still conflate zibaldones and CPBs but I think the distinctions is really beneficial. CPBs are great for academic work and writing and zibaldones are great for inspiration
📓 I loved this discussion. Thanks!
📓📒📘 Learning the distinctions is fun! 😊
📓 Today I learned in my attempt to keep a commonplace book, I have been actually keeping a zibaldone!
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!
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!
Been seriously debating going back to paper for some of my planning needs. I've been loving physical paper for journaling, but am still hesitant to fully go back to paper for work/life planning. I've still got two months to make a decision -- 2025 may be the year of the notebook for me.
📓 Thanks, as always, for the insightful videos!! 📓
i realized that i inadvertently keep a "zibaldone" section in my commonplace book. i've been writing quotes in the very front pages
I am Italian, you prince Zibaldone very well, speaking normally. Great Video.
Haha yes! Thank you 🙌🤝
Thanks!
📓 Thanks for the explanation of the difference of each book.
I'm so glad you enjoyed it, I'm always worried that everyone will think I'm drawing too many distinctions and wasting my time
I’d love to see a video or podcast with Jared Henderson where you guys talk theology.
🤔 it's wonderful, thanks
I'm so glad!! Thanks for the encouragement
Side note: I read through all of Invincible recently, for the 3rd time. So good. Arguably the best superhero book.
It really is the best superhero story. It has everything and plays on familiar tropes without being cliché. It's just beautiful
@@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?
It seems like they are referring to the Image Comics published Invincible by Robert Kirkman
@@Sancahez yep, that one
@@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.
📓📓 A Zibaldone sounds so cute to have. I find a commonplace book a bit much to think about i just want to jot things down and not to think where to write them first. So i think a Zibaldone would be perfect for me
📓📓📓 I’ll happily take all of the analysis 😁
So, do you have a giant book bag or backpack with you at all times, or do you keep everything in one spot and just carry around a catch all that you then copy into the proper notebook at a later time, or something like that? I find that I much prefer paper notebooks and paper reading books to anything digital, however it means that I have a huge tote bag that I have to carry around with me all the time. Just wondering how you address that issue?
I always have a pocket catch-all with me but I do have a decently big leather briefcase and I choose what extra notebooks to bring based on a what I'm thinking through. I get this question a ton so I made a video reply lol
ruclips.net/video/Zb5PUAi4eAc/видео.html
@ Thanks 😊 I only just found your channel today. And I enjoy it immensely.
📓Great video!
I love your mustache, looks whimsical
📓Pretty sure what I've been calling my commonplace book is actually a zibaldone. I've yet to read Roland's book but it is on my tbr list.
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.
Three Masters Degrees; OK I'm listening.!
What is the Batman book in the background? I keep seeing it, and I am curious!
I just realised i was writing zibaldone journals for years without knowing what it even is or that it even exists 😂
@@xinriji haha yeah so many of us do this 😂
📓 Hi Parker. Quick question - just out of curiosity - I’m also learning about AI and write all my notes into the same notebook and some of my own comments. Would that be a common place book as well?
I honestly don't see the need to keep an "intellectual catch-all" while also having an actual catch-all notebook (which I do) and an actual Commonplace Book (which I do) to copy quotes, aphorisms etc. into.
But I share your general enthusiasm of clear distinctions and definitions - and of using notebooks as the main place for thinking.
Just out of curiosity. As a chef I use notebooks to make notes on recipes and ingredients. What type of books would that be considered?
I think I would call that a kind of compendium
@ thanks. I appreciate the knowledge you pass on.
@Chefbrycemcnabb my pleasure! Thanks for watching my stuff!
📓great video, and another excuse for me to order stationary 😂
📓
🫡
How are your studies on AI going? Would be interested to here more about it!
I got my research paper published in the Journal of Artificial Intelligence and Consciousness! So that was a major win and felt like a great peak for that round of studying AI. I took a little break and dove deep into science fiction and fantasy and only recently started back into the literature on the philosophy of AI and looking under the hood at LLMs again
Thanks for asking!
Is there a name for the style of writing you use in your notebooks?
Zibaldoing to Zibaldone
@@qwertyzz7 😄
📓📓📓
Great but what are you selling? write it down...
🐙
Zibblewho?
Except
After you have transferred meaningful info out of your commonplace books, why continue to keep them?
📔
11 minutes ago huh. This is not an achievement
11 hours ago huh, this is not an achievement
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.
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