My Pros and Cons List for Binder Journaling

I’m feeling more reflective these days. With several life transitions, personal challenges and goals, I’m writing to work through it all. To accomodate my journaling habit, I’ve been playing around with journaling in a binder.

Bible-sized Plotter notebook journal.

I’m using the Bible-sized Plotter notebook for my on-the-go journal. This is a recent shift, so I’m not sure if it will stick. Midori MD is one of my favorite paper types to write on, but unfortunately, the square grid for Midori MD paper only comes in 5 mm. When I journal, I sometimes ramble, quickly filling 5 mm grid pages. Smaller grids allow for this sort of journaling while using less paper.

Midori MD paper is my favorite paper. I still use MD notebooks, just not as my primary, on-the-go, EDC journal.

A Bout with the Midori Hibino

A filled page from my 2024 Midori Hibino.

In 2024, I tried out the Midori Hibino, which uses 2.5 mm grid. I wanted to love it. I love the idea of it, the timeline and the two-page per day layout. But it is dated, meaning two pages are allotted for every day. Sometimes I need much less than two pages, but occasionally, I need to write more. I liked the small grid, but not the constraints of the page limit. I would sometimes use a workaround and re-date pages with less writing on days when I needed more space, but ultimately, I wanted better organization. There’s a limit to the messiness and disorder I can tolerate in my life.

Playing Around with Journaling in a Binder

My ten-year diary on July 12th of 2024. Text: I am grateful for my window and the view of the sunrise, the colors, the new day.

The Pros and Cons

Three Pros of Binder Journaling

1. Flexibility. My journaling pages can be anywhere in the binder I want them to be. For privacy (or the illusion of it), I might even put the pages in a folder, and gently tape it shut. When the folder is full, I can remove the pages from the binder and archive them.
2. Organization. The rings in the binder mean that I can move the pages around as needed.
3. Mobility. I can take the binder anywhere I can take a small bag or even a medium-sized fanny pack.

Three Cons of Binder Journaling

1. Dating. And redating. With a binder, the pages are loose. That means I need to date every page, even if it’s for the same day. But because I’m writing on smaller square grid (2 mm), I don’t often need to redate pages. Even so, it’s only a minor inconvenience on days when I need to pour my mind on the page.
2. Physical Constraints. The Plotter binder only holds about 70 pages with other folders and accessory inserts. That means I can’t keep many journal pages along with other notes in the binder, only about a week of journaling (typically 2-7 Blue Paper sheets). My hope is that these physical constraints will encourage me to regularly process my notes and help me to move on instead of ruminating about the past.
3. The Rings. I thought I would hate rings. Writing on the left side of the page can be especially difficult, but I recently came up with a little trick that I remembered from using regular notebooks. I just pop a full notebook insert underneath the left side of the binder, and it lifts the page such that the rings do not interfere much with writing on the left side of the page. It doesn’t completely fix the issue, but it helps! Another trick is to just take the left page out of the binder and clip it to the right side. This method seems the more comfortable one for me.

Morning pages in the Plotter binder.

2025 in a Binder?

I am not sure what the rest of 2025 will bring. A lot is changing, and I am writing more as I process the changes. Can I live my writing life in a binder? I’m not sure. But, for now, I’m just playing around with notes and journaling, trying to develop simple, sustainable systems for myself.

Happy writing!