Meaningful Commonplace Book Ideas for Your Memory Keeping Journal
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Collect the little things that matter—quotes, moments, thoughts, and memories worth saving.
Hiya! I’m Janice, the artist and creator behind Hamletta Studios, where I create playful art and stationery for creative people who love journaling, slow moments, and a bit of quiet reflection. I help you playfully plan your best life.
What is a Commonplace Book?
It’s an old idea. People used to keep them as a way to gather quotes, bits of information, and anything they didn’t want to forget. Writers, students, and thinkers would fill the pages with things they found meaningful or useful.
Usually, commonplace books were filled with other people’s words.
But other people’s words are not the only things you can use to fill up your commonplace book.
Instead of only saving things you’ve read or heard, you can use yours to capture little pieces of your life right now.
A commonplace book can hold pieces of your actual, everyday life — things you’ve read, overheard, wondered about, or just want to remember.
In that way, it becomes something more like a time capsule. Wouldn’t it be cool to look back years from now and peer into what comprised of your life right now?
It would not just be a record of what inspired you, but a way to return to who you were at a certain moment in your life.
If you're like me and tend to collect notebooks faster than you can fill them, this might be a good place to start.
This list is here to help you start. Take what works, skip what doesn’t. There’s no right or wrong way to build a commonplace book.
Just fill it up with what resonates with you!
Commonplace Book Ideas for Your Journal
Everyday Atmosphere
Small details from your current surroundings that make up your daily landscape.
The view from your favorite window
What’s on your nightstand right now
The last thing you touched before sitting down
How your room smells today
The soundscape of your day (traffic, music, birds, etc.)
How you’re dressing lately without thinking about it
What’s hanging on your walls
The last thing you cleaned — and why
What the light looked like at 3 PM today
Something on your floor you’ve been ignoring
Emotional Snapshots
Personal reflections and internal check-ins.
A worry you can’t quite name
What you’re looking forward to, even a little
A moment this week you felt proud of
A memory that feels different now
Something you’ve been grieving (quietly or loudly)
A joy you didn’t expect to feel this month
A part of your life that feels in limbo
What safety feels like to you right now
What feels like "too much" right now
Something you’ve forgiven (or are trying to)
Creative Threads
Capture your curiosities, inspirations, and creative energy.
A sentence you wish you’d written
A creative idea you haven’t started but keep thinking about
A color palette that feels like your mood
A medium or craft you want to try just for fun
A shape or motif you keep noticing lately
A story you’d tell if no one else ever read it
Something that’s been inspiring you in an indirect way
A quote that helped you feel unstuck
A project you abandoned and how you feel about it
The last time you got lost in making something
Time Capsule Details
Tiny, specific things that place you in this moment.
Your current go-to breakfast
What your phone background is right now
A receipt or product label you don’t want to throw away
A silly or strange search from your browser history
The number of unread notifications you have
The last app you opened today
A piece of packaging you thought looked beautiful
Something you always do in the same order
A sound you associate with this season of life
A brand or product you keep using even if you’re not sure why
Gentle Observations
Notice the quiet stuff — the patterns, habits, and human moments around you.
How your coffee/tea looks before you stir it
The way someone close to you greets you
A new habit you didn’t mean to form
The emotional tone of your neighborhood lately
A conversation you overheard that made you smile
A phrase someone says often that you’ve started picking up
Something someone does that feels like a love language
A random act of kindness you witnessed
What the sky looked like when you stopped to look up
Something you noticed today that made you pause
Words That Stuck With Me
For capturing phrases, quotes, and language that linger — from others or yourself.
A quote from a friend that made you laugh or feel seen
A lyric that’s been stuck in your head for weeks
Something you overheard that stayed with you
A compliment someone gave you recently
A podcast episode that changed something for you
Something someone said to you years ago that still echoes
A sentence you wrote in a journal that surprised you
A piece of advice you’ve been ignoring
A conversation you keep replaying
Something you wish someone would ask you about
Snapshots of Right Now
Quick captures of your daily life, moods, routines, and surroundings — as they are.
What your mornings actually look like right now
A snapshot of your current routine
The weather today and what it reminds you of
What your space looks like right now
A list of the tabs open on your phone
What’s inside your bag or purse today
A list of people you’re texting the most right now
What your handwriting looks like today
What time of day you feel most relaxed and joyful
What’s currently pinned on your Pinterest boards
Things I’m Thinking About
Self-reflection prompts for tracking mental shifts, growth, and what’s occupying your mind.
A mistake you made and what you learned from it
What you’re avoiding and why
Something that felt hard to do, but you did it anyway
A memory that’s resurfaced lately
What you’re learning to let go of
A dream or goal that feels scary to write down
A list of things you thought were true at age 10
A list of things you still believe, even now
A reminder you needed recently
Something you’d tell your past self
Sensory Time Capsules
Capture the sounds, sights, tastes, textures, and little things you want to remember.
A food you’re craving a lot lately
A scent you wish you could bottle
A color that feels like your mood today
A playlist you made for no one but yourself
A photo you printed out and why you saved it
A random little fact that delighted you
The last thing that made you cry
The last thing you laughed about
Your current top 3 comforts
A moment you want to freeze
Lists That Mean Something
Curated, casual lists that may seem small now but will speak volumes later.
A list of books you’ve abandoned and why
A list of things that made you smile this week
A list of things that feel heavy right now
A list of things that feel light
A personal rule you’ve made for yourself (and actually like)
What you’re currently watching and how it makes you feel
A text you keep meaning to reply to
What’s on your mind when you can’t sleep
Something you hope your future self remembers
Things that are helping, even if just a little
Start Where You Are
There is no right way to keep a commonplace book.
Don’t be intimidated by the beautiful spreads on social media and pinterest.
Remember back in the day when journals were private and they stayed private for your eyes only?
Bring those days back. No need to share online if you don’t want to.
The little details that seem ordinary now often turn out to be the most interesting to look back on later.
Don’t let perfection get in the way of starting your own personal commonplace book.
So write what you notice, what you feel, and what you want to remember.
Keep track of your life as it happens.
So open one of those blank notebooks you’ve been saving and begin anywhere.
