Recently I saw a YouTube video where someone described themselves as a notebook hoarder and expressed shock at having 15 unused notebooks in their possession. This surprised me, not because of how high the number was, but by how low it was. Which goes to show how much of a notebook hoarding problem I clearly have!

I’ve always known I’m a notebook hoarder, but considered it just a side effect of being a stationery fan. I’d never actually counted up how many unused notebooks I had, but I was absolutely certain it was way more than 15! 

So I decided it was time to face the ugly truth of my hoarding tendencies. I went through all the drawers in my office and pulled out every notebook I could find, and separated them out into categories. The used ones I filed away back in the drawers, whilst ones that hadn’t been written in I put to one side. The ones where I’d only used a few pages I ended up pulling those pages out, and then moving them into the empty notebook pile. I then stacked all the empty notebooks on the carpet and started counting. 

Wow. I knew I had a lot of notebooks that I hadn’t used, but the number surprised even me! Because it turns out I have a grand total of 58 unused notebooks. That’s right, 58 notebooks just sitting there in a drawer, not being used. 

These notebooks range from hefty hardback journals, to exercise books and pocket notebooks, and have been acquired over quite a few years. Quite a lot of them I’d completely forgotten about their existence, whilst others I was excited to rediscover. Sadly, there’s quite a few that I was probably really excited about when I bought them, but now I don’t really like them anymore. Some the cover is no longer my style, whilst others have paper that will no longer cut it, now I’m a fountain pen user. 

Which is pretty sad. I feel bad, not only that these have been sitting there for that long and going to waste, but that I got to this point in the first place. If I see a cute notebook, I buy it, and either use it, or put it aside to use ‘someday’, but clearly I’ve been buying a lot more than I need, and at a faster rate than I use them. Which is just wasteful!

So what exactly do I do about this? I don’t enjoy having all these neglected notebooks just hanging around, so I’ve come up with a three-step plan:

Step 1: Stop buying notebooks!

This is probably the most obvious step. I have tons of notebooks to use up, enough to last me for years, so I absolutely do not need to be buying any more notebooks for the foreseeable future. I’m not going to count planners in this, as I still have some that I want to buy ready for 2025, and I’m also not going to count Traveler’s Notebook refills, because they are refills that I only buy when I used one up. 

But on the whole, I’d like to calm down my stationery buying overall, and especially my notebook buying after this revelation!

Step 2: Get rid of some notebooks. 

My second step is to cut down my collection significantly from the start. As I’ve said, some of these notebooks don’t really excite me anymore, and I don’t want to feel obligated to use them when I don’t want to. But I also don’t want them hanging around, taking up space, and making me feel bad. 

So it’s time for a de-stash! I’m going to go through them all and put aside the ones that I don’t want anymore, and then give them to my niece, who likes writing and drawing. A lot of the covers I no longer vibe with are quite cutesy, so I think she’d really like them, and it would be nice for them to go to a good home after being left in a drawer for years. 

Step 3: Start using them! 

And the last step of my plan is to start making my way through all these lovely notebooks! Since getting into fountain pens I’ve been doing more writing by hand than ever, and have been finishing more notebooks than ever, and I know what a satisfying feeling it is to finish that last page. I’d like to eventually get that feeling with these notebooks, and so I’m going to set myself a long-term challenge to fill them up! 

I’m going to look at this in a positive light. Yes, I’ve hoarded a lot of notebooks, but I would love to do even more writing, and having all of these to use is only going to encourage me to write more. One day all of my hoarded notebooks could be full of stories, poems, essays and journal entries, and that’s quite an exciting thought!

I’m going to call this project ‘The Empty Notebook Project’, and I thought I might add a section to my monthly ‘Most Used Pens and Inks’ posts where I share an update of how I’m getting on, and what I’m using the different notebooks for. 

And if you’re also a notebook hoarder, feel free to join in with your own Empty Notebook Project, and keep me updated on your progress! 

So are you a notebook hoarder? Do you know how many unused notebooks you own? And what are some fun ways to use notebooks?