My posts may contain affiliate links, meaning if you buy something through one of these links, I'll earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. All opinions are my own.
Who else has dozens of empty notebooks lying around and no idea what to do with them? Any stationery lover will know the feeling of buying a beautiful notebook with no intention of ever using it, so here are 21 creative things to do with an empty notebook.
21 Creative Things To Do With an Empty Notebook
1. Traditional Diary
If you don’t yet keep a journal, I’d highly recommend starting one as a safe space to explore your emotions. Keeping a traditional diary is a great creative outlet that can help you explore and even improve your mental wellbeing.
For more information on why keeping a journal is so beneficial and how you can stick to it in the long term, check out how to start a journal for beginners.
2. Bucket List
There are likely hundreds of things you’d love to do one day, even if you haven’t yet written them down as a dedicated bucket list. Creating a bucket list can help get you inspired about the future and live a more interesting and exciting life.
3. Dream Journal
Keeping a dream journal is one of the most interesting things you can do with an empty notebook. It’ll give you insights into your mind and your worries, and you’ll have a lot of fun reading back on old dreams that you’ve long forgotten.
4. Travel Diary
If you like to travel, then I’d highly suggest keeping a travel diary. You can keep a log of all the interesting places you’ve been, all the different foods you’ve eaten, and all the people you’ve met along the way. You can also fill your travel diary with photos and souvenirs to keep your memories alive forever.
Even if travelling is off the cards at the moment, you can use your travel diary to plan your next adventures and keep a note of everywhere you’d like to travel one day.
5. Scrapbook
Scrapbooking is a fun and relaxing hobby that many people enjoy. Grab a pile of old magazines and some pens, paints and scissors – and let your creativity run wild.
6. Goal Planning
You can use your empty notebook to keep a log of all the goals you want to accomplish, both short term and long term. This is a great way to keep yourself inspired and be the best version of yourself possible.
7. Morning Pages
Morning pages are where you write three full A4 pages as soon as you wake up. It doesn’t matter what you write, and you can write the same sentence over and over again if that’s all that comes to mind. The idea is to write as fast as you can in a stream of consciousness style to help clear your head and reduce anxiety before the day even starts.
8. Affirmations
Affirmations are short, powerful statements that promote a positive mindset. They’re best used daily to help hard-wire your brain into thinking more positively about yourself and the world around you.
You could use one of your empty notebooks to write down all your favourite affirmations. Not only will this be a powerful exercise, but it allows you to build a confidence boosting resource that you can read back on whenever you feel negative thoughts creeping in.
9. Gratitude Journal
Gratitude is a powerful tool to improve your general happiness. Try using one of your empty notebooks to write out three things you’re grateful for at the end of every day.
10. Creative Writing
Creative writing is a lot of fun, and is a relaxing hobby for writers of all experience levels. I always suggest keeping all your writings together in one notebook since it makes it easy to keep track of all your fleeting thoughts and ideas. Use your creative writing journal to write anything you like, from short stories to songs to poems to a novel.
11. Quotes
Try using one of your notebooks to keep track of all your favourite inspiring and motivational quotes. You can then read back on all your chosen quotes whenever you’re feeling unhappy or unmotivated.
12. Sketchbook
You don’t need to be good at drawing to start a sketchbook. All you need is a love for art and a desire to create. Once you’ve filled up your entire notebook with sketches, you can look back on your old work and reflect on how much you’ve improved.
13. Bullet Journal
One of the most popular ways to use an empty notebook is of course to start a bullet journal. Bullet journals allow you to keep all your notes, to do lists and appointments in one place, making them an incredible tool for goal setting and productivity.
14. To Do Lists
Not everyone needs a complex bullet journaling system to stay organised. Sometimes a simple to do list is enough.
If you have an empty notebook lying around, try using it to store your daily, weekly, and monthly to do lists. A5 and pocket sized notebooks are perfect for this so you can carry them with you at all times.
15. Language Learning
If you’re currently learning a language I’d recommend using a dedicated notebook to store all your work. This makes it easier to look back and consolidate your learning.
You can include pages on grammar and vocabulary for focused learning, as well as long form creative writing to help improve your fluency level.
16. Grow Your Vocabulary
You’re not restricted to growing your vocabulary in a foreign language. Learning new vocabulary in your native language is important and there are always new words to learn.
Use one of your empty notebooks to jot down any new words you come across, along with their definitions. Then you can read through your vocabulary notebook any time you want to consolidate your knowledge.
17. Vision Boards
Vision boards are collages including photos, quotes and affirmations, and can be a huge source of inspiration to reach your goals.
If you enjoy creating vision boards and have an empty notebook lying around then consider keeping all of your vision boards in one place. This will give you a great source of inspiration that you can flick through whenever you feel uninspired. I’d recommend using a large A4 notebook so you have the most creative options for your vision boards, but smaller notebooks will work well, too.
18. Take Notes From a Course
I’d highly recommend taking online courses from SkillShare, Udemy, or even YouTube in your spare time. It’s a great way to learn new skills and improve your personal and professional development.
19. Unsent Letters
It’s a sad truth that we can’t send letters to everyone we’d like to. Writing letters to people who can’t or won’t read them is incredibly therapeutic, and I’d highly recommend it to anyone who has some feelings to work through.
20. One Sentence a Day
If keeping a diary appeals to you but is a little too much for you to keep up, try writing just one sentence a day. You can write whatever you like – what you did, how you feel, who you saw – as long as it’s one sentence a day.
21. Job Applications
If you’re currently looking for a job, it’s a good idea to use a notebook to keep track of all your open applications.
You can also use your notebook to keep a note of any interesting things you could bring up in a job application or interview. It’s easy to forget all the interesting things you’ve done when preparing for a job interview, so keeping a log of them will really help you out in the long run.
Comment and Subscribe!
What do you like to do with your empty notebooks? Let me know in the comments, along with your favourite idea from this list.