Picture this: You’re on the train to work, and you pass that billboard with the funny slogan that never fails to make you smile. At the office, one of your colleagues delivers a pithy quote. During your workout, you pick up an interesting factoid from a podcast.

Where do you store all these disparate pieces of information and inspiration?

For many writers, thinkers, activists, world leaders — and perfectly normal people who enjoy the mental and organizational exercise of journaling — the answer has been a commonplace book.

A commonplace book is a place to record interesting pieces of knowledge, quotes, thoughts, drawings, and more for later use. Think of it as the notebook equivalent of that one drawer in your kitchen where you keep batteries, spare buttons, rubber bands, keys that don’t belong on a keychain, and so on. It may look like clutter, but it could come in handy someday.

The commonplace book tradition dates back centuries. Search for the term, and you’ll find all kinds of celebrities and historical figures who purportedly kept a commonplace book, from Marcus Aurelius to Bill Gates.

Keeping a commonplace book has perhaps never been more relevant than it is today. With apps and devices nudging, notifying, and needling you to pay them attention, a commonplace book is a welcome respite. It won’t bug you to complete a daily entry or interrupt your thoughts with what an algorithm thinks you might be interested in. Instead, it will wait patiently for you to engage with it, whether it’s to revisit old entries or add new knowledge.

One of the difficulties of managing a commonplace book has to do with its serendipitous structure: if all you’re doing is writing down morsels of information as you come across them, how do you keep the book organized?

Tags on reMarkable let you attach keywords to your commonplace book, making it easier to find, browse, and filter entries, whether you’re writing about “Baseball,” “Meditation,” or “Seabirds.”

Consider using your tags for more than just your commonplace book. An overarching tagging structure that covers all notes, files, and folders on your paper tablet makes navigating through different kinds of content and finding what you’re looking for effortless.

How to get started with tags on reMarkable

Customize your commonplace book with a cover

Your commonplace book should be uniquely yours — a special notebook that invites you to both add new knowledge and explore everything you’ve added to it.

Need some inspiration for your cover page? Below are some styles you may want to consider.

Personalize your notes with inspiring cover pages

This piece of advice, while simple, is also one of the most important things about a commonplace book: actually having it available when you come across something worth writing down.

Consider adding your commonplace book to your favorites on your reMarkable. That way, the book is always available by tapping Favorites in the menu bar, or by swiping down with two fingers from the top of the display to open the document drawer, and then tapping Favorites.

There — your commonplace book is ready, its blank pages waiting to be filled. Here’s a quote by the great Romantic poet William Wordsworth to get you started:

“Dreams, books, are each a world; and books, we know, 
Are a substantial world, both pure and good: 
Round these, with tendrils strong as flesh and blood, 
Our pastime and our happiness will grow.”

Of course, you decide whether or not to write it down. It’s your commonplace book, after all.

Organize information and inspiration with a commonplace book

Note-taking is about more than transcribing. It’s about capturing key information, processing it internally, and presenting it in a way that makes it easy for you or someone else to consume at a glance.

If you’re looking for a new way to take meeting notes, give the Cornell Method a go. This note-taking system, created in the 1950s at the Ivy League university of the same name, promotes clarity and reflection — so it’s perfect for teams that need to stay focused and make informed decisions.

It only takes a couple of tweaks to adapt the Cornell Method to an office setting. Create a new notebook using the 

 template to familiarize yourself with the layout, and then follow the guide below to learn how to make the most out of it with your reMarkable paper tablet.

“Forgetting wipes out information like a tornado. Taking notes will provide disaster relief."
- Walter Pauk, creator of the Cornell Method

The Cornell Method involves dividing every page of your notebook into three clear sections, each with a specific role:

The lined section on the right is where you’ll record your main notes, thoughts, and ideas from the meeting. This is the largest section of the three, but space is limited for a reason — use short sentences, bullets, symbols, and abbreviations to keep your notes as concise as possible.

Different writing tools and stroke thicknesses make your notes easy to review after the fact. Try experimenting with ink colors and highlighters to add emphasis to data, ideas, and other important takeaways.

The column on the left is a space to distill what you’ve written in the notes section. Write down overarching topics that tie your notes together, keywords you want to look up, and “cue” questions to jog your memory — hence the name of the section.

Think of the cue section as a kind of reverse agenda. As you review what you’ve written in your notes and fill in the cue section, you build a list of the most important topics covered in the meeting. This exercise may also be helpful as you decide what tags to create and add to your notes to sort them.

The empty space at the bottom of the page is an opportunity to take a mental step back and capture the big picture. In no more than a sentence or two, write down the main point or takeaway from the meeting. When scanning your notes, reading this summary will save precious time.

You can also get creative with this section. Instead of a summary, you can create a small to-do list with the most important tasks to emerge during the meeting, and then check the tasks off as you go about the rest of your day.

The reMarkable mobile and desktop apps are perfect for zipping through meeting notes. If you’re consistent about how you use the highlighter and different ink colors throughout your notes, you can quickly rediscover important pieces of information when reviewing your notes in the apps.

Become a notorious note-taker with the Cornell Method

Workday distractions may seem endless. Unanswered emails pile up, social media notifications buzz, and the requests from colleagues never stop. Then there’s your jam-packed calendar to consider.

Luckily, the path to achieving focus doesn’t need to be complicated. Here are some effective tips for quieting the noise and concentrating on what matters:

A good place to start would be your workspace. Once you’ve decluttered your desk, you can begin tending to your mental clutter.

Establishing a to-do list is a great way to achieve a sense of calm and gain some control over your situation. It works by moving the tasks from your head to the page, so you have a clear visual overview of what you’re facing.

A popular to-do list methodology is the “

” Devised by author Jake Knapp, this technique helps you focus on your high priority items and puts less important tasks on the back burner.

Our brains simply aren’t made for multitasking. In fact, 

 juggling multiple tasks at once can cause heightened mental stress, affect memory, and make it hard to concentrate.

Depending on how you like to work, there are a number of different task managing methods available. One popular approach is the 

 — a brain-friendly system that doesn’t require a computer or smartphone, just your paper tablet.

GTD is an easily accessible strategy for brainstorming and prioritizing your tasks that divides everything you need to do into a set of five lists titled:

A highlight of this technique is how it encourages you to just do tasks that will take less than two minutes, instead of adding them to your “Next actions” list.

A vital part of being productive is knowing when to work and when to rest. Taking breaks from challenging work processes is just as essential to thinking and creativity as the actual work you put in.

There is a growing understanding in recent years among psychologists regarding the role of “mind wandering” within the process of paying attention. Some experts, like Harvard psychologist Paul Seli, have 

 giving your mind a break can have positive results.

“Think about something unrelated, maybe problem-solve something else that you’ve got on your mind and then come back to your task,” he said.

Scheduling off a sizable block of time to achieve your goal might be a smart place to start. Preplanning a time when you’ll be unavailable will allow you to avoid any unnecessary meetings, requests, or social distractions, without offending or inconveniencing anyone.

But some distractions are beyond your control. According to a Udemy survey, the biggest distraction factor for office workers is chatter — an important thread in the social fabric of the office to be sure, but not exactly conducive to focused work.

Some workplaces have found that a color-coded system involving desk lamps — or even hats — is an effective way to encourage employees to work in focused blocks. Someone wearing a red hat, for example, might be an agreed-upon sign that they’re working on something and don’t want to be disturbed.

Find focus and achieve breakthroughs at work

You’ve heard it before, but it’s worth repeating: getting enough sleep, exercising, and sticking to a healthy diet can go a long way toward a sharp, focused mind.

Training your mind to focus longer is just like training your body to improve your aerobic capacity. As with physical training, the more work you put in, the more rewards you’ll experience.

A common method for building attention muscle is the Pomodoro method. It’s quite simple: work for 25 minutes, then take a five-minute break, and repeat. After four such “Pomodoros,” take a longer break.

There are lots of apps that’ll help you adjust the timings, so you can practice with the goal of longer focused sessions — or you could just use a stopwatch.

Writing or drawing by hand can also be used as more analog approaches to tasks that will help you think better, and also get your brain used to working harder for longer.

5 ways to sharpen your focus

If you’re looking to bring more structure to your workday, try the Pomodoro Technique. This technique breaks your day into a simple, repeating pattern of working sessions and breaks, which can make even the most daunting task seem manageable.

The key to the Pomodoro Technique is its simplicity — all you need to follow these six steps is a timer:

Select one or more tasks that you want to work on

Set a timer for 25 minutes and start working

Repeat steps 2-3 until you’ve completed four working sessions

The video above shows the Pomodoro Technique in action. In the video, a writer uses the technique to organize her day, dedicating individual sessions to brainstorming character traits, editing a chapter, and drafting.

These sessions are punctuated by the built-in breaks, during which the writer steps away from her desk. After a cup of coffee or a workout, she’s ready to dive back into her work.

The next time you’ve got a big project to deliver, why not give this focus method a go?

Streamline your workday with the Pomodoro Technique

Step-by-step walkthroughs of how to set up and get started with reMarkable.

Learn the basics

Quick tips to keep your paper tablet uncluttered and distraction-free.

Get organized

How-tos that help you build a foundation for focused work.

Stay in control

Guides on how to become more efficient and productive.

Improve your workflow

Advanced techniques that inspire you to become a better thinker.

Find your focus

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Discover and learn at your own pace

Organize information and inspiration with a commonplace book

Become a notorious note-taker with the Cornell Method

5 ways to sharpen your focus

Streamline your workday with the Pomodoro Technique

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