For 2026, I’m keeping my commonplace practice intentionally split between two books: a bound Hobonichi plain notebook for my “special interest” commonplacing, and an A5 rings system for everything more general—ongoing notes, research extracts, and the kind of thinking that needs to stay flexible. In this video I walk you through how each book is set up, what I actually put in them, and why I don’t try to force one notebook to hold every kind of knowledge I’m collecting. This is part of my Marginalia Index—my slow ritual of reading, writing in the margins, pulling out what matters, and then indexing it so I can return to it later. The Hobonichi gives me a calm, continuous container that feels “finished” as it fills, which is perfect for deep dives. The rings, on the other hand, let me move pages, expand sections, and keep research alive without rewriting everything. If you’re building a 2026 note-taking system for study, journaling, or knowledge management, my biggest takeaway is simple: decide what needs permanence, and what needs permission to change.