My Personal Archive

An exhaustive overview of my system of notebooks and archives, both analog and digital.

My messy desk area, where the magic happens.

This is what happens when you have a lot of different hobbies.

In 2025, I implemented a system for collecting and collating my personal learning and research. A cross between a commonplace book, an archive, and a catalog system, my Personal Archive has grown and shifted slowly over the past year. An on-going and organic project, I suspect that it will shift and evolve even more in 2026.

There seems to be interest in my system whenever I post about it or mention it, so I have been planning this post for a while. In 2026, I will be more regularly documenting my Personal Archive for my paid subscribers, with monthly posts updating on progress, collecting, research, and new ideas for being a magpie of information. This is the first in that series, a complete step-by-step of each portion of the system.

After the paywall is an exhaustive overview of all aspects of my Personal Archive and how I use it, centered around its three main components: my Notebook Ecosystem, the Card Catalog, and the digital portion in Obsidian.