I can’t be R’sed.
Freud had a name for this .
Sorry Maree, I missed this on the first read. That’s what I’ve been using too!
Here, they’re called composition books.
In school, they’re usually black.
They’re fairly inexpensive. I was just about to order some because I’ve been using the couple I started with. I’m just wondering at what point do they turn into clipped piles of paper where it takes me more time to find the composition book I want to write in. That was my problem with the clipped papers. On the other side, I do like how they’re portable and I can put all of one subject in the same place without having to open the bigger binder.
They are cheap enough and I rather like having things separate, if I’m food shopping I grab the shopping one and the fridge/freezer/cupboard one, if I’m doing a decorating or craft project one, they get an exercise book of their own!
I use them in conjunction with my Day to a Page diary and my monthly planner, and keep them all in a big shoe box on my desk, and just take out the one I need
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Sounds like a bullet journal. 
I was just reading this comment from someone who said all he needed was to keep track of a few scribbles he made and would sometimes lose. People agreed that was just a less efficient bullet journal if the person loses it but still a bullet journal. As people noted, the pretty bullet journals get the attention, but the simple ones get used just the same.
https://reddit.com/r/BasicBulletJournals/comments/uww6xc/i_make_lists_and_leave_them_everywhere_and/
It sorry of is, but I like to keep it all separate and not think about everything at once, if you know what I mean
And I can pick up just one of my exercise books, take it away and concentrate on that
For example, we’re decorating the kitchen at the moment. So of course I’ve got an exercise book labelled “Kitchen”
( And I really do label it childishly on the front in big handwriting like we did at school, makes me smile!)
So I can take it into the sitting room, write my plans, into the kitchen and write down measurements, in the sitting room again on my phone ordering stuff and writing down receipts, then make my lists in it and take it to the hardware store to buy paint etc
And write all my notes for the project, contacts etc in it in one place
It sort of seems more relaxed to me to focus on just the thing I’m doing rather than an all in together bullet journal which I find can be a bit overwhelming and guilt inducing
Plus it’s only an exercise book so no pressure to make it pretty, complicated or clever!
I did this too! 
That’s the reason I like it too. I’ve been moving in this direction lately. I’ve been thinking about how many more books I want to order. They’re cheap, so I can order a bunch. If I order too many, the simplicity is gone. If I order too few, I might have to stall a project to wait for a book. (I know, silly stuff, but it’s ramblings on a forum)
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The ones I like come in packs of 10 but I don’t use them all at once, just keep them in the drawer until I need one
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You two are either exceptionally well organised or you both have OCD - I could never be so disciplined! 
I have a Commonplace Book in which I occasionally write favourite poems, witty ripostes, odd recipes, jokes etc., - but ‘occasionally’ is the operative word.
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Deffo not OCD, you should see the state of my house sometimes!
I’m a butterfly, pleasure seeking little person, easily distracted by something pretty… oooh, a flower…. what were we talking about? 
And I’m a dreamer and forgetful and as bone idle as a cat, so my exercise books are instead of having a brain, or indeed any self discipline!
They keep me as on track as I’m ever going to get……,
But it’s creative too, having a place to jot down all those ideas I’d forget, recipes I’m going to try, things I like
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Part of it is that i was tired of reinventing the wheel. I remember times when I would think I found a “genius” answer to a problem, only to look back at some old notes to realize I had already thought of this “genius” answer (and maybe even why it didn’t work). But because my notes were scattered, I was reinventing the wheel all the time. Putting notes in one place helps me to focus on moving forward, not starting all over again every time I start something.
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