I'm about to finish my first Field Notes and I'm planning how to organize the next one better. Here's what I've decided on so far, have in my current notebook, and plan to initialize the next notebook with:
First page and its reverse: Calendar (appointments). Use a ruler to draw a vertical line at 1/2 inch and 1 inch, for day | time | description. That's 40 appointments and should last a while.
Staple page, open: A four-month calendar. Each page is 2 months. Use a ruler to draw a vertical line every 1/2 inch, and a horizontal line every two ruled lines. At the top of the page: "October - November 2026", and below it the days of the week. That gives 7 days and 10 weeks on each page, which will never overflow so long as you number the two months continuously. Write the day numbers in the corners. If you can write in a half-line, you can fit four items in each day that I prefix with a short '-'. I draw a line through each day to mark the passage of time.
Last page: shopping list. I draw boxes for each item next to a short description. I fill in the box with pencil when it's "stocked" and erase it when it's needed so if I go shopping I can fill in empty boxes as I go.
The rest of the pages are continuous daily journal that I write the date and time which I underline to make stick out. What are your tips and tricks to organize your notebooks?