Journaling ergonomics

March 28, 2022 6:29 PM

I have a rather thick journal I would like to write in more often, but I find that it’s uncomfortable to write when I reach the right- and bottom-most edges of each page since my hand doesn’t have a place to rest (I’m right-handed). So I end up finishing my line/page with my hand awkwardly resting on my table, about 3/4 inch below the actual page I’m trying to write on. This is not terribly comfortable.

My only solution thus far is to position a book of similar thickness along the edge of the journal so my hand has a place to rest while I’m writing, and it works okay, but am I missing some ingenious hack? Some tool or set-up that has solved this problem? I figured I’d ask since I know there are other journal-writers out there and maybe there’s something I’m missing. Or maybe not.

I suppose I could switch to a super-thin journal or just loose-leaf paper, but so many of the thick journals out there are so pretty and appealing and I’d love to be able to use them.

posted by delight to Writing & Language (6 answers total)

I use my mouse wrist rest (or the matching keyboard wrist rest) - it's beanbaggy rather than memoryfoamy so I can floof it a bit to the height I need.
posted by Lyn Never at 6:33 PM on March 28, 2022 [1 favorite]

Write half the page, then rotate the book 180° and carry on. Or "write off" the last few lines, then go back and illustrate with relevant doodle.
posted by BobTheScientist at 11:35 PM on March 28, 2022

May I suggest that you just move to the next page when writing gets awkward? As a lefty I run into plenty of situations where it’s uncomfortable to write so I just … don’t.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 8:38 AM on March 29, 2022 [1 favorite]

I also have found this to be a problem (and hate not filling up a page)--my solution, such as it is, is to write on the sofa, with my journal on a big squishy cushion in my lap so that as I reach the bottom of the page I can shove the bottom edge of the journal in and the pillow out to support my wrist. It's probably not wildly ergonomic, but it works!
posted by radiogreentea at 9:08 AM on March 29, 2022

Here I am reading along because I've always had the same problem, but not thought to ask anyone.... and see Lyn Never's answer, which made me realize that I have all these Cats vs Pickles stuffies in the house (basically small bean-filled toys) that are EXACTLY the right size for the task!
posted by stormyteal at 11:09 PM on March 29, 2022

I flip my phone on its front and put it under my hand when I get to the bottom of a page. It’s about the right thickness and also helpfully stops me zoning out on my phone when I’m intending to journal.
posted by Happy Dave at 3:50 AM on March 30, 2022