I hadn't been aware of commonplace books, so I learned something here! Thanks!

I've been keeping journals and diaries and retaining letters and other written communication important to me since my parents got me my first diary when I was 8.

One of my pandemic projects was organizing 60 years worth of notebooks, journals, cartons of letters and what seems like every picture my son drew from the time he learned to hold a crayon to when he became a teenager and stopped sharing his artwork with his mother.

It's all neatly organized and labeled and takes up three bookcases in my office and I find rereading it very entertaining -- and very useful as a writer.

Which is a long-winded way of saying that I agree with you -- keeping track of ones life is a great idea, especially for a writer.