Four ways people actually use yeerbook.
There’s no one right way to build a yeerbook. Here are the four patterns people actually use, and most people end up mixing more than one.
Written by Philip · Published August 21, 2026
People ask this a lot before they start: am I supposed to add something every day? Once a week? Only after big events? The honest answer is that there isn’t a required pace. Below are the four ways people actually build a yeerbook, in roughly the order they show up over a year.
Photos, as they happen
Something happens, a dinner, a trip, a milestone, and you add it to your yeerbook that same week. A few photos, a line or two about what happened, or a voice note if that's easier than typing. If other people were there, you can tag them and share a private link to that specific page. They don't need an account. They open the link and can add a note, a voice message, or a signature of their own.
This is the closest thing to a running record, and most pages get built this way: one memory, added close to when it actually happened.
Thoughts, as they happen
Not everything worth keeping comes with a photo attached. Some of it is just a thought that shows up on an ordinary Tuesday: something that changed, something you're proud of, something you don't want to forget you felt. Yeerbook doesn't require a photo to start a page. A reflection can stand on its own, written or recorded, whenever it occurs to you.
These are often the pages people are most surprised to find again later. Not the trip everyone already photographed, the ordinary week nobody thought to capture any other way.
A pause, once a month
Real time isn't realistic for most people every single week, so yeerbook sends a monthly reminder. It's a nudge to look back at the last few weeks and add what you missed: a few photos from your camera roll, a couple of reflections on how the month actually went.
Fifteen minutes once a month adds up to a full year without ever facing a blank page in December.
All at once, at the end
Some people don't touch yeerbook until the year is basically over, and that's a completely normal way to use it. Drop in a year's worth of photos, and the pages organize themselves automatically. Add reflections and voice notes as you go through them, then send links to the people you want to sign specific pages.
Most people who build this way finish in an hour or two, not because the year mattered less, but because the layout work that would normally eat a weekend happens for you instead. See how it works for the full walkthrough of what that actually looks like.
Most people use more than one
These aren’t exclusive categories. A lot of people add memories in real time for the moments that matter enough to capture right away, lean on the monthly reminder as a safety net for everything else, and still do a final pass at the end of the year before the book prints. There’s no wrong order, and no minimum pace to keep. If you’re still deciding whether this shape fits how you actually want to keep a year, see how yeerbook compares to a photo book, guest book, or journaling app.
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to pick one of these ways?
No. Most people mix them: real time for the moments that matter enough to capture right away, the monthly reminder as a safety net for everything else, and often a final catch-up pass before the book prints.
I'm reading this in October. Is it too late to start this year's book?
No. You can start whenever you're reading this and backfill the months you missed using photos and memories you already have. A late start just means more of your year gets built the 'all at once' way instead of in real time.
Does a page built all at once look any different from one built in real time?
No. A signer opening a link sees the same page either way; a photo, a reflection, and space for their own note, voice message, or signature. How and when you added it doesn't change what they see.
Is one way cheaper, or does it produce a smaller book?
Neither. Each yeerbook is a one-time purchase for a 12-month period, regardless of how many of these four ways you use, or how late in the year you start.
Start whenever you actually are.
Real time, once a month, or all at once. Any of them gets you a finished book.