Habit #10

Use a notebook

The Why

In my on-going life improvement project, being more productive has been a key element in becoming a better “me”. Incorporating lifestyle changes such as minimalism has allowed Rachel and I to free up time and space that was previously being occupied by less meaningful things to make room for the true priorities in our lives. But one thing that has still dogged me through this process is the mental clutter. Having ideas crop up with good intentions to act on them later only to find they were forgotten throughout the daily grind. Now this may sound like a repetition of Habit #1, but that habit had more to do with creating a plan for my upcoming day and did not account for the things that happen throughout the current day that were unanticipated. The ideas, interactions, or even lessons that I would like to revisit at a more opportune time would become fleeting as the activities of the day would progress.

Enter the notebook. Not the sappy Nicholas Sparks novel turned movie, but rather the simple binder of papers used for writing ideas. Though it really isn’t a secret, using a notebook was listed in a 2016 Forbes article as one of the 15 Surprising Things Productive People Do Differently. The last line of this section stated “Ultra-productive people free their mind by writing everything down.” When I thought about that, it really made sense. If an idea comes up that I want to spend more time on later that day/week/month, I would normally try to keep it in my head, naively convincing myself that I will come back to it when the time is right. Inevitably, that idea would usually be forgotten, only to be exhumed from my subconscious with the help of an outside trigger. Now, if I take that same idea and write it down in a notebook right away, I give my mind full permission to forget about it and move on to whatever is most pressing at that moment. Then I can revisit the notebook at a predetermined time that is appropriate for that idea.

The How

As one of the main themes for my habits is simplicity, I intent to stay the course with this one in that regard. I will simply carry a notebook with me wherever I go (when applicable) and just write down any thoughts or ideas that spontaneously come to mind. Nothing is out of bounds because the review and sorting of ideas will be at a later time, which for the purposes of these two weeks, will be every evening during Rachel and I’s newly dubbed “Table Time” (More on that in a later post). Even though for my purposes I will use paper and pen, the term “notebook” is being used loosely in this post. Other types of recording media, such as voice recorders and smart phone apps, could be more effective for you, given your lifestyle demands.