There are a few things in this world that I truly enjoy and some have honestly improved my life. I imagine I will look back at these things years from now and wonder why but for now, here is a one of the things on the list of “Things I Love” (and more then some are not things at all).
Anyone who has interacted with me in person over the last few years has certainly noticed two things: I love technology and I hate paper! But I am always carrying a notebook with me. It seems contradictory and I suppose it is. In my perfect world, I would have to keep track of zero bits of paper. But since I don’t currently rule the world, my life is filled with paper. In my quest to minimize the pieces of paper I am responsible, for I have built myself a system to capture all of it in one place.
I have a notebook that I take with me everywhere, and in it, I write down all the notes I take ever. Meaning if I write it down it is in that notebook. No post-it notes or napkins for me. Nope, if it got written down it was in that notebook. It’s great because nothing gets lost it’s all in there.
The other benefit is that it helps me plan my life on paper and on purpose every month. When I am using it well, I lay out the month ahead of time, including all my scheduled events, meetings, and deadlines, then I record events and details as the month proceeds. It works well even if I get started a little late in the month. I keep a Google Calander that I love but there is something about taking the time to record what is happening during each week and seeing it all written out that I have found helpful and it gives me more than a little peace of mind. I think it helps because it ensures I have not overlooked anything vital because I wrote it all down.
It is more than just planning my life but documenting too. I try to write down things I was proud of each day and I keep track of what I am most grateful for, which is mostly one handsome fella and two ridiculous dogs.
I am not particularly crafty and I get very little enjoyment from drawing. (Sorry, Coach it still just feels like work to me.) But this notebook has also a way to capture my life. I stick little in bits of paper ticket stubs, stickers, brochures and event flyers inside sometimes. I kept the name card from our Christmas party because I had never seen my name look prettier than it did written out in perfect silver script on a tiny piece of folded paper. I use pens of different colors to keep me organized and just for fun. And recently, I have started writing a quote as a theme of sorts for each month. Hamilton is my inspiration for this year.
One of the surprising things I have used this notebook for over the past year is for taking notes in small meetings. I type significantly faster than I write and for all of my adult life I have taken my notes digitally. I always use a tablet and keyboard for note-taking but I have found that in a small meeting, say less than 5 people, that using a keyboard isn’t particularly comfortable. I can talk and type or listen and type without any trouble. But I have found that people wait for me to finish clicking away before they continue their thought. And I hate that. So I decided to put away my keyboard and drag out my notebook and a pen. And now, no one stops talking when I jot something down.
I have no real proof, but I think that subtracting the screen between us has improved my relationships with people as well. They just talk to me with more ease when I have my notebook instead of my tablet and keyboard. And for me, it is worth it to take a little extra time to digitize my notes and tasks after the meeting if not having a screen makes our meetings better.
So if you are intrigued by my love of a notebook and bullet journaling system I encourage you to look into it, YouTube is great for tutorials and Instagram is good for the pretty examples (as it usually is for most things). I would suggest starting here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fm15cmYU0IM and also here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkZEEQG6IVE.