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Don’t forget your notebook

They’re cheap.  They don’t always look very pretty.  You can even get some with a yellow hue!  (And even if you don’t, but you leave them for too long, they develop a yellow hue of their own.)  Richard Branson swears by them - he used his to research for all his published books.  And Dave Allen recommends them.  (Or he would if Palm Pilots weren’t invented…) 

Notebooks.  Pieces of paper bound together for you to write on.  What should you write?

  1. Everything you say you’ll do.  In order to be your word, you have to know what you gave your word to.  The more games you are playing in life, the more things you will be giving your word to.  Want to take on more and complete it all with integrity?  Give your word, write it down, do it.
  2. Planning structures for fulfillment.  Have a project in mind?  Jot down the end goal, brainstorm all the tasks that would need to be completed between now and the end goal, set dates by when the tasks will be completed and you have a structure for fulfillment. 
  3. Making lists.  Shopping lists, to-do lists, people to call, emails to type, etc.  Helps you batch like-activities together and saves time.
  4. Brain dump.  Anything that’s on your mind doesn’t exist until it’s down on paper - get it down on paper and make it real.  Once it’s down, it frees your mind to think about something else.

Six cents each at the Big W sales at the start of the school year.  Get one.  It’s worth it.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 4th, 2009 at 2:38 AM and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.

3 Responses to “Don’t forget your notebook”

  1. Hok Says:
    February 7th, 2009 at 2:12 PM

    Very true. I carry mine around, and jot down all the ideas I have for my world-dominating AI.

    Given enough conceptual ideas worked out,
    I could rule the world, single handedly.

    On my other hands,
    would be my trusty notebook.
    and my EeePC.

    If I have led you to believe that I have three hands, I don’t really.
    It was my cunning ploy to include one further item which could also be considered as a notebook.
    Okay, i’ll stop now.

  2. Marita Cheng Says:
    February 9th, 2009 at 3:43 PM

    Dear Hok,

    I am intrigued as you say that you ‘could rule the world, single-handedly’ before we read further and find that you actually may have three hands, which you then proceed to deny.

    You have an interesting character. Nurture that and you will never be bored.

    Marita :)

  3. Hok Says:
    February 14th, 2009 at 7:10 PM

    I am never bored.

    Only,
    at times,
    I’m lost for what I should be doing.