Think Everywhere
Think Everywhere
I’ve carried notebooks for nine-plus years because I am obsessive, forgetful, and have a lot of ideas that can’t wait. If you’re the same way and haven’t found a system like Seven Yrs yet, here are some ways to record your thoughts on the go.
Pt. 1 - Embark & Express
Get a pocket-sized notebook and a good pen.
I mean, yeah, that’s pretty much it: find a template you can work with indefinitely. I get this notebook in-store at CVS, this backup notebook from Amazon, and this pen from most anywhere. If you want to look into other options:
“Pocket-sized” means 3x5” or smaller. You don’t want to think about carrying another thing and it’s nice to whip one out and tuck back in with ease (don’t start with me).
If you need words, get plain lined paper; if you like to draw more, get blank. Cute corners and colors distract me. And if you like grids—what the fuck?
Get a pen with a secure clip. Nothing worse than being disarmed, and unless you’re in a bank or a school, it’s hard to find a free spare.
Secure thy notebook.
If you don’t carry a bag or would rather keep it in your pocket, go to the hardware store and get grip tape, or as the boomers call it, 2” slip resistant tread. Cut a strip and apply it to the back of your book. I’ve lost maybe two notebooks in nine years.
Do whatever you want.
Working out ideas doesn’t hit the same on phones—solutions take mess and I like seeing the process. Moreover, notebooks unplug you from the internet and they never run out of battery.
Draft, remind, scribble, report, fantasize. Unlike a planner or a diary, there are no rules* to your second brain.
Personalize it. Make each notebook yours.
Art doesn’t matter much, does it? You can’t drink it or build a roof with it; you’re not guaranteed safety or approval through it. But for those who make, however “bad” it may be, it’s just something you need to do. I need to make stupid inside jokes with myself and beautiful things for nobody else.
Plus if you’re going to haul this habit for years, you’re gonna wanna differentiate between hundreds of books.
If you have paraphernalia that you’d like to cleanly shred and collage, besides hands and scissors, I recommend from any arts and crafts store or online:
Utility knife/box cutter
Double-sided tape generally
Quick dry tacky glue for fancy cases
I like the wear and tear of a book in use, but if you want to protect your cover, there’s extra wide clear tape. And if you’re okay with me changing your life, get a cork back steel triangle to cut straight lines against. How are nonslip 90° angles not the norm????
Now if collage is not your bag, there are stickers, markers, stamps, paint etc. Quick easy fun will free us!
Pt. 2 - Collect & Cross Off
*When I said there are no rules, I didn’t say you couldn’t make some.
This part’s not for everyone; it took me nearly eight years to adopt these schemes. If you’re just getting used to recording on the go, stop here and collect $200. If you’re documenting e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g, enjoy the unfettering of articulation!
But if you’ve been swimming in your stream of consciousness for a while and you know there are rocks and lumps and whales to catch if you could just find them—there are nets. Organize and pinpoint what is most valuable to you, then actually cash in.
MAKE A rolling to-do LIST.
Your notebooks can hold your masterplans, one week at a time. This is best paired with a yearlong workflow housed in a steamy spreadsheet. Illustrator Lisa Congdon gets the credit with her online class Workflow, Time Management and Productivity for Creatives. If you don’t have spare lunch money and less than three hours, here’s the short of this:
Before you start your week, write everything you want to do on one page. Divide the week over the next three pages with “FRIDAY” and “WEEKEND” on the last.
Allot your priorities every two days/one page at a time. If you write what you’ll do every day at once, you’ll inevitably fall behind and get overwhelmed, you human you.
If you don’t finish everything each day, don’t trip, just roll. Anything that doesn’t get completed rolls onto the next day, so try not to pack days too tight.
Save a section on each page for future and surprise to-dos (see dotted line above “WEDNESDAY”). Unless it has to be done ASAP, don’t throw your game off with antsy randomness.
Chances are you won’t get every task done this week or next week or in one and a half years. But you will get more done and you will gain a better grasp of how long it takes to do things. For me, all of it takes FOREVER, but I’m here, forevers later. We’ll survive.
COLOR CODE THE LOT.
All those rainbows on the sides? That, my friend, are neuroses, but they’re pretty and I flip back to them all the time. Get a ten-set of page markers and go to town on your fixations.
Keep a color key on your back cover. While you think it’ll stay the same, there’ll be colors you’ll use up frequently, so you may want to switch colors around to use all that paper.
The right side represents more crucial projects; the left side, smaller shits and giggles. When I bend the markers behind the pages, I find the saturations between certain colors to be too similar (see below), so I like to split pinks, purples, and blues across the aisle.
Don’t get carried away with labeling every thought. Just hit the ones you may return to.
This really is the least portable tip as how are you supposed to cart around little pads? If you don’t have a pencil case or a tiny tupperware, I say dog-ear the pages and code at home. I tried sticking library pockets on the books and even that was too anal for me. If you figure out something better, let me know ✧ಠ◡ಠ
keep interest categories in the back.
While color coding thoughts as they come doesn’t disrupt your flow, thumbing through pages to find that movie you wanna see does.
The last four pages of every notebook is for things I want to hear, watch, buy, and read, and sometimes I add my grocery list. Makes it super easy to pick up any notebook and find something I haven’t consumed yet. James Blake and Jack Black would be sick by the way.