My thoughts on Bringing Order to Lives of Notes (click to read NY Times article) by Farhad Manjoo.
This is an interesting article that highlights the realities of today whether you’re a college student, a top executive or a stay at home mom. We are all in need of ‘jotting down a quick note’ whether it is a phone number, a reminder or a to do. How do you take your quick notes? Sticky notes? One sheet of paper that never ends and you can’t tell the top from the bottom? Do you write on your hand (I’m cringing)?
This article offers various technology opportunities whether you have a mac or pc or plan to switch. As a devout pc user, I’ve used OneNote and found it to be “fun”. I didn’t find it to be very useful on an everyday level. I’m a paper person. Call me old fashion or maybe it was my first career working at Mead (where I learned to love envelopes, notebooks and all things paper) but I prefer pen and paper. I love a good to do list to keep my mind organized. There’s great satisfaction with taking a pen and drawing a straight line through the task you just completed – the level of satisfaction is not as great for me when my reminders are on a screen and I can either format the text with a strike-through or delete the words. There is something about the motion of crossing out words with a pen in my hand that I love. In college I would make to do lists for each day so detailed it would literally include wake up, shower, and so on. It was a little victory every time I got to cross something off – even if it was to just wake up! And so for me, the power of the paper and pen will likely never be completely replaced with technology.
Blog
Make dinner
Go to bed
For more organizing information:
Why is it important to be organized.
Multi-tasking Helps Organization.
Subscribe via RSS
Can you recommend a way to compile all of the notes? Mine end up on receipts or whatever I can quickly grab! Then I have multiple lists .. help!!!
One trick is to be consistent. When you write a note to yourself always put it in the same place – maybe it’s a pocket in your purse or you hang it on the fridge. If you know where to go to find your note (even if you can’t remember what the note says) you’ll always know what it is you have to do, to buy, to call, etc. Another trick so you don’t end up writing notes on receipts or other papers you’ll need later, keep various notepads throughout the house with a pen. When you need to write something down – you can. Just make sure you put the the note in the same place so you can find it later. Hope this helps! Great question.