Journal Entry (Thursday January 26, 2023)
I have literally been trying to get organized my entire life. I have found it a frustrating endeavor because I have never been satisfied with any method I have come up with. Perhaps I am slightly OCD, there is little doubt in my mind actually, but I will let you be the judge of that after you have read what follows — if you can force yourself to wade through this. Please keep one thing in mind, I have been working on trying to get to this place my entire life, I’m actually very happy with where I am.
The approach I have come up with consists of three daily carry notebooks. You’re probably thinking that I must be crazed, hang in there, they are not large. Each notebook is 5” x 8” and only 64 pages total, so quite thin. I carry them together in a waxed canvas field journal (Lochby). Besides holding the three notebooks, the field journal also carries my debit card, credit card, library cards and identification. Everything in one place, very convenient, and it goes everywhere.
Now that we are over that hurdle, we can talk specifically about the three notebooks. Each one has a purpose. The first notebook is the “Daily Log/Plan”. When I sit down first thing in the morning and think about my day, I can make notes in this book about what needs to be accomplished. Pretty straightforward. The nice thing though is if I don’t complete everything that day, I can look back the next day, or even the next week, and pick up missed items (assuming they are still important). The second notebook is the “System Tracking and Goals” notebook. This is the heart of my tracking and recording. This notebook is organized by week. Each week has a double-page spread for daily routine tasks, allowing these to be checked off at the end of the day, There is also a double-page spread for projects that I want to work on during that week. I also have pages in this notebook to record payments, spending, and upcoming events. The third notebook is simply for capturing thoughts and ideas while on the go, these often become prompts for my long-form writing.
The nice thing about making these notebooks carry items is that it allows me to write more freely in my long-form journal, A Leuchtturm 1917 notebook. I don’t clutter the long-form journal with tasks or lists, this notebook is strictly for free-form writing on whatever topic happens to be of interest to me at the moment. When I pick up the long form journal and begin writing, I can clear my mind of the daily detail because I have all of that handled in the three field journal notebooks. As a result of this organization, my long-form writing is a much more satisfying endeavor.
There you have it. I know this is very personal stuff and probably of use to no one but myself. It feels good to write about this because doing so makes me even more satisfied and confident. These techniques help give me a sense of purpose, which I might not otherwise have if I were just living moment to moment with no thought about what I should be doing. That’s just me. If you find this interesting or even useful, so much the better. It has been satisfying and reinforcing for me to share these on this page.
Just to clarify, “slightly OCD” is probably an understatement…