Why I Don't Use a Notes App

I believe in keeping things simple.  If I'm out and I need to quickly jot a note using my smartphone it is generally for one of two purposes:

1 to remind me to do something.
2 to record a piece of information that I will need again at a later date.

In both these scenarios I need the note to quickly and seamlessly integrate into my organisation system.  Too many different places for storing this kind of information is a guaranteed way to forget something.  I have not, therefore, found a use for a dedicated note taking app.

If the note I need is to remind me to do something it goes straight into my task management app.  If the information is something relevant to a meeting or other scheduled event, it goes straight into the notes section of the appointment on my calendar app.  If it is reference material for any other purpose I find it best to email myself the information.  From there I can file it properly when I process my email (an essential regular habit).  It can go into the appropriate email folder, I can print it out and add it to a physical file, or I can store it whatever other place is going to be the best end point for the information.

Where the information ends up is much more important that what I used to record it.  This means the method of recording it needs to be simple, quick, and easy to integrate within other systems.  While I've seen a lot of cool functionality on note taking apps each one I've tried seems to be adding another step or another whole system into my existing system, therefore complicating things instead of streamlining.

Whether using pen and paper, one of the strategies I've mentioned here, or a note taking app if you still prefer, the important thing is that the information gets into your system quickly and seamlessly.

How do you best capture thoughts or information on the go?

Are You Ready for the Storm?

When rough weather is coming the safest strategy for a ship is to drop anchor.  This may seem a strange idea.  Wouldn’t it be better to try and outrun the storm?  Or power through it to quickly get out the other side?  The captain knows, however, the storm is a part of life at sea.  He can't avoid it.  He also knows the anchor won’t save the ship from getting thrown about as the waves heave and crash, and there may be some damage as a result.  Why the anchor, then?  It secures the ship so that once the storm has passed it has not been blown off course.

Good organisational processes are like the anchor in our lives.  A good system won’t always prevent “bad days” where circumstances beyond your control throw one of life’s storms at you.  These  days are a part of life, and no matter how organised you are there are many factors in life which are simply beyond your control.  Without this anchor last minute meetings called by your boss, computer failure, illness and more can all be enough to throw you off course. When a crazy day hits, however, you need to know where your safety line is.  This is why the anchor is so important.

Good organisation is more than just remembering things, it is knowing how to process the large amount of information entering your life.  You need a system which will keep everything on track even when things go haywire.  When a “storm” descends, you need to know you can trust your system to keep all your current plans and paperwork in place, but also take on board the new information and changes life brings your way.  When the storm hits you want to know the anchor is ready.  It will be difficult to untangle the rope when you are having to hold the railing so the storm doesn't pitch you overboard.

Good systems and process for organising your work can prevent the self-inflicted stormy days, but when things beyond your control go wrong it is the anchor which ensures you can quickly regain your bearings and be back on course.  How is your anchor?

Getting Organised at Home

(or "How to Conquer the Paper Mountain and Reclaim a Sense of Order in your Life)

Ever heard the adage “a place for everything, and everything in it’s place”? It is often cited as the key to good organisation, but I disagree. Getting organised begins one step back. It begins with properly understanding why you have the “thing” in your possession in the first place.

Much of the clutter around us isn’t because we don’t have a place for it.  The reason runs a little deeper.  Once we understand this reason the solution is not as difficult as you might think.

To illustrate the point, consider this common example.  You may have a bills file for bills waiting to be paid. On your desk, though, are a couple of particularly urgent bills. You’ve chosen to keep them on your desk as a visual reminder of their importance, worried that if they’re in the bills folder they’ll be too easy to forget. 

The trouble is, once you get more than a few of these visual reminders lying around they begin to compete with your brain for your attention.  You start to feel overwhelmed because there is so much to do, and it is all sitting there screaming at you “Do me! I’m here because I’m important and I NEED TO BE DONE!”

Often they can’t be done right now, and this adds to the stress. The bills are sitting there because you’re waiting for pay day so the money is there to use to pay the bills. So, the clutter pile continues to grow, along with the guilt and worry that comes with so much undone work staring you in the face.

A good organisational system does have a place for things, but many tips for organising concentrate on “what” the thing is instead of “why” you need to keep it.

Training your brain to firstly think “why” instead of “what” is the key to keeping on top of paperwork, email, memos, post it notes, and the many other varied forms of information that come to us each day.

What you need to get organised

Organising your life does not need to cost a lot of money.

You basically need a diary / calendar, a notepad, and a place where you can easily file things (filing cabinet, expander cases, whatever, but it needs to have a fair bit of room).

You also need a physical place to store new, incoming material. It might be a basket, or a plastic “in-tray”, but don’t just use a bench top. Use something which contains things rather than spreads.

How to make it work

First, let’s look at what normally happens when some new material enters our lives.

1. we do a quick scan
2. if it is immediately identified as rubbish we chuck it out
3. if we’re not sure if it is useful or not we put it somewhere to remind us to think about it
4. it gets lost in the “think about” pile (or worse, one of many think about piles)

Now let’s look at a more productive approach.

 

Rule up the first page of your notepad as a contents page. This is your “to-do” tracker.

In creating a contents page don’t use headings like “bills”, “assignments”, “housework”. Instead organise your to-dos by location, the places you are when you do things. Some fairly common ones would be “office”, “shops”, “home”. You will probably add others. For example if you are a student you might add locations such as “library”, “computer”, etc.

If you have small sticky-note tabs, you may find this an even easier way of marking the pages, rather than a contents page. Some people find the tabs get in the way, it is a personal choice. So long as you can easily locate each of the "place" pages.

You are now all ready for a more productive approach to that same new material arriving:

1. deal with it now, or put it in your in-tray to open and think about later.
2. when you deal with it now, or retrieve it from your in tray, if it is obviously junk then chuck it out
3. if you think you need it, ask “why”

Is it for future reference or interest? File it. This may be a file called “interesting things to read some time”, or it may have a more specific file such as “Receipts for tax time”.

If it isn’t just reference but requires you to act on it in some way either do it now or put it into your to do tracker, on the "place" page which refers to where you need to be to do something about it.

If it must be done on a particular date (eg an appointment) put it on your calendar.

When you write a to do or appointment, record relevant info such as phone numbers or reference numbers OR jot a quick note reminding yourself where you’ve filed the paper so you can quickly grab it in the morning when you leave.

Once you’ve defined what needs to happen, and where or when it needs to happen, you can safely file the original piece of paper, secure in the knowledge it won’t be forgotten about.

Each time you go to the office, shops, library, or whatever other common locations you are now using for organising to do items, quickly skim the page of your notebook to see what other things you can get done while you’re there.

Once a week have a quick skim of all the locations in your notebook, to see if anything urgent should be planned for in your calendar. Also have a quick look through the next fortnight of your calendar, to see if anything needs to go in your to do tracker (eg. a birthday party coming up, so add "buy present for Greg's party" to the shops page).

While this article has mainly focused on paper work you can just as easily organise your email inbox, text messages and more by asking the questions “Why?”, “Where?” and “When”, then adding things into your to do tracker or calendar.