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Jet's Thoughts

My Everything Book

Do you have a kitchen “junk drawer?” You know, that drawer that collects all those doodads and extra thingummies that you might need someday, but have nowhere really to put them?

That’s as close as I can come to describing my Everything Book.

I guess it’s a little bit more than that, because my Everything Book gets, well, everything.

I learned to keep a time log when I started my first job as a staff accountant. I used a steno pad, and it worked great for tracking my time, which of course I had to report to my employer so he could charge for my services. And of course, I carried it with me at all times to log my time.

I just decided I would use my time tracking pad to keep everything – time, ideas, notes from classes, everything.

I tried a smaller notebook to slip in my purse, but smaller didn’t work for me. I tried letter sized, but it was just too much to carry, and I would forget to take it with me. Then I found the eco-friendly 6 X 9.5 spiral bound college ruled notebook (and got a bigger purse.)

It’s with me all the time. I put everything in it, which means I can find stuff. Yes, it’s a jumble of time, quotes, ideas, questions, dreams, expenses, anything and everything that I manage to put down on paper.

I can always transfer information to another, more orderly place if I need to, or want to.

It’s more than a journal because it has everything in it. It doesn’t have to make sense, sometimes not even to me. But it DOES save the planet, and my house, from numerous sticky notes I may or may not be able to find later. Oh yeah, it’s got a pocket page if I DO need to grab a note!

Everything in one place. When I scroll through, looking for some item, I revisit all those random thoughts and pieces of information, that help me remember to enjoy and value every day.

And it sometimes unlocks me from a static position, because it is not meant to be beautiful or orderly. Like the kitchen junk drawer, it’s that place that’s allowed to be messy, disorganized, and hold things that may or may not be useful later.

Cool, huh?

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5 replies on “My Everything Book”

Thanks, Jet. No matter how many fancy schmancy time management systems I try, I always end up with some sort of variation on the notebook you use. There’s something about seeing things in my own writing, in unsorted “brain order” that is really pleasing and grounding. Thanks for talking about yours! I’ll still keep my time management system (David Allen’s “Getting Things Done”) but I now have the courage to keep my own “out of the lines” method that’s allllll mine!

Thanks, Marilyn!

Yes, I keep my Intent Planner, too – yes, designed and created by me!

That’s the whole point – try out methods until one works for you, and if it’s not “quite right” then redesign it! It won’t work unless it works for you…..

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