I’ve been collecting notebooks for a long time now, and it’s a problem. The number of paper notebooks I am currently in the middle of filling is crazy. The number of unused notebooks is also disturbing. Doing a some looking around I’ve been able to find a lot of people out there with similar interests.
Here’s the deal, notebooks allow some of us to try and take control of this otherwise out of control world. There is a lot going on around us, and cateloging and remembering it for later allows us to put it out of our brain.
One of my favorite lines from the brand of notebooks, Field Notes, has a credo:
I’m not writing it down to remember it later, I’m writing it down to remember it now
Or for me, I’d say: I’m writing it down so I’m not forced to commit this information to memory. Funnily enough, when I write something down I often remember it and don’t even need to look at the mote later.
I’ve recently started a process of downsizing. I’ve been living in too big a space for me and my dog, and we are in the process of getting used it. One of the conversations I’ve been having with family that has been helping me is around the display of my notebooks. The arguement is that I don’t need them everyday so they should’t have prominent space. I disagree. I love the idea that I can look up to a easily accessable shelf. I’m very interested to read the notes and thoughts I had in the past. Sometimes these notes will spark a new idea or thread for me. Sometimes they will remind of something that I forgot a while ago. Either way, they serve as inspiration for me.
This blog is like a notebook. I’ve been posting on here for years. Most of it personal, but every once in a while I’ll go through and find a technical post about something I’m particullarly proud of learning, even if I forgot about it.
So, what’s the point? I guess the point is that I have found tools that work for me, notebooks. Those tools actually don’t work for the rest of my family and they don’t understand why I do what I do. That’s okay, not everyone works the same way. Find your tools and don’t be afraid to use them the way that works best for you.