One of the things that I am planning to nerd out about more on my professional website (when I finally get that sucker done) is productivity and such, but I had some personal revelations recently that felt more at home here.
First, to catch you up on all that is Bill, here are a few things to know about me that bring context to all of this:
- I am a systems freak. I love thinking about systems, optimizing systems, tweaking systems … to a fault. I revisit how I will manage my to-do list at least once a month. I have been doing freelance digital work for a decade and this is the first year that feels like I am settling in to how I organize the file system on my computer. When I daydream, it’s about this stuff at least half the time.
- I’m a bullet journaler. Perhaps you have not seen this thing online, but for the past year, I have been managing my life using a notebook. Which seems weird for a guy who spends all day on a computer, but there you you go. (Don’t know what a bullet journal is? BulletJournal.com has got you covered. The video is pretty much the whole deal.)
- I’m not one of THOSE bullet journalers. Something happened where all of a sudden a bunch of very artsy folks started doing calligraphy, and pictoral themes, and using 100 colors of pens, and sketching, and building “spreads” that they share on instagram and YouTube. I have no issue with this approach – if it works for you, go nuts – but since I was using this for work and trying to keep my life in order, my pages are pretty much a bunch of words in one color pen.
I Rarely Expect YouTube to Change My Life, but…
I am just wrapping up another notebook because I have filled its pages. (Yes, it is a total bummer that I am starting a new notebook mid-November … Jan 1 would have been great, but what are you going to do?) And so I have been thinking about the system of this thing, how am I going to optimize this to better be efficient and stuff.
The biggest issue as I am getting ready to prep my next notebook for duty? I was feeling badly that the past few weeks have become “messy” in my notebook. I have some scattered pages where I am thinking through things. Two weeks ago, I just grabbed two pages, made a list of all my work projects, and sketched out the next steps for each project. My previous pattern of two pages to plan my week and one or two pages per day was shot. It was a mess.
Thank God I found this video, by Austin Kleon, author of Steal Like an Artist and Show Your Work. He’s kind of hawking a product, and you don’t have to watch it if you don’t want to, but the part that really spoke to me is when Austin starts going through different notebooks and sketchbooks at about 10 minutes in (and it goes all the way to the end)
Not to get all Zen, but Be Present Now
It was about halfway through this video that I noticed my emotions spiking. My heart (soul? brain? pick your favorite organ/metaphor/whatever) was resonating with some of these ideas. “A great place to have bad ideas … ” “This page has everything I love … ordered lists, unordered lists, sketches, and thumbnails…”
I suddenly had some compassion for myself and my messy journal pages. I wasn’t here to serve the journal, rather it was here to serve me. In fact, the more I thought about it, the greatest value I get from my journal is in the moment — the pages I created for organizing my work projects? They gave me the perspective I needed, I processed that information onto task lists and project notes, and then those pages had much less value to me. When I journal about a problem or issue, I usually arrive at a conclusion and then those pages are just reference material.
What I am just now starting to consider is adding art, doodles, and more to my pages – because, frankly, I could really use some art and poetry in my life. And if I can find ways to be present in the moment, I can use this simple tool — this amazingly flexible tool — to stay in that moment. I can be who I am and do what needs doing, regardless of whether or not that is “efficient”.
Could this maybe be about more than the notebook?
The reality is that I am still contending with who I really am, and recovering from the false notion that I must either be a man who is most like an engineer – organized, methodical, and monochrome – or I can be like an artist with messy edges, all the colors of the rainbow, and ever diverging thoughts.
Of course, this is ludicrous. Yet, my thoughts always feel squeezed into one of these two boxes. And although that is appropriate some times (I’d rather that I didn’t organize my code like a creative collage!), the reality is that who I am, who most of us are, is a lovely blend of right brain, left brain, and a whole lot more. And I am trying to find as many ways as I can to not only recognize that fact – to celebrate that fact.
And so, for now, this is centered in my little notebook. A private space where I can be me in whatever capacity that needs to be.
I can’t wait to start that notebook.
