So since I have discussed my night time journaling routine, I've added a few things to my daily and weekly writing time. In fact, I feel like I have added so much that I can't even keep up with it. Some of these things include a thinking notebook, a commonplace book, my morning pages, my night time journaling, Franklin daily pages for notes, my affiliate notebook and my book for jogging down quick notes.
Not all of these books are used every day, but it's a lot of writing regardless. Let me break each of them down into what I use them for and then I will discuss my thoughts.
Thinking Notebook: This is used strictly for brainstorming - it's like the rough draft of thinking before the "hard copy". I've mainly seen it used in projects, which is what I would use it for too, because my other forms of writing are all in other books. Other than my gardening project (which I haven't even started yet by the way), I don't really have any other projects on the go so I haven't gotten much use out of this book yet. The only thing I've used it for was a brain dump, where I literally just wrote everything down that I had to do in list form - it took four pages. Other forms of thinking I enjoy are mind mapping (having one main topic, and then branching out into other ideas or possibilities), and random word association. This one can be difficult but really opens up your mind. Regardless of the spreads you create, or how you write, this book is meant to be messy and dirty.
Commonplace Book: In the old days, this was probably the one and only book people carried around with them. Anything and everything would go into this one book. (Consolidation - something I would like to do with all my books, but more on this later!) It was used as a place for critical thinking and evaluation, inspiration, thinking and copying down quotes. It could also be used for daily jot notes - basically all of the writing you would do in one day. I use mine if I read a book and I want to take a quick note. Maybe quotes that I like or find interesting, or notes from a podcast or YouTube video. It could contain all the information that I want to retain, or an idea that I want to explore in more detail at a later time.
Morning Pages: I write these in a field notebook that fits nicely in my travellers notebook from Planner Perfect. I like having this on me at all times, because I can write at any time, although I generally do these in the morning. Morning pages have become a form of meditation for me, and I read about them in the book The Artist's Way. They are considered to be three pages of stream of consciousness writing that generally takes 30-60 minutes every morning. They are supposed to be written before coming into contact with another human, or any form of media including books, tv or social media. Personally, my writing can take anywhere between one hour and five. I have a busy family, so I'm usually not alone when I'm writing these pages, and I don't follow the rules. I actually enjoy watching other YouTube channels while I'm writing - generally about planning. This writing is exactly what it states - you write down exactly what comes into your head as you think it. (So it can really be on absolutely anything).
Night Time Journaling: I have been trying to get back to my regular journal ever since I started all these other types of writing. I used to keep one journal, and it used to be written in at night time as a recap for all the days' events. Now I'm either too busy to write in it, or too tired. My goal was to write in it every night with a cup of sleepy time tea before bed as a way to relax my mind and prepare for bed, but this is still a work in progress.
Franklin Dailies: I keep my planner open beside me all day and I continually look at it so I can check off tasks as I complete them. On the right side of my task list is a blank notes page. Sometimes I will use this to add reminders to my day, and sometimes my list is so long that I will continue it on this page. Other times, I might have notes from an important phone call and I will write them on the day I received the call so that I can refer to it later. The one thing I need to start doing is to write any important notes as a reference onto my index page for later filing/referencing. Any information on this page is usually taken care of on that day. If not, I add it to my index or elsewhere in my planner where I think it belongs. It's really more of a working notes page.
Affiliate Book: I was using my Daisy Book from Planner Perfect for this. I am an affiliate with multiple different companies (you can refer to my website at www.sandradahl.ca to see who I work with), but whenever there would be an affiliate call or zoom, I would take notes in this book. Lately, these calls have become less and less so I find I don't use it much - maybe this means I don't need to use it as such and it can be repurposed?
Quick Notetaking Book: This is also in my travellers notebook from Planner Perfect. I use another field book for song lists, grocery lists and anything else I want to write down in a quick moment. I use this weekly, and I've gone through quite a few field books. This book is completely scratch and I usually throw it out once I've completed one.
MY THOUGHTS:
As with my planning, I wish there was a simple way to consolidate everything. Part of me loves the idea of having one book for all planning needs, and one notebook for all of my notes. But, is it sensible? For example, if you were to split one book up into multiple sections, what if you finished one section faster than another (which is always bound to happen), and then you now have two books on the go?
One train of thought that having one book would make things simpler, but I think it would also make things more difficult to find information that you're looking for, especially if it's crammed to the brim with your entire life, thoughts and notes. So...what to do?
If you have ideas or thoughts on this topic, please let me know! I would love to hear what you do in your own daily and weekly practices!
Thanks so much for reading and we'll see you next week!
Sandra
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