In which I upgrade my sticky-note to-do list method.
Always on the quest to perfect the ultimate, most fabulous to-do list, I have an update for you. Do you mind?
Just so you know, I am not pushing this method — only offering it if your note-taking temperament happens to line up with mine — that you gravitate towards little notes scattered all over, tend to find notebooks too commitment-y, and find that an archive of admonitions to go to the bank rather burdensome.
If you love your bullet journal, you can keep your bullet journal!
In January, when peak efficiency in to-do list making seems like the most pressing task on earth (to be put on the list, perhaps?), I posted about my brilliant (for me!) system of Simplifying your To-Do List With Sticky Notes.
In that excellent post — with its stellar advice about having only three things on your to-do list for any given day — I lamented thusly:
I was picturing a small spiral-bound photo album, the pages of which are practically laminated. You don’t want too many pages, though, because that’s too much pressure to multiply the tasks! We have enough tasks as it is. But I couldn’t find what I was looking for.
If only I could find such a thing!
As happens to me very often — does this happen to you? — when I have something particular in mind, and simply can’t find it out in the world, it’s because I already have it.
It’s just a matter of finding where I stashed it.
In this case, this elusive thing I was describing was in fact in my closet on my “gift stash” shelf. I have maybe looked at it a thousand times, and it has never quite passed muster as a gift.
But as a task notebook, it’s just exactly right! The proof that I’m sadly deficient as a blogger is that this perfect item is apparently not made anymore; at least, I can’t find it online anywhere. A million apologies.
It’s about 8 1/2″ by 6″. It will fit in my purse or a tote; it can sit on the table and not take up too much room. It opens completely. The covers are very stiff and sturdy. The pages are card stock and there aren’t too many of them.
Here it is by a teacup for scale:
As soon as I saw it and made the connection, I put it into use. First, I transferred the tabs and my extant notes (you can see all the details about tabs and such in this post).
I knew I had to cover it. Obviously.
A) it’s white. I think we all know how that will go.
B) I have this stash of pretty papers (yes, those are ziploc bags full of Christmas cards of yesteryear, because, stash):
And this one of cards and other notebook-facilitating items:
Some people put inspirational quotes in their notebooks. Usually I don’t want words, I want a picture. Old cards are great for this sort of thing — somehow, the little visual that someone sends you is so comforting and often so beautiful that you want to keep it, but it’s a card, you know — you’re supposed to let go of those little ephemera, lest they clutter up your life.
Mod Podge to the rescue! Even the name — mod (if it has to say it’s mod, it probably isn’t, right?) and podge (sounds… stodgy or something) — seems dumb, but it’s a really useful way of getting things glued up and laminated with very little fuss. This way, that little image or design can be popped on a notebook or a little tin or box and brighten things up.
{By the way, this is not a sponsored post. But the links to Amazon are affiliate links — I get a little cash when you buy using the link — thanks!}
Anyway, I wanted something inspiring, and I do love this little toddler Jesus, as un-PC as he is. I mean, little blue-eyed Jesus, you aren’t sacred art but you are really, really cute and loving. I think he’s worth putting on my notebook… so I did it.
A paper-cutter is very handy. The Florentine paper is just wrapping paper I picked up one day at Marshall’s. It doesn’t quite go but this is my very own little notebook. I can have what I want!
Method: A coat of Mod Podge, stick paper on, dry; give another coat, stick on the image, dry; spread all well with one more coat, dry well. Very sturdy, very wipe-able, very non-peelable. (Don’t you hate it when corners start popping up? Ugh.)
Since implementing my system in the winter, I have a nice stash of post-its going.
I keep the main supply near my desk and also some in the kitchen. But there is a little supply here at the back of my notebook (including some random advertising ones that always seem to appear — and that work just fine), which I keep contained by means of a strip of card stock which I glued to form a pocket:
My main to-do’s are on the first page:
They include actual “go to the bank” style notes and then, on the bottom, my “work order” ones — for ongoing projects, to keep the tasks in view.
For instance, let’s say you are re-painting the bathroom, a project that will take two or three days overall, and also prepping the auction booklet for the school. You’d want a post-it for each project, labeled as such, with the main tasks listed. That way you don’t have to keep going over and over what has to be done, in your poor little sieve of a mind (well, speaking for myself).
If it’s a really big project with many steps, just use a page elsewhere in the notebook.
On the facing page, inside the front cover, I have my prayer lists (including novena intentions). (I’ve sort of blotted the names to protect the victims. You are on there.) One note has intentions for Samaritan Ministries, because this medical-cost sharing group that I belong to asks you to pray for each other — such a wonderful idea!
So when I open my notebook to tend to my to-do’s, my prayer list is right there. I do recommend, if you find figuring out what to do each day difficult, taking your notebook to prayer with you. Just put it all before God and ask Him what He thinks you should do. Then, write down what seems fitting to you.
If little thoughts occur to me, I might scribble them down (like I did on that Pilgrim note).
I’ve found that if I have a thought I’d like to write more about, I need to jot it down. It’s not so much that I will forget, but I will sort of keep having it and being super impressed with it each and every time, which gets silly.
If it turns out to be a truly worthwhile idea, I transfer it to an index card and file it away. That is why I do have some index cards in that stash at the back of my notebook. Most of my cards have quotes from good resources on them, though. If you’ve ever attended a talk I’ve given, you’ve seen these index cards in all their glory, because I am not super in control of my thought process!
Just to peruse another area of the notebook, here is my “book” page. I have a real outline and draft on my computer, but ideas will pop up when I’m trying to figure out whether to mow or vacuum first, so I need this page. As I transfer ideas to the manuscript, I throw away the post-it.
Some of you asked something like, “Well, what about all the other tasks — other than those three or five that you do each day?” That all goes in my “tomorrow” section — anything and everything that occurs to me that needs to be done, ever. Just don’t put it on today’s list!
So there you have it. And now life should be perfect, right?
The post In which I upgrade my sticky-note to-do list method. appeared first on Like Mother Like Daughter.
