http://unclutterer.com/discuss/tags/notebook The community for people interested in home and office organizing. en-US Mon, 13 Feb 2012 12:52:28 +0000 http://bbpress.org/?v=1.0.2 q http://unclutterer.com/discuss/search.php http://unclutterer.com/discuss/topic/new-herewith-questions/page/2#post-44515 Thu, 19 Jan 2012 23:40:32 +0000 LabbieLady 44515@http://unclutterer.com/discuss/ <p>Thanks, Bandicoot! My daughtr is doing OK...Yesterday was an awful day, but today has been much, much better! :-) </p> http://unclutterer.com/discuss/topic/new-herewith-questions/page/2#post-44445 Thu, 19 Jan 2012 01:49:11 +0000 bandicoot 44445@http://unclutterer.com/discuss/ <p>your daughter has been on my mind, paige.<br /> i am sending healing thoughts, and hope that the worst is behind her. </p> http://unclutterer.com/discuss/topic/new-herewith-questions#post-44443 Thu, 19 Jan 2012 00:53:33 +0000 JayEff 44443@http://unclutterer.com/discuss/ <p>Paige,</p> <p>First and foremost, cut yourself some slack as you deal with the situations involving your daughter, dog, etc.</p> <p>I keep a master to do list in gmail tasks. It is not terribly organized and includes long and short term things to do. I review it regularly and copy onto a piece of paper (any paper) the things that I REALLY intend to do in the next couple of days. (Sometimes, I print out the list and circle the things I REALLY intend to do.)</p> <p>Because the master list is electronic, I do not worry about losing it. Because the list of things I really intend to do is on paper that is in my pocket, I have a good chance of doing those things.</p> <p>Best of luck to you. </p> http://unclutterer.com/discuss/topic/new-herewith-questions#post-44250 Tue, 17 Jan 2012 17:40:27 +0000 chacha1 44250@http://unclutterer.com/discuss/ <p>Hi Paige, and welcome!</p> <p>I too am a multi-list-maker and what worked for me was corralling all my lists into one Notebook of Doom. (The name of which is just because it sounds funny to me, not because I dread doing what's in it.) </p> <p>It's just a simple two-pocket folder from the office-supply store but it holds my calendar, my budget, my address list, my blog-about-this list, my projects list, my ideas-for-future-projects list, my household-chores list, my do-this-for-the-chapter list ... you get the idea. Also bills to pay and messages to respond to.</p> <p>Because there is finite space in the folder I go through it almost every day and try to check at least one thing off at least one list. If a list is nearly completed I copy the last item(s) to a different list and then discard the original. </p> <p>I do NOT keep multiple lists in different places and I have one place to deposit papers for filing.</p> <p>Good luck and stout heart, and best wishes for your daughter. </p> http://unclutterer.com/discuss/topic/new-herewith-questions#post-44214 Tue, 17 Jan 2012 09:51:59 +0000 Mimi 44214@http://unclutterer.com/discuss/ <p>hi paige, and welcome.<br /> the feeling of overwhelm is well know to a lot of us. i´d say: focus on one thing (a box, one shelf or even less) and tackle just this only task or thing, but try to finish it.<br /> concerning your list issues: i´d say: there is no “perfect” [insert] but there is hope: you may take the BEST :-) take a look at all your notebooks and allow yourself to take the best. give away the rest. and focus on this one. use it! don´t think about the next notebook before you used up this one :) </p> http://unclutterer.com/discuss/topic/new-herewith-questions#post-44208 Tue, 17 Jan 2012 07:46:38 +0000 RebeccaL 44208@http://unclutterer.com/discuss/ <p>Paper's my biggest challenge as well, and I agree with luxcat about trying a nice 3-ring binder. Lists on smaller pieces of paper, like the index cards, can be inserted into sleeves. I've tried electronic lists, which I end up printing anyway, and the binder has been the best way (so far) for me to corral all of the loose bits. </p> http://unclutterer.com/discuss/topic/new-herewith-questions#post-44203 Tue, 17 Jan 2012 06:00:34 +0000 Charity 44203@http://unclutterer.com/discuss/ <p>Ninakk, love the idea of an army behind us.</p> <p>I'm amazed by the complicated systems for lists. I have stacks of boring notepads to use up. I keep a long master to-do list on paper, then every night I write an electronic list of what I actually plan to do the next day. It generally goes something like "lunchbox and school runs, go to gym, do x and y errands, feed pets and collect eggs (we have chickens), laundry, kitchen, declutter something and post about it, do x and y for my work/study, take kids to x activity after school, supervise homework and music practce, do x and y off master list" I copy and paste the routine items from day to day. </p> http://unclutterer.com/discuss/topic/new-herewith-questions#post-44200 Tue, 17 Jan 2012 05:02:09 +0000 sleepykitten 44200@http://unclutterer.com/discuss/ <p>@PJ - I second Ella in saying your suggestion to pair reading with actual work is great. Get energized and then DO it!</p> <p>@Paige - I am going to cut you some slack and say that, in my heart, I am sort of a "magic notebook" person. I think it can be very counterproductive to change systems - new notebooks, new online apps, etc. - but it can also re-inspire. Sometimes, when I am not getting anything done, it actually does help me to get a fresh sheet of paper and make a totally fresh list. Or to organize my list in a different manner. That may waste half an hour, but if I then knock out five things, when previously I was an anxious lump curled up in a ball on the floor, then I view that as useful time. The trick, as others have mentioned, is to do the stuff! :)</p> <p>I personally use a combination of Remember the Milk online (not perfect by any means, but I've returned to it after trying other systems), a paper Moleskine weekly planner for calendar items (I prefer this to a digital calendar for some reason), and a stack of 3x5 index cards for brainstorming, shopping lists, and so forth. With Remember the Milk, I tag tasks using "home", "work", and "errand" (sort of a mega-simplified "Getting Things Done" style of task management) and I also have a list that automatically finds any "stale" tasks - tasks that have been on the list and not completed for over two weeks - so that I don't let things linger for months (though sometimes, things still linger, because that's life). </p> http://unclutterer.com/discuss/topic/new-herewith-questions#post-44074 Mon, 16 Jan 2012 01:41:48 +0000 PJ 44074@http://unclutterer.com/discuss/ <p>Thanks Ella! </p> <p>I have had my days of obsessively reading old posts ... still do, when the current threads are a bit quiet. I started at the end and have slowly but surely been working my way to more recent posts. </p> <p>Can we exchange compliments? I'm so impressed by your focus these last couple of weeks as you tackle your closet, but more than that, by the way you know yourself. You've learned from your experience last year and your strategies now are better suited for your own personality and situation. </p> <p>Don't be discouraged by those 4 bags on the floor, btw. And remember that you don't have to tackle them all at once. You could do one bag a week even, for the next 4 weeks! You'll get there eventually, and your closet will be a dream when you do! </p> http://unclutterer.com/discuss/topic/new-herewith-questions#post-44072 Mon, 16 Jan 2012 01:18:14 +0000 Ella 44072@http://unclutterer.com/discuss/ <p>"But lots of time reading about it may be inversely proportional to how much time you spend actually doing it (at least for me it sometimes did!) To turn your web surfing into a tool, pair it up with decluttering. I read a page of a thread, then go find something to toss. Read another page, another item. Read another page, another item. Soon enough, a "wasted" afternoon of surfing turns into a box of donations." </p> <p>PJ: This is such excellent advice, and a very clever way to interweave the reading with the doing. When I first discovered this forum, I would spend most of the day obsessively reading countless old posts plus dozens of recommended blogs and books. I made lists like crazy. And I took the occasional stab at decluttering. But my efforts didn't really amount to much stuff being decluttered, and the habits didn't stick. Two months ago I recommitted to being an unclutterer by using the ATAD thread as my support (or crutch, lol) as well as my inspiration and motivation. I'm finally getting somewhere, and the new habits are beginning to become ingrained. </p> http://unclutterer.com/discuss/topic/new-herewith-questions#post-44062 Sun, 15 Jan 2012 23:48:22 +0000 PJ 44062@http://unclutterer.com/discuss/ <p>Hi LabbieLady and welcome! </p> <p>First off, sympathies on the loss of your dog, and on moving into the "storing up last memories" phase with another. Do make sure you have time to spend on some special moments with him or her, take a photo or two at favourite parks, etc. It's so hard to say good-bye, but so good to give a good dog a good life! </p> <p>As to your original question, I'm not so much of list maker myself. Occasionally I will write a to-do list as a motivational tool when I have a lot to get done, or to help keep track of what there is to do if I'm afraid of forgetting something. But what I have enjoyed is adding to the community's "list" of things uncluttered, through the ATAD thread! (I'm relatively new to posting here myself, but had been lurking for a long time, and would go through phases of keeping a list of all the things I put aside for donation or purged in other ways) That's the kind of list that reflects what you've already done, AND gets stuff out of your house! </p> <p>One other thing, something that struck me from your 2nd post. There is SO much to read here and on other sites that deal with uncluttering, organizing and simple living. You can spend lots of time reading about it, and yes, get ideas of storage containers, good books on the subject, etc. But lots of time reading about it may be inversely proportional to how much time you spend actually doing it (at least for me it sometimes did!) To turn your web surfing into a tool, pair it up with decluttering. I read a page of a thread, then go find something to toss. Read another page, another item. Read another page, another item. Soon enough, a "wasted" afternoon of surfing turns into a box of donations. Or perhaps in your case, with a box from the garage beside your computer, a box uncluttered. </p> http://unclutterer.com/discuss/topic/new-herewith-questions#post-44004 Sun, 15 Jan 2012 16:56:54 +0000 bandicoot 44004@http://unclutterer.com/discuss/ <p>i deal with paper quite efficiently.<br /> i have a filing cabinet, with a system in there that suits me, all labelled and tidy.<br /> i deal with mail once per day and i don't stop until it is all sorted.<br /> i deal with each piece of mail immediately upon opening it : file it, trash it, shred it, respond (phone call/email/reply/make a payment/ mark a calender date/rsvp/whatever next action is required.<br /> i like keeping my desk clear and i like knowing exactly where i can put my hands on documents.<br /> and i am more digital than ever before....i take photos of docs and save to evernote and periodically weed through those too.<br /> to sum up : create a system that suits you, then be consistent about dealing with the inflow. </p> http://unclutterer.com/discuss/topic/new-herewith-questions#post-43989 Sun, 15 Jan 2012 14:22:52 +0000 Lori Paximadis 43989@http://unclutterer.com/discuss/ <p>LabbieLady, I'm a reformed multi-notebooker, but still an unrepentant listmaker. :-)</p> <p>It took me a long time to find an electronic to-do list program I like that works the way I need it to work, but once I did (Things for Mac), it was relatively easy to switch. It just took a while to develop the habit of typing a to-do into the program instead of jotting it on a Post-it. All of my to-do lists are kept there now and sync between my computer and my iPhone and my iPad. You'd have to drag me kicking and screaming back to paper for to-do lists at this point. </p> <p>I'm also trying to use Evernote as a catch-all for things I need/want to remember but aren't really to-do items. I don't use it to its fullest potential yet, although learning more about how to use it is on this year's personal project list. :-)</p> <p>I still keep a spiral notebook on my desk for random jottings, though, and I find that I'm better at brainstorming on paper than on the screen. I had so many notebooks floating around that what I finally had to do was gather them all up and box up all but one to use. When that one was done, I pulled another from the box, and so on -- no buying new notebooks until the ones I had were used up. Now I've settled on IdealBooks from Carolina Pad. They're 6 x 8 or so, a really manageable size, and pretty. </p> <p>The notebook ends up being short-term storage. The one on my desk right now has a note about a musician a friend recommended, a note about my backup stats when I was trying to solve a backup problem a couple days ago (tearing that page out now, since it's no longer relevant), a note with parameters and calculations for a job I did a bid for a few days ago (that will end up transcribed into Things if I get the job; tossed otherwise), and a quick drawing for a jewelry design I want to try out (I'll tear that out and take it up to the studio on my studio day next week).</p> <p>Once a week, when I'm doing my end-of-the-week straightening and paperwork and loose-end-tying-up, I'll flip through the notebook and tear out any outdated pages and transcribe anything that needs to be transcribed into Evernote or whatever. This keeps what's in the notebook to current stuff. </p> <p>We also keep our shopping list on paper, because it's just a lot easier to keep the pad right there in the kitchen for both of us to write on and to grab it when I head out to the store. </p> <p>Welcome, and good luck! </p> http://unclutterer.com/discuss/topic/new-herewith-questions#post-43984 Sun, 15 Jan 2012 14:03:22 +0000 djk 43984@http://unclutterer.com/discuss/ <p>Welcome, labbielady!</p> <p>I get it totally. Notebooks and pens. Lists all over the place. Not wanting to use up pretty notebooks.</p> <p>I do a couple of things around this issue that help:<br /> You have a smartphone--a good app for grocery or other shopping is one list that is easier to manage digitally. I use shopshop. I have multiple lists by shop. So the drugstore has a list , the market with the freshest veggies has a list, etc. You make as many lists as you want and give them their own names, or do it by area of town (heading north? Put every thing on one list for the shops you'll pass.)<br /> So that easily eliminates the grocery and general shopping list.</p> <p>Other lists:<br /> I write tons of lists digitally on the iPhone "notes" app. I delete them as necessary; sometimes they are just a brain dump as I'm commuting or in a café.</p> <p>However, nothing beats the process of fresh paper, a pen which is a pleasure to use, and time to write down one's thoughts, ideas and plans.</p> <p>I collected all my pretty empty books together and periodically will use one to journal. </p> <p>Otherwise, I buy spiral-bound lined notebooks for about 1.50€ (I live in Europe so the size is A4, in N.Amer you'd buy 8 1/2 X 11 size). They have hole-punched, perforated paper. I scribble notes of all kinds in them, from recipes to work ideas to gift ideas for people etc. I keep them all in a magazine file. Some are dedicated to a specific purpose: German class gets its own, soap ideas and body product notes and recipes are in one. Those are stored separately, in the case of my German class, it's stored with previous class notebooks and texts, in their own magazine file in the bookcase. I have magazine files dedicated to soaping manuals.<br /> Big or ongoing projects get their own notebooks which get filled up.</p> <p>Other spiral-bound notebooks are used for everything under the sun. The lists are random. However, you'll probably notice themes--gardening, notes on books, to-do lists, house repairs, vacation planning, PTA meeting notes, New Year's resolutions, etc.<br /> Here's the genius of the hole-punched perforations: you create binders for every topic you typically write lists on. Tear out the list, plop it into its earmarked binder, et voilà! You still have books that are inexpensive/non-intimidating to scribble in, but you can buy<br /> beautiful binders or magazine files to store them decoratively. I recommend purging them routinely though. Lists have a shelf life!</p> <p>I am still working on what to do with the beautiful empty journals I have though! I used to write copious jounal entries and because I did that for years people would present me with lovely books to write in. I've turned one I to a reading journal and one into a wine journal, but there are plenty more to use up. </p> http://unclutterer.com/discuss/topic/new-herewith-questions#post-43977 Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:33:25 +0000 luxcat 43977@http://unclutterer.com/discuss/ <p>maybe a small, thin three ring binder with loose leaf paper in it might allow you to corral all your lists in one spot but still allow for flexibility of putting in new lists and taking old ones out. assign a place in your home (or briefcase, or whatever works best for you) for the binder so it always has a place where you can find it.</p> <p>I am an obsessive list person, but I do mine electronically for the most part. It works for me as I spend much of the day at a computer. I have some health issues that affected my short term memory, and lists are my way of coping with it.</p> <p>I'm very sorry that you lost your dog, all that plus a flood plus an ill daughter sounds overwhelming. Give yourself some time to adjust to all that and don't over-commit yourself to the cleaning up until you feel ready to... or start with ten minutes a day and see how it goes. For me I was quite surprised how a dedicated 10-15 minutes a day makes a big difference. </p> http://unclutterer.com/discuss/topic/new-herewith-questions#post-43976 Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:27:45 +0000 Ella 43976@http://unclutterer.com/discuss/ <p>List-making and list-doing are often two very different things, and it's easy to get distracted and overwhelmed by too many to-do tasks. Whenever I find myself getting stuck at the list-making stage without actually DOING the designated tasks, I try a different approach: </p> <p>The One Thing To-Do List...</p> <p>Write down one thing to do, and only one. Put a check box next to it. Then actually get up and DO that thing. When you're finished, stop and pat yourself on the back. Check off the check box or give yourself a gold star or a cup of tea... whatever, but do be sure to thoroughly congratulate yourself on getting that one thing done.<br /> Yay you!</p> <p>Then write down another one thing... :) </p> http://unclutterer.com/discuss/topic/new-herewith-questions#post-43966 Sun, 15 Jan 2012 12:49:55 +0000 LabbieLady 43966@http://unclutterer.com/discuss/ <p>Great suggestions, everyone...thank you! I appreciate "frankness" (is that a word?!) so no need to hold back with me! :) I know the perfect notebook won't magically make my life all better, but I would like to fine SOME WAY to stick with ONE notebook so that I don't have 15 notebooks/lists scattered throughout my house, car and purse. Last night I could not sleep, so here I was on my iPad, roaming from website to website (it is way too easy to get sucked in at The Container Store!!!) and at the same time making notes on 3x5 cards of all the ideas coming to my head. What to do, what to get at Target, books to read, phone calls to make....etc, etc. So now I have 3-4 new cards of lists. I have tried keeping lists separate, but that just doesn't work for me. </p> <p>I love the idea of ATAD and can't wait to join the thread. To answer a few questions....Military Dad would love to get the stuff out of the garage...but i really do want to do a big purge and there are important papers and such in the piles. If it were up to him, he would just love to throw it all away. He is really good at that! However, there are things I need to hang on to and he's just not aware of what those things are. As for our dog...yes, she was taken care of very well. She was a 15 year old yellow Labrador who had cancer when she was 3.... So I would say she had a great life! 15 is quite old for such a large dog, especially one who had cancer! We knew it was coming and we were all there to say goodbye &lt;3. Unfortunately it looks like we will be saying goodbye to our 16 year old black Labbie soon. Again, something we know is coming, but really hard none the less. Then we will be a 1 dog family (5 yr old yellow girl..last one standing) that is something we haven't had since 2004! </p> <p>Sorry to make this so long. I appreciate you guys reading my posts. I really want to be a better example for my daughter, as I know she feels the same way I do about clutter and CRAP, as we like to cal it :-). I don't want her to go into adulthood lacking the skills that are so important in life (of course she just HAD to take after me, and "Peter perfect" , as I like to endearingly call my husband!</p> <p>Again, thank you! I can't wait to hear from others! </p> http://unclutterer.com/discuss/topic/new-herewith-questions#post-43958 Sun, 15 Jan 2012 11:19:38 +0000 herisff 43958@http://unclutterer.com/discuss/ <p>First things first - take care of your family. Make sure your daughter is healing and has all she needs. Was your dog taken care of satisfactorily? If not, put a closure to those issues (pay the last bills, do the burial, grieve for your pet). Remember, you have all lost a family member.</p> <p>Then do one task a day, whether that's take your daughter to a post-op appointment, pick up a new prescription, etc. Once she's further along the road to healing, you can add more tasks, such as opting out of mail and e-mails, paying bills each day etc. You had a tough December, give yourself a break! You will eventually have the time and energy to do more than one thing a day, at which point you can try decluttering one thing a day (and join the ATAD thread). </p> <p>I don't get too caught up in the list making or having the perfect list. I usually use 3x5 index cards on the fridge. One is for the weekly grocery list (as I run out of things they get added, and items from the weekly grocery flyer). Others are for stores around town or the long-distance errands. </p> <p>I only try to do one or two tasks a day, and those I usually keep in my head (eg laundry, bill pay). As long as I get those one or two things done, I give myself permission to rest the remainder of the day. Over time my backlog went away and the place is looking pretty good now. It doesn't all have to get done at once. </p> http://unclutterer.com/discuss/topic/new-herewith-questions#post-43939 Sun, 15 Jan 2012 08:10:52 +0000 Northshore 43939@http://unclutterer.com/discuss/ <p>Welcome Paige!<br /> You've gotten some excellent advice from Swede and Ninakk.<br /> I was pretty overwhelmed when dealing with insurance and estate issues a couple years ago. (A flood and a health scare added to the load.) Every day I wrote a short (4-5 items) To Do list that I was nearly certain I would do. It kept me moving forward. I'd put the notebooks aside--you can refer to them in a month and make sure you haven't forgotten something important.<br /> Your daughter can help--put her in charge of coupons and let her toss the junk mail every day.<br /> One thing I wish I had done: enlist someone to review the paperwork with me. I missed one deadline and a second pair of eyes would have helped. </p> http://unclutterer.com/discuss/topic/new-herewith-questions#post-43936 Sun, 15 Jan 2012 07:32:04 +0000 ninakk 43936@http://unclutterer.com/discuss/ <p>Welcome!</p> <p>You could pick one priority (same type of things or one room for instance, in your case perhaps a box from the garage at a time) among your stuff and one among your papers (a subscription of magazines, a specific pile of papers or such). You can't do it all at once and still run your daily life at the same time, especially when there are so many emotional things taking their toll, too. It is okay to just sit down and cry about your dog if that's what you want to do or spend precious time with your daughter; those are traumatic events.</p> <p>I've noticed it's easier to deal with decluttering if you don't mix it with cleaning. Either clean or declutter a kitchen drawer but don't do both at the same time; ideally, start by decluttering first and then move on to deep cleaning what is left. Keep everyday routines prioritized over decluttering; it won't happen miraculously that you wake up to a serene home one day, but it's you who has to go through the decisions and emotions of paring down. If everyday chores get done as usual, you'll declutter when you have the extra energy and time for it.</p> <p>It's time for you to move on from making lists to actually crossing off things. Planning is good at times, but it shouldn't give a false sense of achievement, because as is concluded in project management, there is no end product unless there is a time for execution of the assigned tasks, as well. Roughly: value &gt; goal &gt; scope (list of projects to make the goal happen) &gt; plan (tasks on yearly level, monthly and finally weekly levels) &gt; execution &gt; review. Don't plan too far into the future, but be prepared to face changed deadlines etc., so stick with detailed planning only on weekly level. Ideally, sit down once a week to look over the coming week's tasks.</p> <p>And like Swede already said - I'm frank like her too - no magic notebook exists and no existing list will make stuff happen by magic. As you can read in A thing a day etc., it's the result of dedication and hard work. With stress on the word hard; this is a lifestyle change and you're building a solid foundation so it's not meant to happen by the flick of a wand. The new foundation that you build piece by piece, day by day, should not crumble easily during future trials, so it's worth doing a good job while you have a chance to change!</p> <p>Feeling overwhelmed happens to most of us, so don't freak out about it. This isn't for those who are scared of change, who don't have the nerve to take a plunge into the unknown. This is for those who pick themselves up after hardship and who learn from mistakes (we all do), who grow stronger from their experiences instead of letting trials defeat them. You seem like a fighter, but usually armies consist of more than one :) There are people here who will pick you up when you need help and who will cheer you on when you're strong enough to run by yourself.</p> <p>You've taken the first step, which is often the hardest, and have every reason to be proud. Now it's about finding peace in doing this one day at a time and no more than that. </p>