I’m always scribbling away in a notebook. Usually lists. Grocery lists, schedules broken down into 30 minute chunks, beauty products I need to buy, workout routines, albums I should download, movie times in all surrounding cinemas for that week, cities I should visit, books I should buy etc.
It’s as I’ll lose the ideas unless I write them down. I ‘catch’ the thoughts by putting them on paper. I find list making necessary and therapeutic-- crossing off those items feels like REAL accomplishment.
I also use my notebooks for creative ideas. Never anything lofty like poems or reflections on the state of the world but I’ll write down outfit combinations I want to try or my thoughts on a film, book or speech I watched on TED.
In the past I bought Moleskin notebooks, and when you write lists as often as I do, this becomes an expensive purchasing habit. Enter: Chartwell Notebooks. I discovered them at my office and they’re super old school. They come in sunshine yellow and forest green and have a nice old school quality to them.
Remember decorating your binders and notebooks in 3rd grade? It was THE BEST! You would add your fuzzy stickers and hologram unicorns, write your name in neon highlighters and stamp your pages with hearts and stars. I even glued my Pokemon cards on the inside of my composition book.
The grown up version goes something like this: finding the best postcards and magazine clippings you can get your hands on. Images you’ll love and enjoy seeing day after day and arrange these onto your notebook. Cover the images with clear tape so they stay in place and don’t fade.
Finally, use your notebook as much as possible. There’s power in writing things down. Writing what you’re thankful for, recording your progress on a task, journaling your goals, taking note of the places you want to see. The more you write down, the more you have to cross off.
Happy list-making!
