This blog is largely about my relationship with creativity, and exploring how to keep the flow going with planning and organization. I’ve struggled with organization all my life, relying primarily on my memory to call to mind things I wanted to do, seeds of ideas that I wanted to cultivate, and the whereabouts of tools and materials when I wanted pursue a creative project.
But with age and a much more complicated life, I’ve found my old methods weren’t working. This results in a lot of frustration, wasted time, and apathy.
Keeping track
So I started exploring ways to keep track of things. And there are lots of ways. In fact, I haven’t settled on a method that works best for me. A lot of note-taking / personal knowledge management tools are driven by a particular goal. My goals can be aimless, or even change from one day to the next. Project management is too oriented towards business / profitability, but may be a better direction. Or some fusion of both.
I’m also trying to do a few in parallel, which is not something I’d recommend.
“The creative type”
There’s a stereotype about creative/artistic people: that they seem detached from what’s happening in the moment, almost like they are in a different reality. Or that they will be doing some routine activity, then suddenly disappear into another room because inspiration struck. I have known people that fit the stereotype – and this is not a criticism – but I’m not like that.
Much of my day is filled with a job, so there is little opportunity to drop everything and go be creative. I am in the knowledge-worker segment, so my days are very structured. If I want to do something creative and I’m at work… oh well, too bad. Hopefully, inspiration or motivation will strike at a more convenient time.
don’t forget to remember
And since I began to struggle with remembering the small ideas and thoughts I would have throughout the day, I decided to note them down in a small spiral-bound pad that I always kept in my back pocket. However, this method failed me in many ways, especially when it came to locating the notes again. This led me to embark on a journey to master the art of tracking ideas.
Finding a method
So I came up with a plan to write up my take on some of the popular personal organization and/or personal knowledge management methods – at least, the ones I’ve tried. Maybe I’ll mention some of the ones I haven’t tried, or don’t want to, and why. For me, this is intended to review the method and see if I missed anything, or see if I can combine different ideas to customize my own method.
In short, I don’t know what the best note-taking method is. I don’t think there’s any one-size-fits-all approach. But I do have some preconceptions about what works and what doesn’t (at least for me).
I’m a little behind schedule this week, but I will post again soon.