Where to store random thoughts?

[fusilli.jerry89]

Every now and then I think of, and write down random things. For example, I may start drawing pictures of brains and some realization I've had about social framing. Maybe I'll think of something random about how music relates to physics, just random stuff like that.

I am having difficulty figuring out where to store these files. I've thought about putting them in a journal of some sort, but I have so many of these random thoughts, that I will probably never see many of them ever again once I confine them to a binder or journal. I could categorize my binders, but that would be extremely difficult, since these random thoughts span many different topics. The only thing I could think of would be using tags to put these files under multiple topics.

I want to organize these files in such a way that I will be able to find them when I need them, not necessarily when I am looking for them. I know this is easier said than done. All I can imagine doing, is when I am thinking about sales, I will tell myself to look in my psychology folder, my sales folder, and any other folders that relate to 'sales'.

As you can see, I am far away from coming up with an answer for this one..

Similar questions have been asked before: http://gettingthingsdone.com/forum/...m-thoughts-that-do-not-fit-into-gtd-framework, but I'm looking to take the discussion in a slightly new direction.

 

[Barb]

Are these random thoughts potentially useful to you? If it's unlikely, I'm wondering why you're capturing them at all. If they are potentially useful, then they are probably not completely random. Do they relate to one of your Areas of Focus? If so, you could start a physical and/or electronic file to save the note. Evernote might be a good program to consider for this.

Hope that helps a bit.

 

[fusilli.jerry89]

Thanks Barb. They do sometimes relate to an area of focus, but sometimes they are broader than that. For example, the other day I wrote a random thought about psychology, along with pictures about the brain, etc. I found this to be very useful to me when I was thinking about sales, or about convincing people of my ideas, etc. or even when reading a psychology book. I found that this random idea helped me make realizations about these topics that I wouldn't have otherwise made.

So I was thinking that maybe I could put this file into a psychology folder, or some sort of notebook with 'psychology' as a topic, then when I am doing sales or thinking about how I would go about convincing someone of something I would have to remind myself to take a look through all related folders/notebooks, one being psychology.

These types of files are useful, but I will never know when they are going to be useful. So I am trying to come up with a system where I will regularly review them, but I will also look at them when I am doing something that's related psychology, which turns out to be a lot of things.

 

[Barb]

"Sales" sure sounds like an Area of Focus to me, especially with the example you've given. No kidding, Evernote would be great for this. You could set up a Notebook for each Area of Focus and use tags or whatever to save your ideas. It's a fantastic program...and free.

 

[fusilli.jerry89]

I have Evernote. So would you suggest to save the same note under multiple areas of focus, i.e. Sales, Convincing Others, Psychology? I guess I could also use tags instead of folders for my Areas of Focus, then I can easily put them in multiple areas.

I am just thinking about how I would go about doing this offline, since I want to be able to do things both online and offline. For example, I like to create mindmaps and draw in my notes, which I can't do easily online. Maybe I can write notes and then scan them or something to load them into Evernote? Just seems like the technology isn't there yet for it to be worth it for some types of files.

 

[fusilli.jerry89]

Maybe I need to get a tablet.

 

[Gardener]

I am just thinking about how I would go about doing this offline, since I want to be able to do things both online and offline. For example, I like to create mindmaps and draw in my notes, which I can't do easily online. Maybe I can write notes and then scan them or something to load them into Evernote? Just seems like the technology isn't there yet for it to be worth it for some types of files.

My first thought for this would be to link electronic and paper. And my first thought for how to do so would be to put all of the sorting and categorizing on the electronic side, because it's so much easier there. I might have a binder and just number the pages as I insert them, without making any attempt whatsoever to insert them in any particular order or by category. Then I'd record the numbers in the electronic notes.

That may not make any sense. As an example, let's say that I have an idea for a sewing project, and I do some sketches on paper. When I get home, I punch holes in the paper and insert it into an already half-full binder. The last page in the binder was 57, so I mark this page 58. Then in my electronic notes, I have something like:

Tags: Sewing, wardrobe, raincoat, raglan sleeves, outdoor wear, waterproofing
Raglan sleeved raincoat
Try using Vogue X with the armhole and sleeves from Vogue Y.
Get a look at Janet's orange raincoat for cuff detail.
What was that site with information about waterproofing seams?
Sketches are page 58 of binder 3.

Maybe a few months later I find out the answer about waterproofing seams, and I file a related brochure in the binder:

Tags: Sewing, outdoor wear, waterproofing
Found seam waterproofing!
Brochure is page 79 of binder 3.

Would I continue to maintain this system? I don't know. If I did, I think that it would be a great solution for finding what I want when I want it. But I'm just not sure.

 

[HappyDude]

I'm a firm believer that everything falls into one of the following categories:

Health
Wealth
Love
Clean (Maintenance)

DropBox houses these main folders with a ton of sub folders within each that houses things from simple drawings, pdfs, images, notes, .txt files, everything of potential importance to me. If I ever decide I wanna tackle something re: anything, i'll simply create a project for it and point it towards where it lives within DropBox. All this allows for simplicity and freedom to create a mess when i'm wanting to branch out and be creative.

 

[Barb]

I have Evernote. So would you suggest to save the same note under multiple areas of focus, i.e. Sales, Convincing Others, Psychology? I guess I could also use tags instead of folders for my Areas of Focus, then I can easily put them in multiple areas.

I am just thinking about how I would go about doing this offline, since I want to be able to do things both online and offline. For example, I like to create mindmaps and draw in my notes, which I can't do easily online. Maybe I can write notes and then scan them or something to load them into Evernote? Just seems like the technology isn't there yet for it to be worth it for some types of files.

Are you sure your Areas of Focus are tightly defined? I don't know what you do for a living, but I own my own business. Instead of Sales, I use "Marketing". Yes, I convince others but I do not have an entire AofF for it. So first step might be to really define those Areas of Focus tightly. Think of them as roles that you play.

Once that is complete, you could have a Notebook in Evernote for each AofF. TAG entries however you like, but I wouldn't get too granular. In your example, I might use the word "Persuasion" if I wanted to add a tag, but I wouldn't think to add Psychology.

Scanning to Evernote and making this easier: If you wanted to invest a bit, check out Scan Snap. They make a fantastic little scanner that will scan directly into Evernote. Upgrade to Evernote Premium and build your system from there.

Tablets: You'll probably use it more than you ever dreamed you would. I use my iPad almost as much as my PC.

And one final thought: Everyone has tons of thoughts on a variety of topics at all times. Maybe spending more time PROCESSING those thoughts you are writing down can avoid some of this angst. DECIDE if they are actionable. Without decisions any system you build will likely become just full of stuff you can't use. And maybe do a big mind sweep and get everything off your mind. I don't know about you but I get "squirrel brain" if thoughts are just swimming around in my head. It doesn't mean, however, I have to build an elaborate system to hold them forever; many of them are just thoughts.

 

[Oogiem]

I want to organize these files in such a way that I will be able to find them when I need them, not necessarily when I am looking for them. I know this is easier said than done.

I do this a lot and struggled for years with what to do with them. First off I capture them and put them into my inbox, paper if I scribbled a note, or electronic of they are computer things. If they are truly just information I want to keep around, reference, for possible future ideas and not related to any specific project either active or pending then I store them in a separate database in DEVONThink. I even scan and put drawings into DT so I deal with the graphical stuff there as well. I also put in as many separate keywords into the body of the item as I can. If I choose to I can categorize them a bit by placing related stuff in folders but most of them just live in one big group in DT. Some people prefer formal tags, I am not a tagger, i effectively tag via adding words to the bottom of the captured thought. When I am thinking of other projects I typically do a simple query on my DT database by just searching for any key words. I also review these various thoughts/ideas/notes once a season on the longer equinox and solstice reviews and the winter solstice review I decide if I can delete any of them. That way i don't feel as if I've lost anything, I can find useful nuggets later if I need them and I keep a bit of control on the volume of stuff I am keeping.

 

[SiobhanBR]

I've been using Evernote for a while now and I have a notebook titled "Inspiration/Ideas" - I drop things that I think might be useful, interesting or inspiring some time in the future and I review the folder once in a while. I use very few tags within Evernote but if something was related to one of those areas I would tag it. There is no action or commitment to anything in here so I suppose it is really a sub-section of Reference.

 

[ArcCaster]

Putting them in a box is not as good as labeling them -- you can always add labels, but typically you only put something in one box.
Capturing them sequentially on a dated page, either notebook or electronic, can be very helpful -- then, when you want to find a thought, in addition to searching for labels or keywords, you can say, "where was I, what was I doing, who was I talking with, was it before this or after this", look at a calendar or other cross reference, and get close to your thought with that cross reference.

A notebook allows you to see sequence. A single file allows you to see sequence. Separate files or notes lose the concept of sequence.

The whole key is to optimize for 'finding' and 'retrieving', and I have found sequence to be as helpful as a good search engine.

 

[SiobhanBR]

Interesting...

This must be a personal thing. For me, sequence is the worst way to find anything. Maybe that's because I'm involved in so many completely different and varied things. But any sequential journal I've ever tried is a lost pit as far as finding anything later. If I made time for a table of contents, that I could then sort or search by topic maybe...

 

[ArcCaster]

Yes -- exactly what I did. At the time, I was using FrameMaker, which allows you to enter a variety of keywords for any page -- so, once a week, I would go through the new pages of my journal, update the index, print it out, and paperclip it to the cover. It only took a couple of minutes, and I had two entry points -- sequence AND keywords (and I tried to use at least two keywords for every entry -- one noun, one verb -- did that for a couple of years, then switched to online, started creating separate files and folders for separate topics, and have been wrestling ever since

Once you find a topic captured in sequence, you can see the chain of events leading up to it. That is, every idea typically has some kind of context -- and if ideas are not captured sequentially, revisiting them is just viewing random nuggets-- but if they are captured in sequence, you can see the necklace containing the nuggets.

 

[manuelhe]

I would keep a notebook as your inbasket for random thoughts.

You don't want to over think about where these thought belongs as you are collect them. A critical mind will prevent the freethinking mind from coming up with ideas. Your critical mind can wait until review.

Paper and pen are probably your best bets as you are not just jotting down text but drawings as well. Paper and pen are faster.

During review you can clarify the meaning of each random thought. Does it fit into a larger project for which you have already determined a successful outcome? Is it something new for which outcomes and next action need to be determined? Is it something to archive as reference ?

Whatever you determine you can then file it away in a place where you know you can get back to the thing when you need to

Its always about the process and not about the tools.

 

[EngineeringProf]

I have a similar challenge. I have a lot of random thoughts that are sometimes quite tangential to my areas of focus or to any current projects. But, they are cool ideas or they might be future cool ideas. Since I have creative people working for me, sometimes I post these to our collaboration space and hope someone will be as jazzed about the idea as I am and someone will see how it is related to his/her areas of focus or projects. Other times, it is a really private cool idea and I record these in my current 'notebook,' which is a high quality paper book in my favorite color that I carry everywhere. I use this book for routine meeting notes when I don't have my PC at a meeting, which I later process, and as well as for these fleeting cool ideas. Meeting notes are processed regularly, but the whole book is processed when it is full. The "process when full" means that I will revisit these ideas when I'm in my 'get creative' phase of my quarterly review.

One more tip: I skip pages as I use the book for routine meeting notes, and I back fill those pages with crazy ideas and/or new meeting notes, sometimes turning the book upside down or using a bit of white space left from another meeting's notes. That way, when I do the process of the book, the ideas and meeting notes and such are all interspersed. This helps me see the links among the thoughts. I think this makes for a more creative review process. It is certainly more fun!

When I find myself really stale, sometimes I go back to a notebook from last year (or last decade) and I go through it again. This mining of my old best weird ideas can sometimes lead to whole new directions.

One final thought -- I paste things into this book too. Fortune cookie sayings I like, pictures I saw in magazines, things I'd put in a tickler file if I had one. . . .