Comments on: The One Best Habit

By: Kristiaan

Kristiaan — Mon, 14 May 2012 00:49:07 +0000

Agreed. I cary a small daily notebook for things I need to buy at the grocery store to major life ahas that come to mind throughout my day. There is something about being able to check of or scratch out these items once completed that imparts satisfaction. As an exercise of pure creativity for my photography I will sit with a Moleskine flip notebook and do a free association exercise on one page and then decipher the free association into definable and actionable attributes of a photo-shoot. This allows me to not let the mechanics of a photo-shoot to get in the way of what should be a creative process and then at some point in time when I am able to follow through with the shoot I have a very detailed description of how it should be done. Sometimes several years will pass before I am able to act on one of these exercises. I do believe there is something about the creative process of handwriting these thoughts as opposed to typing them out. The handwriting for me becomes a creative process in and of itself.

By: Nick Crosby

Nick Crosby — Sat, 05 May 2012 11:35:53 +0000

My productivity and creativity doubled when I began keeping notebooks. Everything you say in this post (thanks again for this fabulous resource) rings true: notebooks are a source for memorising facts, generating ideas, linking stuff, trying out and failing and recording outcomes. And capturing doodling/goofing/daydreaming stuff…

By: harish bhatia

harish bhatia — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 01:02:52 +0000

hi.

after years of toying with small note books settled with A7 size notebooks (real pocket size note books). and pencil to write. works all the time.

harish

By: juan2thepaab

juan2thepaab — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 05:33:43 +0000

Definitely agree. Although – to your last point – today the format may vary. There are currently many parallels to the physical paper notebooks traditionally used, e.g. on your Blackberry/iPhone you could write notes, record voicenotes, take pictures, video, etc.

I, personally, prefer to write on physical paper, although now it is not always the most convenient option (who wants more stuff to carry around?)

By: Scott

Scott — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 16:19:31 +0000

I like a couple of dozen index cards in a binder clip in my pocket, and stacks of them on my desk. Mindmapping to a higher power; not only can I draw connections between cards but A) I can actually move them around looking for connections and B) I can make piles, the third dimension. Also, if a list doesn’t fit on an index card, then it’s too big and/or too detailed.

By: Coach Dawn

Coach Dawn — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 03:47:19 +0000

I used to think that I carried a notebook because I am forgetful and potentially disorganized, but now I’ve found that I’m a top performer. Huzzah!!

By: djcoyle

djcoyle — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 01:05:45 +0000

I like your system, Promod — especially the built-in redundancy. Thanks for all the great detail.

By: Erik Long

Erik Long — Sun, 26 Sep 2010 16:37:56 +0000

See http://www.riteintherain.com/ for a variety of notebooks with waterproof writing paper. Match it up with a Space Pen, and you can take notes anywhere.

By: Promod Sharma | @mActuary

Promod Sharma | @mActuary — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 00:48:12 +0000

Thanks for this post and the link to the 20 famous notebooks. It’s fascinating to delve into working minds. I’d love to see what Richard Branson’s notebooks look like.

Thoughts that aren’t captured immediately have a nasty way of disappearing forever. So I have paper with me whenever possible. I carry a notebook with 8″x5″ pages in my bag and scan the paper into PDFs with sensible names for future retrieval. When viewed on a 10″ or 12″ computer screen, the full page is readable. Try that with 8.5×11″ paper!

In my suit jacket pocket, I carry a smaller notepad and spare pen to capture thoughts from people I meet. Electronic tools me take too long to use. However a smartphone is usually nearby as “Plan B”.

By: Steve Place

Steve Place — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 21:33:01 +0000

Moleskine FTW