I’m a digital girl. (The hubs says this is called a “nerd.” ๐ ) But for real, mama–I love me some digitizing. I rarely keep paper anything anymore–all my notes are written (and school/church flyers photographed) into Evernote, my current ย journal-keeping happens in the Day One app, and all my to-do lists (yes,ย all— there are many!) are in Wunderlist.
But when my brain gets overstuffed and I need to refocus myself, there is just nothing like laying on theย floor with a pen and a pad of paper.
When there are too many thoughts spinning around inside my head, I like to heal that problem in two steps.
First,ย I write everything down on paper. This is called a brain dump (sexy term, right?) because you literally dump every thought out in writing onto a piece of paper.
And writing out your brain dump by hand is great for a lot of reasons:
- You can’t get distracted by organizing, categorizing, or rearranging
- You can visually scan over your list without scrolling
- You can easily draw arrows, make connections, and doodle pictures or ideas
- Writing, scribbling, and drawing are active, and help an anxiousย body feel busy enough to allow your brain to take priority
Also, crossing stuff out with a pen is just fun, right?
After I dump my thoughts onto the page (or, in the case of my first time doing that process–SEVEN full pages!) I go through each item and process it. I have a structured group of lists, projects, support items (related flyers, clippings, physical materials like yarn, tape, etc.) that go with those projects, and to-do checklists.
I use the incredible Mind Organization for Moms programย process (I’ve had it for over a year now–worth every penny!) to go through each item from my paper list and figure out what to do with it next. Some things go into a waiting place, some get worked on right away, some get a note to tackle them in a few months.
But having it all out on paper really soothes me.
I also love paper and pen for planning & brainstorming. I use it to plan projects, make editorial calendars for blog posts, and lay out goals.
I lay out drawings and pre-visualize rooms before I start buying things and punching nail holes in the walls.
Most of these papers end up scanned in to Evernote (because sorting piles and files of paper is not my idea of fun). But disconnecting from the digital to brainstorm, list, and create makes my brain feel quieter.
How about you, mama?ย Are you more apt to grab a pen and paper or do you list, draw, and brainstorm electronically?
I am the opposite. I am all about PAPER and PENS. I feel like I can just see everything all at once on a piece of paper. I can make extra marks, edits, doodles, and whatever I need to that I can’t do in a neatly typed list. Granted it’s messier but I guess I’m just old school. I do think digitizing these things would be great though for the clutter aspect. Maybe one day. ๐
When I decluttered our house about a year ago, I noticed one of the biggest problems was all the paper. So the digital aspect was mostly to save me time cleaning, sorting, and filing all of it!
But I totally agree–paper and pens are the BEST for clarity, spreading out, and planning. It feels like a treat to me every time I sit down or flop on the floor with a pad of paper and a nice inky gel pen. I love making planning web graphs, too! (Is that what they’re called?!)
Suffice to say, I am not -nor ever will be- a “digital girl”. Too old !!!! But, I love paper and pen. Not only am I a true Taurus, but also, my entire career has had to be “on schedule” and with complete documentation ! I make lists and plans for things I will do, might do, or would like to do. I love crossing things off my lists and sometimes, if I do something that wasn’t on my list, I will write it down — just so I can cross it off !! My personality wants to go from A to Z with no stumbling blocks. Knowing that life almost always throws you a curve ball, there’s comfort and a sense of accomplishment with each stroke of my pen. Absolutely, “jam on my day”.
Love this Elizabeth! I am just the same way–I am not a fan of the curve ball. And I TOTALLY add stuff to my lists that I’ve already done, too! Crossing stuff off is the best! (Only I use an app for the list part–it makes a cute little ding when I click the checkbox!) So fun to read about everyone’s preferences on this one!