I'm struggling to keep track of my thoughts and plans, scattered across various platforms: Google Docs, physical notebooks (here as I'm travelling in the UK, and previously back in New Zealand), digital notes. I feel lost, rewrite plans and to-dos to find my bearings. I can't help but feel there's a better way. And while I understand plans change and rewriting can offer new perspectives (a habit from my graphic design days to find new insights from design briefs), all to often re-working my notes feels inefficient.
Perhaps a more structured system would help, but only if I stick with it, and just it. No more shiny distractions in adopting other ways of thinking and doing.
Instead of forcing myself into a rigid structure (an imagined but impossible “perfect system”), why not accept the interconnected and somewhat chaotic nature of my current workflow? What if I work with my rhizomatic methods rather than against them?
Now this sounds promising!
Acknowledge my reality — My work currently lives in a variety of places: handwritten notes on my phone, Google Docs, phyiscal notebooks, and photos of physical drawings. This is ok.
Focus on the desired outcome — From previous experience, I know having a clearly articulated outcome is useful. (Though as an artist I also know there are times when it's not). Once I know what I want to achieve, the “how” naturally falls into place.
Resist the Illusion of Perfect Control — I've already spent too much time looking at Filofax, lured by the promise of a perfect paper based setup. It doesn’t mean it won’t work but often if I want to ship, it’s better to a) work with the tools I’ve already got and b) to accept the "perfect system" is simply the one that helps me get things done right now.
Being away from home, and armed with my phone and notebook (and limited computer access) I’m using a combination of handwritten phone notes and Google Docs to get things done. (This is being written in a café using a borrowed bluetooth keyboard connected to my phone).
I’m finding that organising my files on a phone rather than a computer requires a different spatial way of thinking. It’s fascinating. There isn’t as much screen space (obviously) and this in turn effects how I think about my stuff. I’m also finding that handwriting on my phone is more attractive than using a phyiscal notebook right now. Weird.
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UPDATE: 26 May 2025
First, a note I made after being away from home for six weeks:
[I'm] Struck by the sense of relief and stability I'm feeling since getting a new notebook and deciding to stick with paper and using my notebook as a bullet journal. Not using my notebook has been a surprising jolt. Not properly migrating my old notebook before I left [NZ] didn't help. And while aspects of the bullet journal frustrate me I realise no system is perfect. This one is, for now, good enough.
Second, and now firmly back in New Zealand, I'm still preferring a single notebook used as a bullet journal. I capture and manage my thoughts and days in it. Projects too. It's the good enough hub for managing my chaos.