This post originally appeared onThe Simple Dollar.
The Benefits of a Pocket Notebook
Why has this been such a profound switch for me?
Simply put, its helped me in every single aspect of my life.
I just pull out my notebookanywhereand jot it down.
Ill explain that in detail in a bit, but the pocket notebook was key.
These thingsand many othershave contributed greatly to the quality of my personal, professional, and spiritual life.
What Kind of Pocket Notebook?
Most of the time, Im carrying aField Notes pocket notebook.
They just didnt work.
Even through lots of hiking and all kinds of activity, they dont fall apart.
Finally,theyre available in a graph paper format.I just prefer jotting down thoughts on graph paper.
It doesnt hurt that I find them very aesthetically pleasing, too.
My only complaint with them is the relative price.
Usually, youll find a three pack of them48 pages eachfor $9.99 at MSRP.
I can sometimes find them a bit cheaper than that.
The problem is that I blow through one of these in about aweek.
What about page size?When I first tried pocket notebooks, I was really apprehensive about page size.
How would it handle large blocks of notes?
Ive found that this hasneverbeen an issue.
What Kind of Pen?
I really have three requirements for my pocket pen.
If the same pop in of pen leaks twice, Im done with that pop in of pen.
I prefer pens that write with a finer tip, but thats a personal preference.
Gathering
Gathering simply refers to how I actually use my pocket notebookfor taking notes and collecting things.
I dont take a stab at filter in advanceI just put everything in there.
Think about itwhat if you were telling someone something and they said, Thats really interesting!
Thanks for telling me!
Im going to jot that down so I can look into it more later!
and then wrote down what you said.
Most of my collection is just a long series of these notes.
Most of the material in that book is just a sequence of unrelated notes.
When its finished, I draw another single line below it.
So, what I usually do iscopy them into Evernote.
This process isincrediblyhelpful for actuallylearningmaterial.
It has helped me to really understand lots of different subjects.
Swapping Out Old Notebooks
Eventually a notebook fills up.
When that happens, I have to do something!
I suppose my children and grandchildren might enjoy this, too, when they have my old notebooks.
Ive actually had lost pocket notebooks returned to me twice because of this.
That way, I can just switch to the new one immediately when the old one runs out.
Final Thoughts
These days, I rarely leave home without my pocket notebook.
It saves me time.
It saves me money.
It helps me build social connections.It helps me to learn.It helps me to avoid forgetting important things.
Its simply an essential part of my life.
Photo bytvnewsbadge(Flickr).
