Everyday I come across new ideas, quotes, overheard conversations, and unexpected experiences that I want to tell to others. I may find the solution to a problem I’m working on while at the gym or hear a woman yell something hilarious in the grocery store. Ideas and experiences go as quickly as they come. I can’t predict when something is going to happen that I want to remember.
Out of the necessity of wanting to remember the things that happen in my life for future use, I have developed a system. This system splits the ideas and experiences I have into the processes of capture and reference.
Pocketbook
To capture information in the moment, I carry a pocketbook and pencil with me at all times. In this small book, I jot down anything and everything that I want to when it occurs to me. Writing things down when they occur is critical to my memory because ideas can slip away in an instant, especially in the age of information. For this reason, it is key to have the pocketbook readily available.
Prior to the pocketbook, I used to text myself to accomplish the same goal. I evolved, however, because I don’t want to use my phone for what I don’t have to. In addition, writing is known to boost memory retention and understanding. A physical bond with the ethereal realm of ideas is established when I write versus type. I have noticed that my memory has improved from physical writing.
Commonplace box
Next, writing ideas and experiences in the moment has no value if I cannot efficiently reference them in the future. So, inspired by prolific author Ryan Holiday, I began to keep a commonplace book.
A commonplace box is a collection of note cards on which singular ideas, quotes, stories, etc., are written. Everything I write from my pocketbook, along with marginalia from books, gets a notecard. These notecards are then organized by their labeled theme. For example, if I want to write about nature I can peruse all of the note cards I have about nature. The ability to organize all of the information I collect by theme has increased my efficiency tenfold.
The notecard system evolved from my disorganized collection of loose paper and notebooks. I was overwhelmed when I wanted to find a vaguely remembered nugget of information in the mess of paper and notebooks. Specifically, the research for my upcoming book is in two notebooks, organized only by time. To illustrate, I must flip through pages and pages, guessing when I wrote it down in proportion to other information, to find a quote. This old system is incredibly inefficient. For my next book, I will use the notecard system to organize my research and planning.
The combination of a pocketbook and commonplace box has dramatically increased my creative output. It also has allowed me to learn more in a faster time. Due to the system, I have an integrated web of information that continually branches. As I know more, I can learn more.
But this system or any system for capturing and referencing ideas and experiences will benefit anyone, not just writers. We all talk to people, solve problems, have new experiences, give advice, and maybe, tell funny jokes. All of these daily endeavors can be improved by having a personal catalog of past ideas and experiences to reference. And, if we can improve the things we do everyday, we will undoubtedly improve our life.
My life has improved exponentially from this system, and I’m sure yours will too, whatever you do. Give it a try!
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