{"id":438,"date":"2018-01-08T08:30:00","date_gmt":"2018-01-08T13:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/darwin.eeb.uconn.edu\/uncommon-ground\/?p=438"},"modified":"2018-01-06T10:14:52","modified_gmt":"2018-01-06T15:14:52","slug":"438","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/darwin.eeb.uconn.edu\/uncommon-ground\/blog\/2018\/01\/08\/438\/","title":{"rendered":"Getting organized in 2018 – Trying an everything notebook"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction to the series<\/a><\/p>\n

If you know me or if you read later entries in this series, you\u2019ll see that I\u2019m a bit of a tech geek. Most of what I do to keep myself organized I do electronically with a series of different applications that work across the electronic platforms I use (MacBook, iMac, iPhone, iPad),1<\/a><\/sup> but I am also a fountain pen afficianado. I carry 6-7 different fountain pens with me in my briefcase, even when I travel. I also find it much<\/em><\/strong> easier to take notes with pen and paper when I\u2019m in a meeting. Since I\u2019m in meetings so much as a result of serving as a Vice Provost and Dean, I use pen and paper a lot. Let\u2019s start with how I use them, or more accurately how I am planning<\/em><\/strong> to use them in 2018. I\u2019ll describe how I integrate the paper with my electronic platforms in a couple of weeks.<\/p>\n

Last year I tried using a Bullet journal<\/a>. The idea is appealing. It provides a simple way to organize to-do lists, meetings, and notes from every day into a single notebook. If I were working solely analog, I would almost certainly be using a Bullet journal. But I depend heavily on my interconnected electronic devices. I suppose I could carry my Bullet journal with me everywhere and record everything there, but it just doesn\u2019t fit the way I work. I always<\/strong><\/em> have my iPhone with me, and if I\u2019m at home or in the office, my iPad and MacBook (and iMac if I\u2019m at the office) are never far away. I can add something to my to-do list if it occurs to me when I\u2019m at the grocery store.2<\/a><\/sup> I can even use Siri to add something if it occurs to me when I\u2019m driving to or from work. For me a paper Bullet journal is just duplicated effort, and after a year of trying it, it\u2019s clear that it won\u2019t work for me.<\/p>\n

This year I\u2019m trying an Everything notebook<\/a>. I don\u2019t remember how I ran across the idea, but I think it\u2019s going to work very well. There have only been 4 working days to try it out so far this year, but so far it fits my work patterns much better. There are a few differences between the way I\u2019m setting up my Everything notebook and the way that Raul Pacheco Vega set his up.<\/p>\n