To celebrate the month of June with me and my family I've gotten rid of shipping costs in the Etsy store for the entire month. Free shipping the whole month of June! I finally received some new Gocco supplies, so there will be new stuff in the store over the next few weeks.
The past few days my brain has had a hard time remaining fixed on one thought or idea at a time. There's all kinds of crazy stuff whirling around in there lately. I guess this is really no different than normal but maybe it's starting to get to me. I really want to try to be more organized with my thoughts but I'm not really sure where to start. I currently have about five notebooks / sketchbooks that I jot down ideas and drawings in, if I can find any one of my notebooks. Otherwise, it's just jotted on a scrap of paper.
t's really not condusive to productivity. I have a hard time finding anything, flipping through multiple notebooks, shuffling through endless bits of paper to find what I'm looking for. If you're a creative person, how do you organize yourself? I would love your thoughts on the subject. What are the steps for successful journal / notebook keeping, how do you keep your ideas organized? Leave me a comment with your ideas or examples of your organization process and at the end of the month I'll pick a random commentor to get a free print of their choice from the shop.
Have a lovely day!
ooh, I'm the first to comment!
ReplyDeleteI am not a successful journal keeper, I write things down all over the place, although I try to keep them organised in my notebook, they are also on a list on the blackboard above my desk. But mostly I fail miserably and think 'where did i write down that genius idea I had the other week...' so mostly genius ideas get lost. Shame really....
ps I love your work...
I too, have several notebooks and scraps of paper with ideas, but I don’t see this as a bad thing. I think that’s what creative people naturally do!
ReplyDeleteFirst, I identify my interests and divide them into different areas. For example, I have 1 notebook for sewing ideas and notes, 1 for art and drawing, 1 strictly for words like a traditional diary, 1 for random things (in travel size that I take with me when out). Of course, when an idea comes, one would just grab any paper or notebook and put it down, so I’d have to cut them out and tape or glue them to the appropriate notebook at some point so as not to lose them and to be able to fine them in the right notebook.
I also make sure I keep my notebooks in 1 of a handful of places they’d be at: my bedside table, my dining table, my craft room, or my current bag, kind of like restricting oneself to putting the keys away at the same spot in the home and same pocket in the purse. As far as trying to find things within a notebook, I think part of the joy of keeping them is to see some entries while looking for a specific one…to actually have organizational tools like tabs, for instance, I feel would take the fun out of it!
Katy, I love your blackboard idea!
ReplyDeleteLamby, Great thoughts... Taping or cutting my random scraps into a larger book would for sure help. And you're right, maybe embracing the craziness of it all is part of the fun! I do enjoy going back through old notebooks, it really is like a treasure hunt!
I think that for the most part creative types are a bit like magpies or pack rats, we store precious little bits and pieces of things everywhere we go. I'm a terrible journal writer, though I collect notebooks like there is no tommorow.
ReplyDeleteI always keep a notebook/sketch book in my purse for jotting down useful bits of things that inspire me or pop into my head.
Later I rewrite or re-sketch things into a larger journal/sketch book.
I also have a large folder with cut outs from magazines with random things that inspire me, models in adds, or lovely kitcheny things.
my travel sketchbook/notebook is battered and worn and nearly filled up but I love it so and couldn't bear to be parted from it, so when it is full I will get some new paper for it (it's the softest brown leather cover) and will read through it then store it in a box with other journals.
good luck in your search for better organization. Love your work.
i have to agree that you must just work with your style. I am a messy, disorganized genius..hehee.. so i used to commute and would try to write things down while driving so i didn't forget them..on napkins and scraps.i put a notepad and empty tissue box in the car so i woulnd't loose them. i ended up being to lazy t glue tape/ them down so i got photobooks and can add and remove theideas/thought as i please!
ReplyDeleteI try to use a wiro bound journal or sketchbook so any ideas have GOT to stay put. But at work I use scrap paper, and am going to have to start using double stick tape.
ReplyDeleteJust found your blog. Love it so far!