How many times during the day do you say “make a note of that,” or “I need to remember that?” If you’re like I used to be, you do it all the time. And you have no pen, or paper with you. You tell yourself that you’ll remember, but in ten minutes, you’ve forgotten what you were sure you’d remember. I say I USED to be that way, because I no longer am. Now I rely on my smartphone to remember things with my Notepad app. I take 15 secs and dictate a note into it all the time. If I’m measuring something, or matching a paint color, to reminding myself to pick up dog food or just wanting to remember the name of a store I pass, I use that app for so much.
If you’re writing something like a blog or journal, it’s important to make note of your thoughts. No matter how scattered or small, it’s a great idea to jot them down (or dictate them to your phone) so that you can over them, and add to them in the future. Even small, one or two word thoughts can be strung together later on to make sense in whatever you’re writing, or working on.
My friend, who writes, mentioned to me one time, that one of her professors told her to make note of everything that came to mind when sitting and thinking about what she should write her thesis on. Even if it was just one word, abstract from everything else she’d thought of, she wrote it down. Later on she said, she’d read those notes and get completely new ideas!
Sometimes, one idea quickly inspires another, and if you wait too long, you’ll forget them both, so make note of them immediately. I can’t tell you how many times a day I refer to my note app to track down some trivial item that usually turns out to be huge in the grand scheme of things. Like, jotting down “serene” reminded me that a client’s color theme made me feel that way, and I wanted to convey that in my designs, so by just writing that one word, I knew exactly what I needed to work with.
Your notes don’t need to mean anything to anyone but you. Don’t try to make complete sentences. Just jot down ideas, as if you were making a grocery list of sentence fragments and phrases.
With the Notepad app on my phone I can make several headings for different types of notes. My most used headings are “Due” and “Get” so I am always on top of when things are due to be done, picked up, paid, etc. and what items I need to get for work. I always have my “Get” heading open when I walk into the grocery, Home Depot, Lowes, or any place I need to grab something for a job. You can imagine how much time this saves because I’m ready when I walk in the door.
I also like to make little notes when walking through a home the first time. I can listen to my customer and still jot down a few ideas or adjectives that I might forget by the time I leave. We all know that thoughts can be fleeting, so it’s best to capture them when they pop in our heads. Recently, I met with a really sweet gal who wanted to redo her kitchen. She explained exactly the color she had in mind, and the look she was going for. I saw a few knick-knacks in a nearby cabinet that had a nautical theme, and I jotted that down. Later it was useful in presenting her an idea to use a different color that was more beachy, and a picture of some cute café curtains with a nautical “feel” to them. At the time, “knick-knacks” seemed like a random note, but it turned out to be significant.
No matter how small, a note can be huge info later on. Never underestimate the importance of one word. It will trigger a memory or idea, whether it be visual or otherwise.
So make note of this…Tami Loves tiny notes that turn into big ideas!