Too many people in my generation like to say they are ADHD. It’s like we all think we our brains are miswired and it really kind of dilutes the real issues that some people face. On the other hand I have to think we’re all suffering some kind of technology induced attention disorder. I mean we have upwards of 500 channels of programming to choose from on the television. We have the infinite time waster that is the internet. How can we possibly be expected to work when there are tweets begging to be read.
Its no wonder I struggle with finding significant ideas to write about or time to write in general. This is an issue I continually fight with. I don’t know what to write here. I don’t know how to share whatever life experience I have. At the same time I know that if I don’t write I won’t find my voice or my reason to write. It has been and will continue to be a crippling issue if I don’t find some ways to discipline myself.
So here are some of the solutions I’ve used to varying degrees of success:
1. Evernote. This program has probably been the most effective at being used. I’ve tried Remember the Milk, the default notes, and the newer reminders app. Evernote has been the most used for one reason over anything else: portability. I can type in it quickly on a full sized keyboard at my computer and have the notes on my iPhone, tablet, or work laptop. It just lets me port ideas and reminders across platforms.
2. Google drive. Portability for the win again. I can start writing on my lunch break at work, make some notes, and finish my idea later at home. I’d call this a win all of the way around.
3. Whiteboards. This is perhaps the best tool for keeping me focused of any. It takes the best part of the old pen and paper combination and marries it to an hard to ignore system. I tried small notebooks or sticky notes to no avail. Notebooks became impractically to keep on or near me. Sticky notes work until they ‘unstick’ and get lost or form a layer of their own on my desk or computer monitor. Then I spend more time trying to find the note I need and less time doing what needs to be done. So I have two whiteboards in my cubicle at work and a static cling whiteboard surface on a wall in my home office space. They serve as giant, unavoidable reminders that I see on a regular basis. Plus I find the act of writing out ideas or tasks to be very therapeutic especially when it eventually leads to erasing a large list of completed tasks.
These are just a few of the ways I’ve been able to tap into my own way of getting things done. Now using them more regularly is another question for another entry.
What ways have you found to help organize your life or enhance your creativity?
