beyond the start, the benefits of a small change

I understand. It’s very easy to think a notebook is “too good to use” or that you might mess it up. It’s often hard for me to start using a new notebook or planner. Last year, I wrote about three tips I use when I start a new notebook. Yes, I want it to look as nice and organized as the photos I see online. But what happens after I start? What if I change my mind about how I want to use it? Do I put it on the shelf with a handful of pages filled?

I’ll be honest. Yes. Sometimes.

However, I’m trying to get past these perfectionist tendencies and keep moving forward.

Life is chaotic and messy. How I first thought I’d use a notebook might not work out after a while.

That’s ok.

I am a proponent of adapting and growing. Change is part of this process, and it doesn’t need to be a big grandiose modification to my workflow. Because I am constantly reviewing — daily, weekly, and monthly reviews – I’m able to make small changes when necessary. This is known as Kaizen (改善), or “change for better.” That doesn’t mean I always act promptly, but I am not averse to changing what doesn’t work.

Challenge

For example, the notebook that stars in my starting a new notebook post from last January is now used differently. I realized pretty early in the year that the way I used it, wasn’t working. For half a year I kept trying to make it try to fulfill multiple roles within same notebook – often not using it at all because I felt I was using it wrong.

Review

During a review session after I recognized it was becoming an issue, I set aside some time to explore it.

Why was I having problems with a simple technology, a notebook?

I was determined to try to make it fulfill multiple roles, so I didn’t have to carry so much stuff. I discovered when I had the notebook open, I felt I needed to work on them all at the same time. While the organization of my information did not seem cluttered, the simultaneous presentation of some information, even if I wasn’t actively working on it was creating sticky residue for me. Thus, I was getting distracted and was unable to focus and move forward.

Decision

I decided instead of using this single notebook for multiple types of information, I would change to using multiple notebooks. It is a bit of extra work to make sure I have the correct notebook when needed. It’s a system that I’ve used successfully in the past and I thought that having one notebook would simplify things for me.

The first notebook is still in active use, I can refer to those older pages if necessary or I can ignore them. There’s plenty of new blank pages of opportunity.

I started a new notebook.

Result

In the seven months since the change, this has been working very well. Yes, it’s a bit of a pain to have to carry the notebooks, but if this is what I personally need then that’s what I’ll do.

That small change is all it took for me to start using both notebooks regularly.

Fundamentally, I’m not doing much that is different. However, for my brain to move forward I need to use separate notebooks.

Lesson learned.

Future Changes

Is it possible that I’ll change my mind as to what works best in the future? Yes. That’s ok. I also know that the answer may lie in another small change to keep me moving forward.