Self Help

The Notebook is the tool that will keep your life, as opposed to your house, organized on a day-to-day basis. If you try to organize everything in your mind, you’ll become distracted and spill the details.

Mine is a small Notebook that fits into my pocket easily and contains loose-leaf, lined paper separated by several dividers. Those calendars with little boxes for each day are too small for my busy life. I need a whole page for my daily “to do” list alone.

Here’s how my Notebook works:

Each divider is labeled, and I put information and reminders into the appropriate section. The divider labels are:

Goals. In this section I write my life goal, ten-year goal, five-year goal, and yearly goal. Your immediate goal for a special project, such as your house, may also be written here. Recently I put my goals in the “Box:. Because my goals were so personal, I didn’t want to risk losing my Notebook, and I was reluctant to have anyone else see them. I feel more secure about keeping them in the Box, but the Notebook is also a logical place for them.

To Buy. Sometimes a special need comes to mind. While you are cleaning house you may see that you need batteries, light bulbs, rubber bands, and paper clips. I write these things here as a reminder. Whenever I’m in a store - even if I’m only window shopping - I flip my Notebook open to the “Buy” section to see if I need anything. This ensures that my house remains stocked with those little necessities that are easy to overlook.

To Do. I make a different page for each day as the need arises. Then I make a list of necessary activities for the day. Make sure your Notebook isn’t cumbersome. If you make it difficult to use, you’ll ignore it.

Now comes the important part: EVALUATE EACH ACTIVITY AND ASSIGN IT A PRIORITY. The really important activity or activities will be AA. The important ones are A. Next are B ’s and C’s.

Now you can tell at a glance which tasks of a day are crucial. Our tendency is to do the easy tasks, not the important ones, first. Assigning priorities solves the problem and gives direction to our activities.

Any special interest dividers may be added to meet your needs. I have a Prayers section in which I write prayers, and Bible Study in which I write notes from the Bible reading I do. If you have these interests or others you may wish to include them in your Notebook.