One day you have an idea.
No, it’s not just an idea. It’s a great idea. In fact, it just might be the best idea you’ve ever had.
The bad news is you don’t have a pen and paper with you so you can write that brilliant idea down. But an idea as good as this? There’s no way you’re going to forget it.
So you go on about your day. You get busy. Things happen. And that great idea slips from your mind, as great ideas tend to do.
That night, you remember that you had this idea. And you remember that it was great. But, no matter how hard you wrack your brain, you can’t remember what that great idea actually was.
That’s why you now carry a notebook everywhere you go. And any time something you want to remember pops into your head (like another great idea, a task you need to add to your to-do list, an important date, or a reminder to return a phone call) you jot it down in your notebook.
The simple, pocket notebook is one of the most valuable time management tools in your productivity toolbox. Not only does it ensure that those great ideas won’t vanish into thin air, it also saves all that brain power you used to waste on trying to remember things.
But there is one problem. When you write everything down in one small, pocket notebook, that notebook can quickly become disorganized. The fuller the notebook gets, the harder it can get to find things in it. And you’ll probably just forget some of the stuff you’ve put in there. (Like the phone number buried 10 pages back, or the dinner party guest list you scribbled on page 19.)
If you’re looking for a way to keep your notebook organized, the PigPogPDA system might help.
In the words of its creator:
It’s just a notebook, you make your notes from front to back, in the usual way. You have a bookmark of some sort to keep track of where you’re up to, so you can quickly open it and make a note. The only ‘clever’ part is that you have another bookmark, which marks the point at which you’ve dealt with everything in some way.
He suggests using pink and blue Post It tabs for the bookmarks.
Then there are the yellow tabs. What are they for?
If you’re planning an article, or a party, or you’re working on a list of people you’ll need to tell about something, or a list of things you need to do this weekend, or…
You get the idea. Anything you’re still working on that has a page of its own.
PigPogPDA might seem ridiculously simple. And that’s because it is. And the simplicity is why it works.
PigPogPDA is actually touted as a complete, but simple, time management system. And while I’m not sure about that claim, I am sure that using tabs is an easy and effective way to tame the chaos in your catch-all notebook.
If you’d like to learn more about PigPogPDA, just click on the link below.
PigPogPDA – A Moleskine Hacked into a Complete System
