One struggle this year was managing nagging thoughts; I'd think of work at home and home at work. It was hard to be present in the moment because there was always so much left to do. My time at home with Avi felt precious, so I resented the intrusion of work thoughts into family time.
One day I decided to take two minutes to jot down everything I needed to do later. Having everything written down freed my brain from having to remember these tasks, and I found myself feeling lighter and more playful with Avi.
This feeling is key when spending lots of time with a baby. At least in my experience, time with infants is unstructured enough to give you plenty of time to ruminate on your to-dos without actually giving you any time to complete them. Writing down these to-dos helped me feel organized even if I couldn't act on these ideas right away. With the extra head space, I was in a better frame of mind to play "where's Avi?" over and over, search for dandelions, or snuggle up and read a favorite board book. I could see the beautiful moments amidst the cyclical nature of caring for my daughter.
At first I was more focused on relieving anxiety or nagging thoughts. Now though, I find that this same strategy works really well for holding on to more generative and positive ideas. I have a grid notebook with a table of contents, and I've started writing pages called "Assorted Creative Ideas." These are lists where I can write down anything that pops up as an idea I want to do in the future. Since starting this list, I find I have more ideas, maybe just because I have a place to file them. The ideas can come from blogs, books I'm reading, podcasts, or just something that occurs from me while I'm playing with Avi, talking to someone, cooking, or doing something around the house.
A few ideas from the list:
- making a board book for Avi's birthday
- going to the airport to watch the planes
- organizing centers around themed book clubs at school
- creating a choose your own adventure project for students in social studies
- making finger paint to try out
- various blog post ideas
I've already done some of these, and I hope to do others in the future. Likely, I won't get to every item on the list, but that's really not the point. Writing down these ideas nurtures the part of me that loves to tinker, write, create, and play. When I embrace those parts of me, I find it's easier for me to show up in the various roles and relationships in my life the way I want to. I feel more like me.
How do you keep track of ideas? Do you use apps, technology, or paper and pencil like me?
I try to do this, too, though I'm not always the best at it. I actually have been wanting to get a special, pretty notebook to keep track specifically of blog-related stuff. I get random ideas or things that I think I'd like to write about, but I don't always have a specific place to write them down. I have some little notepads, but they tend to get messy/disorganized or I misplace the page...I need a better system and something more permanent. I have been trying to also keep a running "Notes" note on my iPhone since sometimes I think of things when I'm not at my desk.
ReplyDeleteI have a big notebook where I keep track of other ideas/ things I want to do/ family activity ideas along with many other pages with my habit trackers, monthly goals, etc in my desk drawer (like my master life notebook) but I want something separate that I can work more freely (and messily!) from for my blog stuff.