Don’t Let The Notes App Become a Digital Graveyard For Your Good Ideas
Let’s Not Forget Physical Documentations.
First thing in the morning, my thoughts are swirling. When I go to bed, my mind is racing. When out on my travels, I have ideas brewing. But, whatever happens to all those ideas? Well… I didn’t know the answer to that until just yesterday when I opened my notes app.
I recently went through all my journals and sketchbooks to film my “journal ecosystem” for a YouTube video (All My Journals) and solidified their specific uses. Once that task was complete, I began gathering all my notes from here and there to organise and place in their respective journals. You see, I am an overthinker, so much so that my thoughts tend to overflow from my mind and display themselves all over my life: on my walls via bluetacked note papers, in different apps, scrap papers on my desk and so forth. However, when your thoughts are all over the place (literally), it’s hard to know where to look when you want to remember a specific idea.
So, the mission of pulling all my stray thoughts and placing them in their new homes (my journals) began. This led to the most beautiful yet disturbing surprise. I had over 400 notes to go through! And that was just one app!
I’m ok with the idea of writing down a few short sentences into a journal, but when there’s whole paragraphs… it gives me pause and makes me ask, “Do I really want to do this? And now?”
When I came across a note a little too long for me to be bothered about transferring, I would read it instead. The more I read, the more I realised a lot of these had so much potential. I had even written what I wanted that note to become in its future; the future that a lot of them would never see for one reason alone: I had completely forgotten they existed.
My thoughts disappear as soon as I’ve thought them. My friends constantly remind me of things that have happened or conversations we’ve had and what I’ve said because I rarely have any recollection. Many a time I have sat for 5 minutes or so in intense thought, trying to backtrack through everything I was just thinking, just to retrieve that last thought that got away. Because of this unfortunate and regular thought forgetting occurrence, I have gotten into the habit of just whipping out my phone as fast as I can, and quickly typing down that sentence that struck me so, just so I wouldn’t forget it. How ironic that I would forget them anyway as they get pushed down and down the list of ‘good’ ideas I was saving.
Another issue I’ve found is that these thoughts/notes are never organised in a manner that helps me find them again unless I somehow remember a keyword that I can type in the search bar. This is where my journals come in.
Resuscitating my old ideas and giving them the life and time of day they always dreamed is my new hobby. Each day I spend a few minutes transcribing and deleting note after note.
I will admit, I did add a few more today but… at least I’m trying to do something about it now. It won’t live there forever.
Each journal I have has a specific theme. I know exactly where each thought and idea lives. There’s just something about the action of handwriting. It’s time consuming, yes, but it’s also a very mindful and calming act. It’s also beautiful to look at and fun learning your unique font. I remember what I write and appreciate my thoughts and ideas more because I’m being kind to them by putting them away gently in a special place. In turn, I’m being kind to myself and reminding myself that I matter and so do my thoughts and ideas. They are worth something. They are worth saving and they are worth pursuing.
Will I still use the notes app? Of course! But I will also make a conscious effort to keep my journals and pen around me more and more, and not allow my thoughts to live in just a digital storage unit. I no longer want them to just be a number because they are so much more. So are your thoughts and ideas. They are so much more.