I used to think I could march my way through all my daily to-dos in an orderly fashion. But I soon realized that if didn’t write them down, I’d forget the one or two things I thought were important, and that would slowly drive me crazy. (This is aside from the fact that I never really complete everything on my to-do list. As soon as I cross off three things, another four or five take their place.)

I used to think I could keep track of these tasks digitally. I spent a lot of time and money on software applications. Probably the best I’ve found is called Things, and I still use it, though not as much as I used to.

Then I tried the Bullet Journal thing. That worked for a while, until I got tired of rewriting all the tasks at the end of the month. My wife loves the system, and still uses it religiously. Me, I grew to dislike carrying a large hardcover notebook everywhere I went. At $25 a pop, the price wasn’t doing me any favors, either.

So I regressed—back to the world I lived in the 1990s, when I first went freelance. This is what I use to organize myself these days. It’s called a piece of paper.

That’s the gist of a a post I did for SleuthSayers several months ago. Here it is:

What the Well-Dressed Writer is Carrying

I’m linking to it here in my ongoing effort to collect all my past work in one place, and because I think it will resonate with plenty of writers. Especially ones who love stationery as much as I do.

Pens, fountain pens, papers, notebooks—you name it, I’ve probably tried it. Some I discard, some I keep, but I’m always testing and trying, because you never know what tool will connect with you.

What it all boils down to is, a plain old sheet of paper, with notes scrawled into tiny quadrants, is all I need to keep my head on straight. When it gets too messy, I copy it over—a task I detest when it’s in a Bullet Journal—and shred the old one. The new one gets tucked into a pocket with a pen, and I’m ready to go.

The only book I mention in the post is a legendary volume entitled Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity, by David Allen. He’s the most unlikely guru ever, a man who teaches executive-level types how to organize their lives by delegating, using folders, efficently dealing with emails and memos. The book is definitely worth reading, but I caution you that a lot of people have rushed to create a multitude of unnecessary products, mostly software, to help you achieve the mythical #GTD lifestyle. I chased down that rabbit hole ages ago, and ultimately returned to some basic analog tools that suited me better.

I have a lot to say about stationery. I’ll get to that one of these days. One of the top posts in this website is one I did about reporter’s notebooks. (Seriously, people in freaking New Zealand are quoting me on this topic, so I must know what I’m talking about.) Here’s the original post:

A Real Reporter Reviews the Field Notes Reporter’s Notebook

Beyond this, I was recently interviewed for a British stationery store’s website on my preferences in this arena. When that post goes up, I’ll probably want to weigh on that topic again.

But or now, I hope you’ll check out the SleuthSayers post, if you are as big a geek as I am.