Befriend a Notepad: A Simple Way to Stay Focused

Why You Should Befriend a Notepad

How do you stay focused while working, sleeping, or living? What methods do you use to track the random thoughts and tasks that come to mind throughout the day and night? How many of these thoughts do you try to retain, only to watch them flutter away and never return again?

Well, here’s an easy method for you to try: befriend a notepad. The great thing about your friendship with a notepad is that it gives you exactly what you give it. Isn’t that amazing? There’s no hiding of secrets, no ghosting, just a simple, straightforward relationship. What you write, you see. Where you place it, it stays. If you spill something on it, you might destroy the relationship, but that would be your fault, not the notepad’s. And the great aspect of writing down your thoughts is that it tells your overloaded brain, “It’s safe to release this thought and come back to it later”.

So now that we’ve explained the simplicity of this friendship, let’s look at why you need it in the first place.

A Notepad Helps Your Brain Stay Clear

Our brain is a beautiful, amazing organ. In fact, it’s a multitasking machine, and no matter what you’re doing, it never turns off. While you focus on reading the text on your computer screen, your brain also alerts you to grab a sweater because it’s chilly, recognizes a coworker and nudges you to give a distracted nod, allows you to type, and at the same time keeps you upright in the chair. In addition, it regulates appetite, controls body temperature, and keeps you awake (and so much more!).

With all of that going on, it’s no wonder the brain sometimes gets distracted or overloaded. And this is exactly where your notepad becomes essential, to give your brain a break. For example, if you’re working and a thought forms that you need to sign your child’s permission form, that thought stays at the forefront because you don’t want to forget it. As a result, your 100% focus on work becomes split, and your quality of production drops. To prevent this from happening, help your brain by writing down each distracting thought or task in a notepad. This helps reduce anxiety or fear that you’ll forget a task, can reduce feelings of overwhelm (because seeing it written in black and white just seems to calm the brain), and gives you a feeling of control. Plus, in the case of your child’s permission form, by writing it down, you allow your brain to forget about it and return to focusing 100% on your current task (in this case, your work).

How to Utilize a Notepad

Think of your notepad not as a dumping ground, but as a system with gentle structure. To prevent your notepad from becoming pure chaos and adding to your overwhelm, a few steps need to occur:

1. Create multiple master lists such as:
   • Action List or To Do Today
   • Ideas
   • Worries (things looping in your mind that don’t yet have solutions)
   • Creative Sparks
   • and so forth
2. Be intentional about what you write down
   • Take a deep breath or a pause and ask yourself if you will actually complete this task or if you need to be reminded of that thought?
   • If the answer is no, don’t write it down, but do allow your brain to let it go.
   • And if the answer is not now, that’s also fine, but still capture it in the appropriate list so your brain doesn’t hold onto it.
3. Review your written list
   • Because this practice works so well at allowing your brain to forget the thought, you have to actually look at your notepad and mark items off as you complete the task.
   • Decide if it becomes part of your nightly or morning rituals to review it or transfer items to your master lists.
   • Marking off items provides a much needed and enjoyed dopamine hit! 😉 plus builds trust with yourself that you’re able to accomplish these tasks.

4. Digital Notepad

   

   • If you prefer to keep your notes electronic, open the Notes, Google Keep or another app on your phone and type your thoughts.

   • It’s easier to delete the words once you’ve completed the task, and you also produce less waste

   • Avoid checking notifications/becoming distracted when you grab your phone to input the task. This may reduce productivity if you’re not able to jump back into your original task before the random thought floated into your brain.

   • Also, for me personally, I write down all these thoughts on paper (just something awesome about physically writing it, it helps my brain release the thought permanently) and then will review later and add to the master lists that I keep on my Notes app.

Bonus: Befriend a Notepad for Better Sleep

The same friendship benefits also help with sleep. Often, when worries keep us awake, we toss and turn for hours. Instead of losing sleep by mentally rehearsing tomorrow over and over again, next time, grab your notepad and write down the thoughts that won’t let you sleep. This allows your brain to release the thoughts keeping you awake and gives your mind permission to rest. And when you wake in the morning, visit with your friend, the notepad, to remind you of all the thoughts that popped up the night before.

Share Your Notepad Methods

A notepad can truly become a trusted friend. Using a notepad or notes app to record your thoughts can reduce your anxiety and the frustration that accompanies an overloaded brain. See how much your productivity increases after you start writing down the random thoughts that pop into your head.

What methods have you devised that allow you to continue focusing on your current tasks? Share below!

Interested to learn the three-step approach to sorting mail, reducing paper clutter, and creating a filing system? Listen to Podcast: ‘C’ is for Checking the Mail Often