Lately I’ve been a little lost- lost in a sea of my own thoughts, all crashing into each other and mixing me up. You know that cloud of dust that Pig-Pen from Peanuts has that follows him wherever he goes? I feel like I’ve been walking around with that cloud above my head for months. But my cloud isn’t dust, it’s thousands of scribbled thoughts all jumbled and intertwined, waiting for the organised part of my brain to unravel them and neatly place them where they need to go. The organised sector of my brain must be on holidays because the cloud is still there and at times I feel like it’s great because I go to bed thinking, “Yay, today was awesome, I came up with all these ideas and thoughts of creative magic”. But then the next morning, they are all still up there, tangled and messy and floating.
To keep myself on track, I’ve started journaling in 2 different books. One is a pure ideas book where I write whatever I’m feeling, thinking, seeing. I stick photographs and little pieces of ephemera from my day in the journal and then come back to it when I’m feeling the Pig-Pen Idea Cloud appear. I get the ideas out of the cloud and onto paper. It seems to be working so far.
The other is a more organised journal that lays out my week ahead for projects, work and to do lists. It also has a section for blog posts and I section I call “Me”. Under the “Me” heading are bullet points that I have to tick off at the end of each week. It’s sad that I have to remind myself to go to bed by a certain time, to exercise, drink water and to eat a certain way but when life is so complicated, it’s simple things like looking after yourself that get forgotten.
Do you keep journals to keep yourself on track? How do you deal with your Pig-Pen cloud?
I use mindmaps… and use the ‘brainstorm’ mode… just type in all the thoughts, random words as the come to me. Then I group them and order the chaos and thought becomes clearer and focused. I like your 2 journals idea…. I often worry I might ‘lose my thoughts’ if I delete a mindmap on the computer :-)
Ooh, that sounds good.
I worry about losing my thoughts all the time, Nigel ;)
I’ve never been a journal person. However I started to keep two (one for the things I have to do, and one for everything else) a few months ago, and now find it helps, a lot. I realized it allows my brain to have some real “me time”, apart from being a mom, a wife, a busy journalist, etc. I now make time to list the things I love or find intersting, or that I whish I’d do… And if you listen to those atound me, you can tell it really helped me letting things go.
As for my Pig-Pen cloud, I learned to find it less overwhelming by accepting it as a part of my personality.
But all of that is true on good days. Bad day still happen :-)
Really like that picture and all the little elements.
I grab whatever is within reach and jot down my thoughts and keep them in a folder. I flesh these random thoughts out in two journals – one with words and another with drawings. It seems organized to me but to all others it’s a pig-pen to avoid. Especially that folder – it’s overflowing.
I love this idea. I have random notes stashed everywhere. This seems more usable.
i don’t.. but i should. keeping separate journals is a great idea.
I’ve been using smaller sketchbooks lately and they’re not particularly useful so everything just goes in there. Lots of thumbnails and to-do lists. I don’t have enough ideas to have the pig pen cloud following me around but sometimes I wish I had a notebook in the shower, or on long bus rides (sometimes I DO but too shy to pull it out), or when I’m going to sleep… I cracked and put one next to the computer though.
If I feel like I’m about to vent about something that I don’t necessarily want to keep forever, cheap notebooks are handy enough!
I kind of admire people who write notes on old envelopes or little scraps of paper. I think it’s very cool, though I don’t think that would work for me!
i have been using 750words.com to do a daily mind dump of all the crap floating in my head. It’s based off of julia cameron’s daily pages writing for creative people. After that i have one sketchbook for visual ideas (low writing mostly sketches) for my new ceramics projects, and other creative endeavors where i don’t want to use words to track an idea. I also use a second journal for the other projects – design work, things for my business, blog posts, collaborative projects, things where i record ideas by sketching a little bit and writing a little bit .
ever since starting the daily writing i feel less of a cloud and more like i can capture my creative thoughts on paper so i can move foreword on them and not just be stuck trying not to loose them. Clarity. it’s nice.
Right now i’m struggling with finding a schedule that lets me not feel restricted but also helps me direct my productivity.
I seem to suffer from this too. I guess most creative minds do – at least that’s what my hubs says. Love this, maybe I’ll put it on my ‘To Do” list.
If I could only find that list……
I do keep a journal mostly to scribble thoughts and other stuff I want to keep record of. I like to make lists to deal with my Pig-Pen cloud. That way I don’t have to be too creative while making the list, but I can always go back to it and see what I was thinking about at the moment.
Oh, I LOVE all these comments and ideas.
Sara, yes, accepting things that I think are flaws as just quirks and part of my personality is a struggle I deal with.
Melissa, yeah I have cheap little notepads for scribbling that I keep in my handbag too.
Jessica, I am intrigued and will have to look that up. You sound like you’re one step ahead of where I’m at and I love your ideas.
LOL Kerry! That sounds familiar!
Jackie, yes, I think that’s why I have the 2 journals. One for being creative and one for being organised.
Thanks for all these great ideas and comments, everyone. =D
You have just described my brain! I am so stuck with this disorganized brain cloud right now!
I do carry a notebook with me everywhere to help me sort out my thoughts. I would be so lost without it! Lately though, it hasn’t even been enough to keep the cloud at bay. I love the idea of two notebooks, one messy and chaotic, and one with the sorted out thoughts, lists, and plans.
i recognize this feeling – although in my case, we’re talking ‘beehive instead of brain’. the thing is, when you’ve had one idea, more keep coming – which is a good thing, of course, but it does get rather jumbled at times…
i’ve got one little notebook where i write the things i need to check out/buy when i’m going out (i’ve tried using my cellphone, but digital notes don’t work for me). the to do-lists are on my laptop, where i easily can edit and re-prioritize my tasks if needed. and i’m getting a book for my creative ideas. i’ve noticed that practical everyday tasks tend to make the beehive more busy, so i try to be on top of these things – paying the bills often, doing a bit of housework every day etc. so the trivias don’t start piling up and become disturbing.
and if things get too stressful, i say to myself: ‘one thing at a time’ – which isn’t exactly groundbreaking, but it actually helps!
I admire your two journals. I’m definitely a list person. The moment I write it down ideas it helps greatly. Seeing it written out helps me to prioritize, what can be accomplished when and how, and a calm feeling comes. Moleskines are my friend.
I think it’s kind of humorous that you think i’m more together, because i kind of think that about you. I can’t seem to keep a blog. That is one of my goals for this year. I really want to have one, and i mean i have one (http://jessicaalvarado.com) but don’t seem to be able to post on it with any regularity – but you have this blog and you’re in the book you just finished…
Though, inspired in part by your blog – i’ve beefed up my darkroom supplies, i’m working through my first roll of portra nc 400 on my fm3a (which i hadn’t used up in years), and picked up a vintage lunasix light meter so i can use my father in law’s meterless medium format Yashica-d tlr to shoot with.
i have an overabundance of journals at the moment – i prefer one, one for everything but my different art school classes require a journal for each subject so i constantly grab whichever is closest and hope that the idea is relevant!
i really wanted to comment, to say hi and to say WOW…. this blog is a visual lolly shop. so beautiful! i have joined the twelve group on flickr and will be checking back regularly to immerse myself in more of this loveliness!
thank you
samm
The only thing bouncing around my head right now is the stress of wondering if I got all my coursework done!
But I loved this post, nonetheless. I know exactly what you mean.
:)
I used to try so hard to keep an inspiration journal or organised diary and give myself rules to try and add and keep them organised every day and for some reason I wanted them to be neat and perfect. Well fail. Every time. Life is not neat and perfect.
I found I had filled art books and journals many times with quotes, ideas, things to do and I’d been keeping an unorganised journal anyway.
So now, very similarly to your idea, I have one for ideas and inspiration and the other for organisation, but there are no rules, I just use them as I need them!
great post, amanda. i keep two moleskine books. one is a large grid journal where i draw, create + lay out my ideas; even the ones on repeat and continuing to grow.
the other is the calendar with weekly pages. i treat this as a means to make special notes; like the day nolan started naming his hugs or ava’s best dreams. i also try to organize non-work ideas in the lined pages but it’s mostly filled with notes or photos held together by japanese washi tape.
for all the functional [work] stuff, i use teuddeux. so that the lists of daily must-do.s are carried over readily. even in there….there’s a someday box. and trust that it is a running list of a whole new world of must-do.s
that seems like a lot, doesn’t it? + yes, i carry it all around but i am trying to find ways to minimize; like leaving the calendar in the home office. it hasn’t happened quite yet. maybe because i’m all for carrying inspiration. and find it’s not that heavy.
{smile}
I obsessively journal, and yes, I keep two as well. My planner has everything in it from my appointments to friends I should say hi to and recipes.
I understad the brain jumble… it’s always a lot to keep on top of!