Hi there and glad you’re here. This is the Mind Your Own Bee’s Knees Series where we are keeping a video journal about starting and growing an online business from scratch and sharing with you things we have found that you may also find valuable for minding your own bee’s knees, too.
The Buzz for Today is Journals, Notebooks and Planners
…And one more that we will get to toward the end of the post. Oh, and of course you will need a pen, or a pencil, colored pencils, markers, or whatever you like.
Here’s the important part and maybe it’s so simple that’s why no one talks about it…it’s got to be something you actually like, something to focus on that makes it a little more special to you than just your random pieces of paper and a pen.
Let’s talk about why this matters and why it’s my strong recommendation for anyone creating content, starting a new project, a new online business or even growing an existing business to get your journal/notebook/planner game together.
Now, I know things like digital notebooks and planners are becoming more and more popular, even those you can put on your phone, but I am going to share with you the reasons I keep it old school and probably always will be using paper journals, notebooks and planners.
First things first, choose and then actually get your journals, notebooks and planners. (Don’t skip this step.)
There are tons of options out here for the types of journals, notebooks and planners so don’t get overwhelmed by the options, though there are a few “outside of the box” options we will look at that you maybe haven’t thought of before.
The important part here is that you don’t just skip over this step altogether and not get any at all. It may seem like a small, unimportant step to have “special” journals, notebooks and planners for your projects, but it’s really not.
Here’s why this is important…if you are serious about researching something and learning about it, you are going to end up needing to take notes and probably a lot of notes.
What happens all to often is you go looking for whatever paper and pen you have laying around to write something down you found valuable. Or maybe, you just tell yourself you will just save that video with the information in it to your phone to reference back to later.
What usually ends up happening to most of us is that we lose that piece of paper and forget all about that video saved to our phone. This means you end up taking no valuable action.
Things stick in your mind better when you write them down in your own hand.
This is the number one reason I will likely always keep it “old school” with paper journals, notebooks and planners.
I have found that information sticks better for me on my mental to-do lists when I write it in my own hand, rather than typing it out or hitting a save button.
Your mind will assign more importance to something you’ve written down in a designated or “special” place of your choosing.
For me personally, I have practiced journaling in various different forms over many years, including this way of keeping a video journal about growing our online business (you can find the link to the video version of this post below), but even though it’s a video journal, I still script out everything with paper and pen first.
If you are into a little ASMR, it’s why you will always hear in our video posts, the sound of the pages I’ve written being turned throughout the videos.
I’ve found that the practice of journaling overall to be a real life-saver in more than one way and something we can talk about in future posts, but the first thing to do is to just choose something you think you may like, something special to you that you choose specifically for the task you will be using it for.
Choosing a special or designated place for you to write down valuable information to you helps keep you more mentally organized and brings about more mental clarity. The biggest reason, however, is that is keeps you accountable to yourself.
Some “outside of the box” ideas to get your journal/notebook/planner game together
Some content creators, like video makers for example, might tend to sketch out their ideas more than they use words to tell stories. For those of you who are more visual, things like the Cornell Notes system of note-taking or a Storyboard Journal would be better options for you than just a traditional lined notebook or journal.
These are just a few options below for you to check out that you probably haven’t thought of before and that may be perfect for you and open up your creativity even more.
One more thing before you check out the links…especially if you are an affiliate marketer or plan to add affiliate marketing to your own bee’s knees plans, you are going to need to get a password book that includes your affiliate information. This one you are going to thank me for later, even if you don’t know it yet.
Don’t blow off getting a password book and think, “nah, I’ll just save everything on my computer or phone” because I gotta ask…am I the only one who has had technology go on the fritz, or the only one who has ever dropped the phone in the toilet?
Save yourself the stress and just write it down…you will thank me later.
In full transparency, should you choose to purchase any journal, notebook, planner or password book through the links below, though it will cost you nothing more, I will earn a small commission. This is just one small way to support independent creators like us and for that we thank you.
Spiral Notebooks and Planners click here
Higher Learning Cornell Notes Template Notebook click here
Storyboard Template Notebook click here
6x9in. Old School New School Homeschool Lined Journal Notebook click here
Password Book for affiliate marketers click here
If you would like to watch the video version of this post you can find that below.
Until next time…mind your own bee’s knees and be well,
shannon