Digital Catchall

Ideas can be fleeting.

They can be a thought in the shower.

A random idea that pops into your mind while you’re trying to sleep.

Or even a strike of lightning on your morning commute while stuck in traffic.

They are elusive.

Ephemeral.

Like a spectral, unfocused haze or mirage.

They can happen whenever and wherever.

The question is, do you have the means to capture it?

Look, If you had one shot or one opportunity to seize everything you ever wanted, in one moment, would you capture it? Or just let it slip? - Eminem

Now obviously Eminem wasn’t referring to productivity hacks but I think it’s an interesting thought and worthwhile discussion.

Do you have the means to jot down, express, collect, and inventory your interesting thoughts or worthwhile pursuits?

Enter the digital catch-all.

Now, by no means, does it have to be digital. I just personally don’t carry a pen and paper everywhere but if that’s you or if that’s a staple of your EDC, then you can certainly cancel out the ‘digital’ aspect.

But like I said...

Enter the digital catch-all.

WHY.

A place to document your thoughts is important.

Your ideas are important.

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With a system in place, I can easily trust my process, forget about something and rest assure I can recall it later.

That way, I can be in the moment with what in the moment takes priority.

For example, if I am driving and having random inspirational ideas generated, I obviously want to recall those ideas but recognize the importance of paying attention to driving. After all, in order to act on those amazing ideas, I need to arrive safely at my destination.

via GIPHY

Another example. What if I have a brilliant idea but I’m out with friends and socializing. I can’t ditch them to randomly go down some path of self-reflection and introspection. After all, my friends are important and I want to spend time with them. A simple fix would be to quickly jot the idea down. A variant would be to step out to use the washroom and jot it down if it’s rude to pull out your phone in front of them (as texting on your phone for even a few minutes may seem disinterested or uninvested in the face-to-face time with a friend).

WHAT I USE AS MY CATCHALL

Written

1. Apple Notes

Easy peasy for you apple lovers out there. Built into the Apple ecosystem and synced with your iCloud. A little less organizational power but you can make folders.

2. Notion

Powerful nested folder capabilities and pages within pages within pages. Definitely much better for long term notes with tags, dates, categorization,

3. Things

To-Do Lists. I’m less likely to use this for idea expansion but for simple or daily to-do needs with deadline alarm functionality.

4. Evernote

Used to use it but transferred over to Notion. Similar in the fact that it has pages, tags and categorization but I find that it’s a little less agile and malleable if organizational needs change.

5. Google Keep

Google ecosystem note-taking with colours. Not the most expansive or complicated but akin to Apple Notes and a good cross-platform option.

Auditory

1. Voice Memos

Whenever I can’t write anything down (aka when I’m driving), I use voice memos on my apple watch. Just a catch-all so it’s saved somewhere other than my mind. Because for me, a 30-50 minute drive will definitely cause me to forget what I was thinking.

Visual

1. Phone Camera

A picture is worth 1000 words as they say. A picture that you can draw on, write associated notes, highlight/underline/cross out surely must be worth 10,000 words.

I just use the native markup tool in Apple Photos app to circle, write text, add descriptions, add arrows and whatever is needed.

2. Scannable

I use scannable to scan documents. I can save them as pictures or PDFs, send them as email attachments, or directly save them into google drive folders.

HOW I USE MY DRAWER

Now, the key is to set aside intentional time to review your catchall. Whether that be photos, written, or audio, you need to have dedicated time to actually listen to, categorize or organize your thoughts for functional use.

Try it out! For me, it’s a good way to know what I want, keep track of good ideas, and I started relying on it more and more. The more I could capitalize on these good ideas, the more often good ideas seemed to flow.