In elementary school I recall we had workbooks in English class (now called "language arts") called, Think and Do books. It was a companion workbook to the primary text (lots of English words) in which we had to work on or grammar, syntax, vocabulary, and other mechanical rules and procedures of the native tongue.
The academic theory, of course, was that whatever we think about, we will do—ten items at a time—in an effort to master the lingua franca.
(Funnily enough my father was as proficient at the use of the "mother tongue" as my mother. Both were profession educators. (My mother was, in fact, a trained and licensed speech pathologist—a.k.a. "speech therapist." Her life was filled with and focused on tongue stuff—male and female—but mostly she assisted elementary aged kids overcome correctable "speech impediments.")
In our Think & Do books we would fill in ten blanks, adjudicate ten true/false statements, or select the correct answer from column "B" that "best describes" words in column "A." (Is it a noun, verb, adjective ...) Some where in there we dealt with the dreaded "dangling participle." (Or is it a "dangled participle"?)
Somewhere in there (elementary school), I remember the principal asking a classroom full of us, "What are you thinking about today?" Then he threw it open to discussion. Finally he told us, "Whatever you're thinking about, you will likely spend a good deal of your time doing."
I remember thinking, Huh. That sorta makes sense. Sorta.
That brings us to ...today's question (or yesterday's question if you're reading this tomorrow) is, What are you thinking about? And do you find that when you think about something, a project, personal problem, pressing issue of life, you then spend a "good" bit of your time (waking hours) obsessing on, working on, or worrying about.
Think & Do.
So ...What ARE you thinking about these days?
• Is it something worthy of your best skills and talents?
• Is it something that will benefit you and others as a result you to spend time thinking about ...and doing?
• Is it something over which you have even a modicum of control, ability to change, correct, or improve?
If the answer to any of the above is "No", think on other things to do. Really! Think about "stuff" you can have a positive effect on and can DO something about.
I worry, obsess, and fume (much of it internally) about all kinds of SH - - TUFF. With lots of it: Nothing happens: It ain't my job.
This is one of the key reasons I have carried a "sketchbook" everyday for most of my life. (At least since about age twelve.) Yours need NOT be a hardcover, bound book of 80 to 120 pages (typically 8"x10"), like mine. I use "hard cover" books because they are more durable, plus it typically takes me a couple of months to use (almost) every page. Get a size that will work for you to have with you everyday, in your purse, attache, messenger bag, etc.
For your first few sketchbooks, grab an 8"x10", spiral bound sketchpad at Target, WalMart , or your local drugstore. Do NOT get too nice a book (expensive)—at first— as you will savor it,
treat it too preciously while waiting for a thought, image, of quote to
come along that is worthy of your too expensive note paper.
[Photo :: A few of my recent sketchbooks (top shelf) and some blanks-in-waiting (next shelf down.)]
My sketchbooks are more than notes ...and there are lots of notes. There are also sketches, doodles, visual ideas, prompts to: check out a website, artist, music download, sermon/lecture notes (I was listening to), notes of my early thoughts about a talk I will deliver ...ANYTHING I WANT TO CAPTURE, REMEMBER, AND SAVE. Notes on book projects, seminars-in-development, and keynotes all are eventually transferred to my MacBook as research or in-progress documents, then outlines, and manuscripts.
At the front of every one of my sketchbooks—the first two to four pages—is the quote: "Anything worth remembering, is worth writing down?"
If you were to thumb through my current sketchbook—or any of the previous 150 (guesstimate) you would find two, four, or elven pages in a row on the same subject. That is not only what I was thinking about, but what I was spending time doing ...back then.
Some of those notes (including lots of doodles, sketches, diagrams and ephemera taped and pasted into the pages) was related to projects at the time. Many of those pages translated into workshops, keynotes, blog posts, articles, surveys, and even books. A high percentage of my art on my sketchbook pages can be found in the pages of four of the five books I've written. (One book was a private writing job for a friend. She had already engaged an illustrator prior to bumping into me asking , "Hey, I need your assistance writing a little book." It was in no wise "little" and it was a very rewarding project. I have one copy.)
My other four books are all me—accept the cover of the first four. (Let's talk about anything else.)
I spent hundreds of hours THINKing about their content and DOing the hard and rewarding working of writing and drawing all of them.
Lately I have been sorting boxes, books, CD's. DVD's ... and doing the challenging work of downsizing. I am also doing the work to which my thinking leads me. Mostly I am THINKing about and DOing the writing for the second book in the "HATCH Trilogy" on creativity and communications.
This brings us back to you.
What are you THINKING and DOING?
What do you need to STOP THINKing about so you can use your time to DO more rewarding "stuff" with your valuable times and "factory installed" abilities?
