For the amount of time I spend on the computer, you might think that I'm a very technologically knowledgeable person. And while I certainly consider myself a reasonably proficient computer user, I am in many ways still a pen-and-paper kind of girl. I don't make spreadsheets or databases or slideshows or anything else fancy.

Instead of keeping track of things on the computer, I have my notebooks. Yes, notebookS. Plural. I need to have several notebooks going at all times--one in the kitchen, one in the office, one in my purse--so there's one close by all the time. Then, when I need to make a list or take notes during an interview or jot down something I don't want to forget, I have some place to write down this crucial information.

Just the other day I was going over some end-of-year surveys from my MOPS group and writing down which of our meetings and guest speakers were most popular. I was doing this by hand, in a notebook page, making tally marks behind each speaker's name to keep track of the votes. My husband took one look and started laughing.

"Oh, that's so cute. You're doing it by hand!" he said. When I asked him how else one might be expected to do it, he started talking about Excel and writing scripts and manipulating data, and I immediately tuned him out. I don't know how to do those things, and just taking a few minutes to write it down is much faster for me than figuring out how to do it digitally. I LIKE my notebooks.




That's not to say that I'm not open to change, though. The problem is, that with all these notebooks everywhere, each one of them is very...multi-purpose. That would be a nice way of saying "a completely disorganized mess." (Hey, that's a pretty good way to describe my entire house!) Let's take a look at the notebook on my desk right now, just for fun.

• First page: a list of recipes. I must have been meal planning. Also a phone number scribbled in the margin. I have no idea what that number is for.
• Next page: grocery list. This must have been my kitchen notebook for awhile. Also, at the bottom, this mysterious notation: "$569. 2-3." Did I spend $569 on something on Febuary 3rd? I don't know.
• Third page: OK, now we get into interview notes from a veterinarian I interviewed awhile ago. Four pages of veterinarian notes. Then one page of notes from an interview about a high school community service project, for a completely different story for a completely different client. This notebook must have migrated to the office for a few days.
• Two more grocery lists, one to-do list, notes from a conversation with my editor, notes from my story about agritourism, notes from a discussion with my husband about how to prioritize our spending. You get the picture. It's a very mixed bag.

The problem, as I'm sure you can imagine, is that when I need to go back and actually USE my notes, I have to flip back through the pages, hunt around through various notebooks, rack my brain trying to figure out which notebook I wrote that down in.

When a notebook is full one way, I usually turn it over and write back through on the back sides of the sheets of paper. Then, once it is completely and totally full, I toss it into this desk drawer. Just in case I might need something I wrote down in there! I clean out the drawer once every year or two when I'm having problems shutting it, but I'm always reluctant. What if there is something important in there?

You organized types have probably already fainted and are now fanning yourselves and trying to comprehend how I exist this way. And the truth of it is, I don't really know either. I like jotting things down with a pencil and paper. I like the bound notebooks because it's more difficult to lose than, say, a Post-It note. But the fact that I use all my notebooks all the time for all different facets of my life makes things a little complicated.

I could, of course, get different notebooks for different purposes, but what if I'm in the kitchen making dinner and the phone rings and it's a source calling back and I need to just stop what I'm doing and jot down a few notes real quick in my kitchen notebook? What if I'm in the drive-through and a really cool line of poetry pops into my head and I need to pull out my purse notebook (rather than my "writing" notebook) to write it down before it's lost forever (this did actually happen to me in a drive-through last month...but I have not gone back to look at this amazing line of poetry since then, because it's somewhere in my purse notebook and I'm not sure where). Am I going to carry a stack of three or four notebooks around with me everywhere? I don't think so.

So, here's a challenge for you, organized people of the world: any creative ideas for a system that will keep my scatteredness in check, while still allowing me to use my lovely notebooks? How does everyone else keep track of reminders and phone numbers and lists? I feel sure that there must be a better way.

If I come up with one, maybe I'll write it down in my notebook.