Use Your Notebook to Set (And Actually Meet) a Goal This Month
By: Shaunta Grimes
Tags: Writing, Creativity, Productivity, Notebook, Goals

February is such a neat month. I mean that literally. Four very neat, tidy little weeks.

I think this is a great month to do something self-contained like set a goal and complete it. The four week time period is long enough to accomplish something significant, but a tight enough deadline that you’ll have to really stay on top of it.

Four weeks lends itself, of course, to quarters. So you can break your goal down if you need to. Finish one quarter of it a week, maybe. Or build on it, one quarter at a time.

So — let’s do this. Choose a goal and actually accomplish it this month.

My goal is simple. It’s actually a habit I want to develop.

Here it is: I will carry my notebook with me everywhere every single day in February. That’s twenty-nine days, actually, since 2020 is a leap year.

Technically, this is already my habit. I mean, I’m supposed to carry my notebook with me. It has a pretty cover. I really want to carry it all the time. And I usually do. I sure talk about it enough.

And I do carry it. Sort of.

Except my husband had to go to my office and pick it up for me last week ahead of my trip to Costa Rica because I left it there — nearly a week before. I thought I’d be going in the next morning, but I didn’t. And then I didn’t. And then I didn’t. And then I just didn’t at all for the whole week.

And that happens occasionally. Not usually for a whole week, but I leave it at home because I don’t feel like carrying a bag big enough for it or I leave it at work because I rationalize that I won’t need it before the morning.

The result is that I don’t always have it when I need it, which kind of negates the whole thing.

Keeping an Every Day notebook is a habit.

It’s something I need to ingrain in myself. I want it to be as much a part of me as putting on my shoes before I leave the house or brushing my teeth before I go to bed.

I’ve never left my iPhone at my office for a week, just because I decided to work from home for a few days. I never leave home without it, even if I have to carry it in my hand because I’m not using a bag and I don’t have any pockets.

That’s true, even if I leave the house without any plans to make or receive a phone call. I bring it just in case I need it. It’s my habit. Leaving it behind would feel very weird after all these years.

And that’s why I want to carry my notebook. Just in case I need it.

The Real Point of This Exercise

Of course, the real point isn’t to force myself to develop an arbitrary habit. It’s to help myself figure out why I’m struggling to do something that I really want to do.

There’s some reason why I don’t already carry my notebook with me all the time. I just have to figure out what it is. Ironically, my notebook will help me do that.

My guess as to the culprit is this: I use a pretty big notebook.

This one. It’s big enough to last me most of a year. (I bought the cover at a museum in Guadalajara and it fits perfectly.)

Photo: Author

Keeping one notebook for the year has felt important to me over the past three years. But as I write this, I’m wondering how important it really is.

Would keeping a smaller notebook that would be easier to keep with me make it more likely that I’ll actually carry my notebook all the time?

Keeping a notebook this size (about 6 inches by 9 inches) requires me to carry a fairly sizeable purse or bag. I wouldn’t carry this around in my hand all the time and it’s far too big for a pocket.

I don’t always carry a purse. Sometimes I just want to stick my phone in my pocket and go. In December I stopped keeping my ID and ATM card in my phone case, in an effort to require myself to carry a bag (and, therefore, my notebook. As you read above, with varying results.)

I really, really love my notebook — this particular one — so I’m going to give it a try for February. See if I can get myself used to carrying a bag all the time. I’m carrying one more often, since I can’t just grab my phone and go if I’m driving or I think I’ll need to buy something.

If after February, I decide that I really am never going to be able to make myself carry this size of notebook with me every day, then I’m prepared to adjust. I see two alternatives.

Alternative the First

Get a smaller notebook. One that will fit in my pocket. If I’m going to go smaller, I’m going to have to really go small. Like as small as my iPhone — so somewhere in the 3X5 zone.

I kind of love these. They’re bright. There are a ton of them (which I’m pretty sure I’ll need.) And they’re unlined. I don’t like lined notebooks. My current notebook, which is the same style I’ve always used, has dot grid paper. Notebooks this size would have teeny, tiny lines and I’d hate that.

So, I could just throw one of these in my pocket and use it until it’s used up. Then start a new one.

Alternative the Second

A Hipster PDA. In case you missed the early ‘aughties, a Hipster PDA is just a bunch of 3X5 index cards held together with a tiny binder clip.

I’m fascinated by the concept and I’ve carried one off and on forever. Simple things that work are my happy place. But the idea of using one in place of my Everyday Notebook?

Eep. I’m just not sure. That’s a lot to ask of a little pile of index cards.

I’m inclined to give it a try though, if my February experiment fails.

It’s entirely possible that the size of my notebook isn’t what’s blocking me after all. I’m actually pretty excited to figure it out. My plan is to pay attention to the times when I don’t carry my notebook — whether I forget or I just don’t want to — and make a note of why (in my notebook!) so that I can figure out what’s going on when the month is up.

My Everyday Notebook February Experiment

So the goal is to carry this notebook everywhere, every day in February 2020. So far, two days in, it’s been to Costa Rica and Atlanta. So it’s having an adventurous month anyway.

I’ll be writing a post related to keeping a notebook every day this month as well. At least, that’s the plan.

I think this is a good time for this kind of experiment. The shine and glamour are wearing off of our New Year’s resolutions. It’s time to decide whether we’re the people who are actually going to make some progress toward our big ideas in 2020, or if we’re going to slide back into our same old/same old now that January is over.

I have plans for this year. I know you do, too. My notebook isn’t the key — work is the key. My notebook is more like the window in the door that the key unlocks. It lets me see in, so that I can figure out the best strategy for getting inside.

Here Are a Few Ideas for Good Four-Week Goals