I have so many thoughts today.
Some of them almost popped into my brain fully fleshed out, which is weird and uncommon. But, they’re there, and I want to type them up before they run away.
Others are not fleshed out — they’re just starters. But they are very promising starters that I feel like I can easily bring to fullness if I can just sit down and start writing.
Unfortunately, I don’t have time for all of them. I can’t write five things at once, and because I have jobs, my unpaid writing time each day is limited. (The mental battle there — convincing myself that it’s okay to devote time to it at all — is a whole other topic!) Does that mean I have to pick and choose? To let some just go?
Well, possibly, yes. But, not automatically. Because I have something in my writing tool box that helps tremendously in times like this. I have storage!
The program I use for writing, Scrivener, lets me organize and store to my heart’s content. I can tap out an idea using as many or as few words as needed, then color-code it and pop it into a folder to let me know everything from the general category of the thought to how well fleshed out it is. I can add notes and keywords to help me search for it later. And I can easily mark it when I’ve revisited it and fleshed it out more.
The same is true for other tool boxes I have built. I have music repositories with notes for use in my role as music minister. I have digital folders on my computer to help me organize various craft patterns. I have dozens of folders in Google Drive and on my computer to organize what I need for my other job. I have tabs in my internet browser. Color-coding, bookmarks, and special project pages in my planner. A journal with various project ideas.
Admittedly, my storage isn’t always the best organized. Sometimes I store things in the wrong tool box. Or I jam something into a generic storage spot that’s not attached to any specific tool box, requiring me to occasionally sift through and sort the ideas stored there. And many times I neglect to store a thought, idea, pattern, song, or whatever, assuring myself that I’ll remember.
This will probably come as a shock to you, but I rarely do remember.
Ultimately, though, the point is to just have a spot to store resources that aren’t regularly needed but still good to have on hand. They don’t have to be as easily accessible in the tool box as your regular tools, but they can be in that nifty compartment that’s a little harder to get to but always nice to have.
As I talk more about tool boxes, you might start to recognize some of your own. That’s kind of the point (and we’ll chat more in the future about how to recognize your existing tool boxes). So, your challenge for the next week is to contemplate your own tool box storage. What do you store for later? What storage method naturally works for you? And now that you’re recognizing your storage, what can you do to make it more effective?
Not Quite Ordinary 