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May 24, 2006
5 Reasons to have a post-it cube in your car
A while back I wrote about some of my favorite capture tools (a fancy way of saying devices that allow you to write things down instead of keeping the ideas in your head). Here are 5 more reasons that everyone should have a post-it cube and a pen affixed to the steering wheel of their car:
1. The next time an out-of-towner asks you for directions to a restaurant, street, or neighborhood; try drawing a mini-map instead of trying to describe it out loud. I've lived in a lot of tourist towns, and not only do the tourists appreciate it, it takes about half the time and a quarter of the goofy-looking hand gestures to communicate your directions effectively.
2. When you're on the road and your chewing gum, mint, etc. gets stale, wrap it in a sticky note instead of fumbling around for a scrap of paper. (If you've ever had a piece of gum melt in your car, you can understand how nice this peace of mind is.)
3. Are you dropping off a book or a document for a friend? If they aren't home you can just stick a post-it on top of the delivery to let them know who it's for, that it's from you, if you need it back, and leave it in the mail-box or on the porch.
4. Sometimes being in your car can trigger new thoughts or reminders that are much easier to process into your system if you write them down right away. i.e. "Check pressure in tires", "Schedule an oil change", or "Waiting for new auto insurance documents to arrive since 5/15/06."
5. Since a lot of people fill their commuting time with music, the radio, or audiobooks, it's especially nice to be able to jot things down like "Download the new Jack Johnson song from iTunes," or "Look into current events on the BBC website," or "Research jazz clubs for next Chicago trip." Then you can get back to enjoying whatever you are listening to, knowing that you can always handle that cool new thought back at the ranch.
Posted by Lisa at May 24, 2006 09:01 AM
Comments
Great suggestions - thanks! I would add that - for safety - your readers not attach anything to the steering wheel, and to not write while driving. Don't want to loose any GTD'ers!
Posted by: Matthew Cornell at May 24, 2006 11:18 AM
Hi Matt- yes, thanks for reminding me, I mentioned in my earlier post that it's so important not to write while driving. And to clarify- I love having my post it cube on my steering wheel because it functions like a built in desk when I'm parked in my car (either just arrived at my destination or about to head out).
Posted by: Lisa at May 24, 2006 11:42 AM
