I have always been a very casual person. Think about it, a man who likes prose and poetry can only be very emotional. How can he be restrained by others, or even restrain himself, right? However, after working for many years, although I have always wanted to live a good life in an upward direction, I always feel that something is missing. Every day I am busy or confused. What have I done and what progress have I made in the past year? I have no memory of the mistakes I made, the lessons I learned, and the happy moments I had. So in order to accumulate my own sense of happiness, and to have an overall sense of perception and control over my life, I started my own accounting career. (Of course, it is also to control the belly that gradually bulges after working and to improve the physical condition that is neglected due to busyness, so as to record one's exercise.)
Of course, why is it said that it is the correct way to open a men's diary? As for the method, one is because I am a male (I like girls), and the other is because many versatile girls have good art skills. Recording life in the way of painting is actually equivalent to making each account into a vivid picture book. This is certainly wonderful, but I think most ordinary men may not necessarily have expertise in painting. Secondly, even if they do, it is not the original intention of us choosing to use handbooks. As professionals after work, efficiency must be a priority, let alone The recording method of picture books is a waste of time. As far as paintings are concerned, most of them are records of events that have occurred and lack the element of planning. The purpose of working people using notebooks is to plan their lives concisely and clearly. Therefore, the handbook in the form of picture books is not within the scope of this article.
Ok, now that we have defined the object and scope of discussion, let me share some of my experiences and insights since using the account, hoping to be helpful and inspiring to everyone.
1. Preparation
1. The seriousness of the cover
When it comes to objects that will accompany you for a long time, people generally recommend choosing the style they like. It is best to keep looking at it and want to flip it over when you see it, so as to promote the usage of the item. There are indeed many types of notebook covers, and there are many varieties. Naturally, everyone thinks of what they like, but I suggest that all male compatriots should mainly use black, brown and other solid color covers. First of all, the cover itself of this color gives people A sense of solemnity. When planning and summarizing your life, of course you must do it with a calm mind. And if you choose some colorful and cool colors, it will give people a sense of excitement. If you do the plan summary with a passionate mentality, you may not be less calm and rigorous. Just like Machiavelli, the author of "The Prince", after he suffered in prison and was demoted to a commoner, he still put on his former court uniform every night after finishing the tiring farm work. Start writing. Similarly, in fact, this is a ritual to quickly enter the role and a solemn sense of self-suggestion. In addition, as a working person, the dazzling notebook itself will give people an unprofessional feeling.
2. The suggestiveness of the inner pages
In addition to the variety of covers, the types of inner pages of the account are also even better, such as year/month/week/day Various planning pages, TODO pages, lined pages, grid pages, blank pages, Chronodex pages, etc. If you use a loose-leaf book, you can match it according to your personal preference and purpose. If you use a fixed-leaf book, such as Moleskin or Leuchtturm, there is only one inner page to choose from. I suggest that you try not to use lined inner pages. , to select gridded pages or blank pages. There is a saying that lined inner pages will constrain the writer's thoughts and inspiration, while gridded inner pages or blank inner pages without the constraints of horizontal lines can allow the writer's inspiration to dance with his thoughts and not be too rigid. ideas. Of course, you can put several inner pages in front of you, feel the potential suggestive effect, and choose a style that makes you feel the most comfortable writing. For more information on the benefits of grid notebooks, you can refer to the book "Smart People Use Grid Notebooks".
2. Make full use of inner pages
1. Visualization of progress
Anyone who has done or understood project management knows that there is a tool in the field of project management , called a Gantt chart (if you don’t understand, please figure it out yourself). The functions of the Gantt chart are as follows:
1). Graphically display the relationship between the project progress and the expected plan;
2). The connection between the current work item and other work items Sequence relationship;
3). Where is the current progress of the entire project.
The Gantt chart is both concise, clear and rich in connotation. It can serve as a warning when the progress is behind the plan, and it can boost morale and boost the spirit when the progress is ahead of the plan. The purpose of mentioning the Gantt chart here is to reserve a place for a simplified version of the Gantt chart in our handbook, so that we can easily grasp the progress of a thing or serve as a check-in record to develop new habits. The advantage is that it allows us to have an overall overview of our life during a period of time, as if it has its own progress bar, which things we have persisted in and which things we have slacked off on. It can be both a warning and an encouragement, killing two birds with one stone.
The most noteworthy thing is its graphic visualization, which allows people to grasp the overall trend of life or habits at a glance, and the growth of the bars bit by bit also gives people a sense of continuous accumulation of satisfaction.
2. Recording and accumulation
The benefits of using grid pages or blank pages have been introduced above, so I will not go into details here (this paragraph uses grid pages as example). In addition to some check-in (simplified version of Gantt chart) inner pages, the handbook also needs to reserve some inner pages for writing, which can be used to record sudden thoughts and experiences at any time, or to excerpt good sentences when reading. Notes, or your own views on certain phenomena at a certain time and place, or even some memo items, books you want to read, etc. Most of the time, inspiration comes inadvertently and is fleeting, and many things you want to do will be slowly forgotten if you don't record them. But the gap between people gradually arises from the continuous back and forth of recording, reflection, practice and accumulation bit by bit. In "The Miracle of the Morning Diary", Den Sato proposed many benefits of writing, one of which is: discovering the status and patterns of one's own body and spirit. As he said, an important purpose of the handbook is to give yourself a way to examine yourself, understand yourself, and optimize yourself. There is another simple and classic saying in the accounting world: write down what you want to do, and finish what you write down.
Talk to you.
3. Pay less attention to flow and focus on planning
Many people who have just started writing accounts, including me when I first started, don’t know where to start, so on the inner page of the daily plan Or the internal pages of Chronodex are often dominated by time records, such as what was done from what time to what time, and so on. These records are really useful for novices in accounting. First, after recording for a period of time, they can be reviewed and summarized. When you know which time you have free or which time is improperly used, you can find the time period when you are full of energy and arrange it to do important things in the future. However, if you keep recording like this, it will be ineffective and a waste of time. Why? I think the purpose of our recording is for better planning, so we can't stop at recording the flow of time, but focus on planning in the later period, plan every upcoming day, and plan our own time and energy. , because the past is over, it is the right thing to control your future life direction, and the future also determines whether we can surpass the past, so I hope you can put your plan first and eventually become what you want to be.
4. Put first things first
The final suggestion is that when you make a daily plan, list all the things you have to do. This is just the beginning, because every day Time is limited, energy is limited, and emergencies may occur at any time, so we must distinguish the listed to-do items according to the four important and urgent quadrants, and try to complete the most important things first, so that every day A great harvest has been achieved, and other trivial matters can be dealt with during free periods as appropriate. This is the third habit mentioned by author Stephen Covey in "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People" - putting first things first, and it makes sense.
So, the above are some of my experiences since using the account. I share them here. I hope it can be a guide to everyone’s life with the account. I also hope that through the account, you will be able to use the account in the near future. Meet a better self.