How I Got My Attention Span Back.

0:00Hello everybody, welcome or welcome back. If you're anything like me, then you're overwhelmed. You're overwhelmed with daily tasks, deadlines, routines, but also overwhelmed with the newest productivity hacks that seem to be coming out every few days. The truth is, the more productivity tips you consume, the less you actually get done. You end up doing nothing but collecting, saving, or screenshotting these hacks for when

0:22you'll come back to them. Well, in today's video, I'm going to show you how to actually become productive using a pen and a pocket notebook. And make sure to stay till the end of this video for a giveaway. So, without further ado, let's get started. So, the first thing that you should know is that our brains are awful at multitasking. So, when you keep unfinished thoughts or tasks in the back of your mind, they take up space in your working memory and compete with whatever you're trying to focus on. So, as you can see, Jerry's trying to do some work, but Jerry can't stop thinking about the

0:54fact that he still needs to get his mom a birthday card. He has a doctor's appointment coming up. His dog is out of dog food, and he needs to get [music] some gas. The more that Jerry holds in his working memory, the less he is able to focus on the task at hand. The trick to gaining mental clarity and to close these thought loops is by giving them a place to go. [music] So, instead of juggling everything mentally, you're storing them externally, which will reduce the cognitive load and make it much easier to focus on the task at hand. And here is where the pocket notebook comes [music] in. I have done

1:26several videos on pocket notebooks and my pocket notebook system. If you're interested, I will have the first one linked [music] up here. But, at its core, it is three simple steps that I will be going through with you. [music] Step number one is to capture. Step number [music] two is to filter. And step number three

1:47is to migrate and elaborate. And if you're enjoying this video so far and my crappy drawings, then feel free to to the subscribe button. So, step number one is to use your pocket notebook as a capture [music] system. And the goal here is to not have to think about where something is, belongs, or should go. So, if these are your thoughts, you're not wondering if you put that reminder on a sticky note, you're not wondering if that million-dollar idea is actually in the apps on your phone, and you're not wondering whether or not that appointment was already scheduled in your calendar. You are simply [music] taking all of your thoughts and

2:20immediately capturing them in your pocket notebook. The goal here is not organization. You're not trying to organize anything at this stage, you are simply mentally unloading into your pocket notebook. Now, what types of things are we [music] capturing? Tasks, reminders, quick thoughts or ideas, any plans, or maybe even things that you want to look up later, like something to research or product that you're wanting to buy. So, now let's use me as an example. This is my pocket notebook, and here was my [music] entry from yesterday. So, as you can see, number one, we have reminders. It was my friend's birthday yesterday, I made sure I didn't forget. Number two, we have

2:59tasks. Here were some of my daily tasks using a modified bullet journal system. Then we have things to look up later. So, while I was on transit to visit my friend, I watched a video about nib tuning. Here were some of the products that I wanted to look into later. We have some sandpaper, we have one ink recommendation, and this was another thing to look up later. I saw a tutorial on turning a Hubba Bubba container into a headphone storage, thought that was

3:22really cool. And finally, we have plans. So, this is an ENT appointment that will need to be scheduled. But as you can see, I didn't discriminate about the type of information that I was putting down in here. Everything goes, and it was just a way to get thoughts onto paper. Step number two is to filter. If [music] you've been on my channel for a while, you will be familiar with the filtering funnel, but the way I describe the filtering funnel is that you're taking all of these thoughts and ideas as though it were sand and gravel, and you filter through them to find your

3:49nuggets of gold. It's in this step you decide what's important and what are things that you don't need or that aren't useful. [music] So, once a day, take literally 2 minutes to go through your page, cross off what's done or what's sand, and decide [music] what's useful or what's gold. So, once again, let's take our example from yesterday. [music] I find it helpful to go in with a different color just so it's easy to differentiate between what's been processed and what hasn't, but as always, you do you. So, I'm reviewing my tasks. I can see did this

4:23get done? Did I pick up the dog food? Yes, I did. So, once again, that's going to be crossed off. So, now I know all of this information is done. There's nothing more that needs to be done, so I'm going to cross that all out. Not useful anymore. So, now we're left with these things here. These are mostly products that I'm interested in, so I'm going to just say I'd like to add those to my wish list. This is an appointment that needs to be scheduled, [music] so it's going to go into my calendar or

4:47planner. And this is more of a creative [music] hobby task, so this is going to take a lower priority in my planner. So, when we look at this page now, we know which information is not important and which information is going to be moved. Step three is to migrate and elaborate. In this step, we are taking the information that we have deemed more important and we are putting it in a place to be dealt with more meaningfully. And that's where the elaboration comes in because some of the bits of information that you're wanting to keep will require you to delve in a little bit deeper and really get to the

5:21core of the idea. So, once again, let's take a look at my example. So, all of these products with the nib tuning have been safely [music] added to my wish list. So, I'm going to cross that off. Now, both of these items are going into the same place. [music] They are going into my planner. So, first things first, I'm going to update my future log and say that on July 3rd, I have my ENT

5:42appointment at 11:20. Now, [music] of course, I'm really into paper planning, but for you, this could look like adding this appointment to your digital calendar. So, this has been dealt with, so I can cross it off. Next up, we have this fun [music] creative task that I want to look into. So, I'm going to move into the upcoming week and

5:59simply write it in my note section. Now that that's done, I can cross it off. So, for this example, you'll notice that none of the bits of information that I'm migrating [music] really required any elaboration. But, an example of wanting to or needing to elaborate upon something could be that you came across a quote that you really liked. You add this quote to your commonplace notebook, and then you decide to elaborate on it, asking yourself how this quote made you feel, what it made you think of. Once again,

6:27delving a little bit deeper into that. Another good example is if you had a really good business idea. You initially put the business idea in here, and then let's say you migrate it to your work planner. In your work planner, you elaborate upon this idea, maybe what materials it would require for you to get going, or who your target audience is. That would be an example of elaborating. But, in the case of my

6:48example, there's nothing to elaborate. This page has entirely been processed, so you can do one of two things. [music] You can either make a mark at the top of the page to say that this page has been processed, or if you're into something more physical, I've been liking to hole punch my pages so that when you're looking at the spine, I know exactly [music] what still needs to be processed. And if you're wondering why this works, well, number one, it reduces decision fatigue. When you're trying to figure out which bits of information should go where, all of a sudden, you're left feeling mentally drained. When you know that every bit of

7:22information, regardless of what it is, is going in here, it allows you to do that mental unloading without judgment. Number two, as mentioned previously, it externalizes these looping thought patterns. When you're constantly ruminating on the same three or four thoughts, it can be mentally tiring. When [music] you give these thoughts some place to go, you no no have to hold onto them so tight, and that will immediately allow for some mental relief. Number three, by putting all of the information into a pocket [music] notebook rather than your cell phone, you also avoid dopamine loops. I'm sure you guys know this all too well, but when you pick up your phone to do one

7:55thing, next thing you know, you're doing 10 other things, you're completely distracted, and you forgot the original reason why you picked up your phone in the first place. [music] Luckily, this notebook doesn't offer notifications, yet, so it's definitely less [music] distracting. Number four, this notebook works as a pattern detector. If you flip through past [music] entries, you're able to see which tasks you're repeatedly avoiding, which ideas you keep coming back to. [music] It really highlights what matters and what doesn't. And this is not something that you would [music] get as easily if

8:23you're working with a digital system. And number five and six, it also allows you to think more deliberately and be less scattered. [music] At the end of the day, when you're reviewing and deciding which thoughts and ideas are important or not, it allows you to reach a deeper level of thinking. And [music] it's this discernment between ideas

8:40which allows you to feel less scattered. You already know which ideas are good and which ones are crap. So again, you're not carrying these thoughts for days on end. Okay, now that we know why it works, let's get into the giveaway. First and foremost, of course, I'm going to send you home with your own pocket notebook. It's thread bound, 100 GSM cream paper, and I got you the plain ruling so that your ideas and thoughts have free reign. Now, if you think this size [music] might be too big for you, not to worry, I'm also sending you home with two composition notebooks. This one has tear-out pages, [music]

9:10this one has thread binding so you could decide which one is best for you. And if you think these are still too big, well, not to worry [music] because I'm also sending you home with a Midori A7 notebook. Once again, this one is plain ruled, it has this beautiful cream paper, and I've been asked several times where my other pocket notebook is [music] from, and it is this one right here. Now that we have all of our notebooks out of the way, let's get into utensils and [music] accessories. First up, you will be getting these little mini sticky notes just for fun, but in case you have any reminders that you

9:40want to put on here, you can do that. Next, [music] you'll be getting the Pentel Comm in a 0.7. I absolutely love this pen. Not only does the rubberized grip section [music] go all the way to the tip, but it has a really nice calming click. The second pen you will be getting is a Rite Tech Aurora in case you prefer gel over ballpoint. This is a 0.5, but it still writes like a 0.7. And finally, last but not least, you will be receiving a Lamy Safari. This one has been gently used by me, but I promise

10:08you I have cleaned it very thoroughly. And with that, I will also be making sure that you guys have two sets of Lamy cartridges so that you are all ready to go right out of the gate. So, this is everything that you will be winning, and here are the details to enter. Number one, like this video. Number two, subscribe to this YouTube channel. And number three, comment down below where you're from. I always love to see where my new subscribers are from. I think it's so fun. Thank you guys so much for watching. I'll see you next time. Stay

10:34cozy, and bye-bye. [music]