Keep an imperfect notebook

Begin on the first page, without saving it for something important. Write the date, a sentence, a list, or a question.

Let different kinds of notes share the same book. A shopping list can sit beside a drawing or an idea you might never use. The notebook belongs to your life, not to a filing system.

If you miss a week, start again on the next line. There is no backlog to clear and no sequence to repair.

From time to time, look back. What you kept noticing may be more interesting than what you planned to record.