Editing The Pen Addict 443/transcript

{{Infobox podcast transcript
| name            = The Pen Addict
| number          = 443
| title           = Notes Passing Through the Night
| date            = January 6th, 2021
| hosts           = [[Brad Dowdy]]<br>
[[Myke Hurley]]
| guests          = 
| link            = [https://www.relay.fm/penaddict/443 Episode 443]
| audiolink       = [https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/traffic.libsyn.com/secure/thepenaddict/The_Pen_Addict_443.mp3 Audio Episode 443]
| length          = 71
}}

'''Myke Hurley:''' From RelayFM, this is The Pen Addict, episode 443. Today's show is brought to you by Squarespace and Harry's. My name is Myke Hurley. I'm joined by Brad Dowdy. Happy New Year, Brad. Happy New Year, Myke Hurley. Wow, is this our first episode of 2021? Yes. Well, I mean, it's only January 6th, so... The number day of the week is... I only know it's Wednesday, like 30 minutes before the show. Actually, that's a lie. I know the day before when I have to write the notes, but then by the time Wednesday morning rolls around, I'm still like, what day is today? Like, you know, it's been like that for months, so, you know, that's just the way it is these days.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' So we got a pretty big episode today. Okay.

'''Myke Hurley:''' It's an interesting episode. Am I... Let me ask you this before we explore this. Am I... And I'm purposely not saying what we're talking about, even though I've already said publicly what we're talking about. Am I crazy for being nervous that this episode doesn't fit in the grand scheme of Pen Addict podcasts? Yes.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' We're literally talking about journaling. I know. So I don't really understand how... I mean, look, what we're going to talk about today is not just what you're using for your journaling this year, but what you're putting in it, which is maybe a little bit... You know, it's more along the lines of a focus or cortex, you know, one of those kinds of shows. Yeah. But, no, I don't think it's an issue.

'''Myke Hurley:''' And I think I see it that way because I'm talking about me the whole time. Right, right, right. Like, this whole thing is about, like, hey, here's how I do the thing, and that's not normally a thing for me. Like, we'll do that in small bits and, you know, have a segment here, segment there, but this is, like, literally how I'm setting up my theme system journal and what my yearly theme is going to be. How I set up my planner and what planner I'm using. And then, like, what other stuff do I use? So this is a little bit... It's... The question was partially a joke because it's totally right in line. I'm also a little bit uncomfortable about talking about myself for, like, a straight hour, even though I've probably done that for 442 episodes. But it was more, you know, around, you know, product-based stuff. And this is a little bit more touchy-feely, Myke.



== Themes ==


'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yep. So, yearly themes. Yearly themes. This is a concept that was created and adapted by CGP Grey and myself. So, creation by Grey, adaption by me, is in the idea of having a theme for the year. If you want some background on this, I will put in the show notes episode 110 of Cortex, which is the most recent yearly themes episode. From there, you can find previous episodes about themes. I will also put in a link to a YouTube video that Grey made about yearly themes themselves, like, just as a thing. And then I'll also include in the notes a link to the themesystem.net where I kind of explain how yearly themes, the idea of having a theme for the year, can then be translated into journaling. And I will just, you know, state for the record, we sell a product sometimes. We like to try and have a product all the time that you can put this in. But look, this is, we created a product that I think is a great product, but it doesn't hold any special keys to anything. You can use the theme system in any notebook that you want to.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Absolutely. Absolutely. Okay. You ready for me to? Like bullet channeling. Yeah, absolutely. Like, this is a system that can be used in any notebook product and probably even digitally. Oh, definitely digitally. So, yeah. And I know a lot of people are doing that.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Oh, it's the themesystem.com, not the themesystem.net. I always say the themesystem.net, which I think I own that URL and I should just move it. It's themesystem.com, themesystem.net.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah. Yeah. There you go. All right. So, I have to give a little bit of background in the beginning on why I'm actually using the themesystem journal and just themes in general. I've never been a resolutions guy. Like, I've never been a New Year's resolutions guy. Never in my life. Like, you know, you have a good theory about it. You know, when you're younger, it's like, oh, this is the year I lose. You know, my New Year's resolution is to lose 20 pounds and to stop doing this and to start doing that. And I've just never been that person. And so, the idea of themes actually kind of stuck with me in how I think about things. So, like, that idea appealed to me. And if it didn't, we wouldn't be talking about this book. I mean, like, to be honestly with everyone, you know, Myke and I have been friends for a decade now, pretty much. And, like, if I didn't, you know, if the notebook wasn't for me, I'd tell Myke and, like, Myke would be cool with that, right?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' No, I wouldn't be cool. I'd be heartbroken, but I wouldn't have a problem with you.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah, yeah, yeah. Right? So, but I happen to find personal value in this, regardless of whether, you know, Myke and Gray and my friends made the thing, right? So, like, I'm pretty upfront about that. So, the idea of, like, having a yearly theme really stood out for me because I'm working for myself. Yeah. And I think it's really designed for that. Like, if I was in my old job, like, I don't, I wouldn't have, I wouldn't get the value from having a yearly theme that I think I get now, right? So, that's just the way I personally look at it. Some people do use it for their day jobs and their regular work. But I feel like I wouldn't have used this product in the beginning, in the early days of the pen addict as much as I would now. Because back then, I was never a journaler to begin with, right?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Right, okay.

'''Myke Hurley:''' So, and people who were journalers and, you know, would find a way to use it. But now, it fits into my, the way I work. So, my first theme, I haven't told Myke what my theme is.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Just real quick, real quick before you do this. So, just to give a very brief overview. So, the idea of having a yearly theme is instead of picking, say, I want to do this by June, which is a resolution, or I want to do this specific thing this year. You come up with a word or phrase that can guide you through the year. So, for example, my theme this year is the year of reinvention. Because I'm taking things that I did last year in a panic because of the pandemic and turning some of those things into permanent parts of my life going forward in a way that I feel like I'm reinventing myself, my career, and how I approach certain things. So, then, when I think about what the year of reinvention is for me, I can have loads of little things, little projects, little ideas that can all ladder up to reinvention.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' So, I just wanted to give that overview. Like a theme is like, it's an idea that you carry with you through a period of time, whether it's three months, six months, nine months, a year, longer, that you are focusing towards. I've come up with the phrase, it makes sense to me a little bit, of calling it like a north star. It's the thing in the sky that you can see and it guides you. And that's what yearly themes is all about and what kind of differentiates it from resolutions.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yep. And I've kind of like bought into that idea, right? And I still, just from my perspective, I still, it's mostly work focused and a little bit life focused. So, my 2019 theme was the year of experimentation. I remember this came about because I was getting actually frustrated with the stationary market of being overwhelmed with things, right? So, I would have, and I would be, and me not wanting to be flexible as, you know, a product reviewer and as a stationary commentator. To want to look at all the things, I was frustrated that I was not interested in all the things. And so, I tried to reach out and, you know, broaden my horizons, experiment in things, get out of my comfort zone. So, that was 2019. So, 2020 was the year of ideas. And the concept behind that was I didn't feel quite productive in my different workflows that I have for coming up with new things to move these things forward. New ways to write on the pen attic, new products to make with Nock, you know, new ideas for spoke design, anything, you know, just completely, you know, trying to figure out what are these ideas and do I need to spend some time on coming up with these ideas. So, oddly enough, I didn't think of these two things. Like, I didn't go back and review my previous two themes when I had this year's theme, but it actually ties in. It's like round three of this exact continuation of themes. So, this year is the year of creating, right?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' So, I actually think that that's not rare. The idea that you can see a through line of your themes because it's you, isn't it? It's your journey through what you're trying to achieve. And I think it's pretty normal for things to adapt. Like, that's literally my theme this year is an adaptation of some of the stuff that I did last year, but looking at how I broaden them. Like, what did I learn from needing to shift the way that my business worked and what are the things that I would take from that and adapt in the long term or what things about that were good, but I would want to change in this way or that way. So, there's a through line from these things from year to year. And as well, like, I think it's very rare for somebody to complete every part of their ideal theme every year. So, some things may just move over because you didn't do enough on them or you want to complete them. So, I think it's pretty normal to have a good through line from year to year.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah, because I never thought about that and it just kind of happened that way. Like, I didn't even – once I saw it, I was like, oh, crap, all of these work together. And that doesn't mean, like, any of those other themes have to end. Like, I can still be experimental and I still have to come up with ideas on the regular. But now, this year, I want to put those – I want to implement those ideas, right?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah.

'''Myke Hurley:''' So, that's the year of creating. That sounds better than the year of implementation. That sounds like I'm working for Toyota or something. So, I'm going with the year of creating where I want to bring – use this experimentation I've had and use these lists of ideas that I create and turn them into, like, real things. You know, whether – that can be a blog post or it could be a physical good, right? It could be all of these things. So, that's my theme, which, honestly, that topic, for those who aren't familiar with Cortex, that's mostly what you and Gray talk about is the themes and how you implement the themes into your life. And that's kind of where we're going to stop with, like, the theme part and we're going to get into the how I use it part and how it, you know, makes me, you know – how the theme system journal works within my life. Yeah. Just trying to, I don't know, clear my head, honestly. It really works for that. So, we're going to talk about the layout of the theme system journal. So, do you want to break down the overall parts just real quick? You can do that better than me. It's just a real short overview of, like, the general sections of the book.



== Journal Pages ==


'''Brad Dowdy:''' There's three main sections. You have the pages where you write down what your yearly theme or your theme is. So, you just have, like, some boxes to fill it out and some ideal things that you want to achieve from it. Then you have the daily pages. This is where you do your journaling. It has a bunch of boxes of varying sizes where you would give yourself some prompts and you'd fill in that every day. And then you have what we call the daily theme pages. People think of these as habit tracking. But it's basically a list of things that you want to achieve on a daily basis, typically like a word or a phrase, things that you want to just move along. Like, for example, I think about this of having – let me get mine. I can give you what mine say. So, every single day, I want to achieve something in the realm of creation, advancing, revenue, teamwork, marriage, relationships, engaging, health, relaxing, or learning. And every day, I give myself a little mark as to if I've completed something that could fall into those buckets. Because for me, if I do all of those things in a day, it's probably a good day.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So, I took the – I'm glad you did that because I couldn't remember the names of any of the sections.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' You know, because as well, I mean, I have names for them. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But people think of them in their own way. Like, you know, you would call – maybe call it like a diary page, a journal page, and habit tracking. Yeah. You don't need my names. It's just what we call them because it's the product, right?

'''Myke Hurley:''' Well, that's what's important about what I did for what I call the journal pages. Like, the real – the diary pages of the book is I remember when you first came out with this and you sent me the book that I would not use the book until I came up with the appropriate section titles for me. Like, do you remember this conversation? It was a couple years ago. Like, I would not start the book until I was content with how I was going to name every section. Oh, yeah. Yeah. So, what I came up with were, you know, different things I wanted to capture on a daily basis. So, my first – my top section is called stoked because I like, you know, fun and funny words like that. Like, so, like what made me happy and excited today? What can I put in this box that I was stoked about? Well, the next section I call joked because I think you need to have an opportunity to bitch and complain in your journal. And that gives me that option. So, I have, like, my positive thing. Like, what's the cool thing that happened to me today and what made me mad today, right? Those are my top two sections in the journal. I put an image up on – well, I have in the show notes of – I put these images on my Instagram page this morning for y'all to see. I just wrote, like, a general index page. So, those are my first two sections. They're usually only, like, one sentence or one statement, right? It's just, like, the happy thing. And for me, it's the mad thing, right? Like, I need to put my anger down on paper.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' So, my top two boxes of the four main boxes that you would track every day is good and bad. So, I write a good thing and a bad thing. Yeah. What was good today? What was bad today? Yeah.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah. So, my main section is called moments where, you know, that's the – okay, let me elaborate on what made me happy. Let me elaborate what made me mad. Let me, you know, notate what made me – you know, what my wins were today. Like, I hate that term. But, like, you know, what was I productive about today that I feel accomplished about? And, you know, so, I have a reminder of that. And then I can write any personal notes I have there. And, again, this is a very work-focused product for me. Like you, Myke, I only run this Monday through Friday. And if I'm on, you know, vacation or a holiday, it's not happening, right? I would fail if I tried to do this seven days a week, 365 days a year. I would absolutely 100% fail. So, this is – Working days only for me. So, that's why this tends to be more work-focused for capturing my day. And then I also, in this moment section, I note, like, what pen or pencil. If I'm using a fountain pen, what ink, I'll talk about that. So, I like to keep track of that. And I purposefully use something different every day. Yeah. Like, I don't have, like, a theme system journal pen where every page is in because I'm just surrounded by this stuff. And I want to use something different every day. That's part of, like, just the exploration of stationery.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. I – this main box, which you have the moments, I used to have proud. So, I would write what I was proud of in a day. But for this year, I've changed it to just, say, thinking. So, like, what am I thinking about? And I've actually got some real use out there. I've enjoyed that a lot. For the first time ever this week, I moved – I used two pages instead of one. Oh. Because I had so much on my mind that I ended up just using another page. And one of the good things about the journal is because the pages aren't dated. You date them yourself. They're numbered now, but they're not dated. You can do that. And we encourage that. And I ended up using multiple days for one day. So, I was actually really proud about the fact that I had not dated the pages because I got to use that feature for the first time.

'''Myke Hurley:''' I was like, oh, thanks, me. Good job by you. So, yeah, that's the thing is sometimes my joked section, like something that made me mad or was frustrated or bummed me out or I was sad, sometimes there's not something there, right? These all don't have to be filled out. Sometimes my moments section is full. Sometimes it's one sentence or two. Like it just, you know, it's rethinking about my day and what I took out of it is what goes in this. And, you know, not every day is going to be chock full of goods and bads and wins and losses. And sometimes day is just a day. So, that's, I don't worry about. I always have something, joked is the only one that just generally, that might have a chance of not being filled, right? It's generally filled, but, you know, once every couple weeks, I might be just sit there and stare at that. I was like, you know what? Really? Nothing really bugged me today. And that's the same for me, too. Myke was all right. You know, Myke didn't do that.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah, Myke wasn't too annoying today. He was just on the regular level.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yep. So, and then my last section, this was actually the hardest section for me. And you and I had to sit and talk about this. You know, it's this thinking forward section. And I never really do that, right? That's never, like, been a thought process of mine. So, I titled my section, Let's Go. It's like, you know, what am I getting hyped about in tomorrow, the next week, the next month, whatever. Whatever in the future am I excited about, it's going to go in that little space right there. Sometimes that's hard for me. I will be perfectly honest, you know, because, like, I don't know. I tend to not work in that space in the future a lot. So, I have to think about that section a lot. But I always make myself put something there. I never, I always have that filled out. So, I just do. So, that's kind of, like, my general layout. And I started doing this when I was, last year, I do my, I try to make my theme system day end at, like, 4 or 5 o'clock in the afternoon. Kind of like, hey, my workday is over. And since it's generally a work-based notebook idea platform, my workday is ending. I should recap the day right then. Well, as anyone who works for themselves know, your day is never the same two days in a row. So, I would miss, like, 4 or 5 o'clock. And sometimes I do it at, like, 8 o'clock the next morning. Or, you know, after dinner, like, 8 o'clock at night or whatever. And I just dumb lucked into a new time frame where this works absolutely perfect for me. And it's right before I go to bed. So, I would have never picked out this time on purpose. Right. But I have this routine now. So, like, I'm a well-known early to bed, early to rise person, right? I don't stay up late. I'm not a night owl. So, like, 9, 9.30, 10 o'clock, I'm, like, yawning. I'm, like, ready to, like, think about going to bed. But I can never just get straight into bed. But I'll always, you know, go in my bedroom and we have a chair in there. And I'll sit in the chair and read. That'll be, like, my reading time. My decompression time. Well, it turns out that's the perfect time for me to do my theme system journal. Right. Because that's something I do every single night just by accident. Like, I didn't set up the schedule that way. That's just the way I wind down for the night. Because I don't like reading my phone in the bed or reading a book in the bed. Right. When I get in the bed, I go to sleep. So, I don't ever, you know, carry over any internetting or any kind of that stuff when I'm ready to actually get in the bed. So, I'll do this sitting next to the bed. And it's kind of the perfect place to just kind of recap my day. And that was just dumb luck. And I was like, wow, this is really kind of perfect. And I've been pretty consistent with that so far. So, I like it. So, yeah, that's what works for me.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Do you have any kind of reminder or anything of this? Or do you just, you know you're going to do it? Because I have a daily repeating reminder at 5 o'clock to fill out my journal. Right. I think some days I wouldn't remember to do it if I didn't have that reminder. Like, I'd just be busy and not get to it. And I like to do it kind of 5 o'clock, depending on the day, will either be the end of my work day or the middle of my work day. And that works really nicely for me as a time to do it. Yeah. Because that is a time of the day when I usually would have a bit of free time. And so, I like to sit down and write it then. But without that reminder, I would definitely forget some days.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah. When I was doing it at 4 or 5 o'clock in the afternoon, I had a reminder. Right now, I do not have a reminder. And I'm thinking about adding one. Because we'll talk about other things later. Like, in the planning stages, you know, I do implement some digital tools into that. And they would work well for a theme system reminder. But I found the 4 or 5 p.m. didn't work for me. Like, if I wasn't around or if I wasn't at home or I was doing something with the kids, like, I would just, you know, complete that reminder and then just completely forget about it.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Right.

'''Myke Hurley:''' So, right now, I don't have one for, like, 9.30, let's say.

'''Myke Hurley:''' But I'm not opposed to doing that. And I've been thinking about, you know, do I just need to go ahead and do this? Or am I going to remember every night? Like, Friday night. Like, am I going to remember every Friday night to do that? Right? Who knows?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Maybe if it's, like, do you keep the journal, like, by the bed? Like, do you keep it by that chair?

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yes. Okay. So, that's part of the process is there's a table. Next to this chair. And on that table is my theme system journal. A few pencils that I will rotate in and out. I'll just, like, grab a handful of pencils, throw them on there because I'm using a different pencil every day. And then my box of coloring pencils, which I use for the daily theme pages, which we'll talk about in a minute. So, my book and my colored pencils and just pencils are all sitting on the desk. And then I have a lap desk, which is really just, like, an art board, just like a physical board. It's not one with the pillows on it that I use because I don't really have any, you know, a book or anything to, like, press down on. And I want to make it, you know, somewhat legible. So, I do keep that. That just sits, like, leans up against the chair on the side of the chair. So, yeah. I have all my crap there to my wife's frustration.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' You know, this at least might serve, though, as a kind of reminder system for you anyway, though. Because if sitting in that chair is something you do every single day, you've got that visual reminder for you. You know, I just do my journaling in my office and I'm in my office all day, so.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah, my coloring pencil box is bright orange. So, I can't miss that. So, I always see that. I was like, that triggers me more than seeing my journal or seeing the pencils. I was like, oh, there's my colored pencil box. And it's, like, really in a place it does not belong whatsoever. So, I always notice it.



== Daily Theme Pages ==


'''Brad Dowdy:''' All right. Let's take a break and we can get back into this because we should talk about the daily pages, too, and how you have those set up. This episode is brought to you by Squarespace. You can make your next move with Squarespace. They will help you create that website for your next idea or project. And maybe the beginning of a new year is the time for you to finally set that project up that you've been working on. You know, like, people, we're talking about it, right? People like change. It's a time for reflection. Maybe you have something you've been wanting to get into action this year. Or maybe at some point over the next few months, you know, part of your yearly theme will enable you to need a website of your own. Well, let me tell you why Squarespace is the best place for that. But if you want to create an online store, a portfolio, a blog, maybe you want to create a site for a business or maybe an online event that you're running, no matter what it is, Squarespace is the all-in-one platform that will let you do it. You don't have to install, patch, or upgrade anything because they've got it all covered for you. Squarespace really do take care of everything you're going to need with building your own site. And if you do have any problems at all, you can reach out to their 24-7 customer support team for help. I was talking about the themesystem.com earlier, which is the website where I've laid out kind of what the theme system is all about, included images, videos, links. I did all of that on Squarespace. So easy. And if I want to update it or add anything to the site, I can do that on my iPad now. The fantastic iPad app that they have that allow me to manage my website and give me some real great tools to be able to update it and all that stuff. It's super awesome. Squarespace plans start at just $12 a month, but you can sign up for a free trial today with no credit card required. Go to squarespace.com slash penaddict. When you're in that trial, you can build your entire site. And then when you're ready to launch it to the world, you just sign up one of their plans. But if you use the code penaddict to check out, you'll also get 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain and show your support for this show. That's squarespace.com slash penaddict and the code penaddict for 10% off your first purchase. Our thanks to Squarespace for their continued support of this show and all of RelayFM. Squarespace, make your next move, make your next website.

'''Myke Hurley:''' So the daily theme pages are what a lot of people would consider or call a habit tracker. Yeah. Never in a million years would I thought I would enjoy using or would actually use a habit tracker.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' No. Never.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Never. Because habit trackers, Myke, in my head, were for tracking how much water I drank today.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yep.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Tracking how much I stood. Tracking how much I ate or what I ate.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' It's stuff that I wouldn't do or I would want technology to do for me.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Right. Right. So just like the journal pages, I had to rethink if I'm going to use this, what would I make this into that would work for me? So again, I had to sit and like really think. And once I started to realize, okay, what constitutes a good day for me? Mm-hmm. What are the things that I do every day or want to do every day or come about naturally every day or think about every day personally? Do I want to track? So I came up with eight things. This list has been pretty consistent through my journals through the years. I think I maybe tweaked one or two things over the years, but it's never been much different. So the eight things I track are love. You know, this is kind of like the one personal. Well, I guess there's probably more things in there. But this is kind of like the personal family, you know, life related thing where a lot of the journal pages are kind of more business related, but they do get personal sometimes. So love, you know, was, you know, did I share the love? Did I have love in my heart today? You know, did, you know, do I, you know, live that, you know, life that I want to live? And the second one is laugh. You know, did I smile today and laugh today and giggle today and like not take myself too seriously today? The third one is create. Did I make something today? And that could be, you know, just it could be anything. It could be writing a blog post. It could be, you know, deciding on a product color, you know, that type of thing. So that's important to me, you know, because I'm like I've said before, I'm only as good as my next ideas, right? So did I make something today? Refresh. Did I take time for myself today? Like did I, you know, just take a break for a while today? Sometimes you just get head down for hours. And did you just chill out and, you know, watch the Premier League today for a while or, you know, do something like that? Play a video game. Those types of things. Self-improvement. That is did I further my education today kind of topic, right? Did I when I read, did I am I reading for refresh like the entertainment, which is one part of reading books? Or did I read to like figure out and like maybe learn some different things today? So the self-improvement is did I work on myself today? You know, that could be cover a lot of different things. The next one is share. Did I share other people's work today? So I'm a big promoter of everyone. Like I like to share others work. I like to raise people, raise people up and, you know, make sure they're getting, you know, their work shared. You know, I have a platform that's large enough to be able to make a difference. And did I use that in a valuable fashion for others?

'''Myke Hurley:''' The kind of the counterpoint to that one is the next one, which is promote. Did I share myself today? Right. So like part of my job is promoting what I do, whether I like it or not. Right. So I think it's good to have a dedicated line for, hey, did I, you know, share enough of myself today? Like, don't be shy about promoting your own work. And the last one is ideas. Did I come up with anything new today? Right. Did I come up with, you know, a product sketch, blog post idea, like all these things that we've covered. But like, did I did I come up with anything new today? So it's those eight things and those work really, really well for me. They're kind of ranked in importance. Like, by default, I didn't really think about that until I was looking at it last night. And I've been doing this for a while. I was like, you know, love, laugh, create, refresh, self-improvement. Those are kind of all the top ones. And then the share, promote and ideas are kind of all the businessy ones, you know, like down below. And that's kind of the kind of the right order, I think. So that's what I do. And then for each circle. So Myke has designed the circle. It's a circle with a line through it. So I either have zero, basically unfilled, half filled or completely filled. So completely filled is I've done the best job. Half filled is like I did something for that. And blank is I didn't do anything towards that. So I have I'm looking at so I started this theme system journal on December 14th. And I have not done a lot of self-improvement. And like that's something like you can see visually because every day I use a different colored pencil to mark these in. I'm use the the Tombow Erojitin, one of the sets. I forget which volume I have. So it's 30 colored pencils. So I have a system in my colored pencil box to make sure I don't use the same one twice until I get through all of them. So, you know, I'm just weird that way. So every day is in a different color and you get a pretty good grasp of like, hey, wow, like the self-improvement stuff I am super lacking in, you know, like that's not cool. But it was also a lot around the holidays. Like there are definitely days where like over the past few weeks where I haven't I haven't done theme system journal because I was essentially off. So that's part of it. But as we go into, you know, our normal workflows in January, I have a feeling like I will be more consistent in some of these things than I have been over the past couple of weeks of tracking. So that's kind of my daily themes. I can't believe how much I enjoy this stupid page because I thought I was going to I thought there's no way I'm going to do this. There's no way I'm going to do this. And I love it. Like this is my this is my favorite part of the book, to be honest, because it causes me to grade myself on a day and to think back. I was like, dang, I did really good here or dang, I did really poorly here. And can I do better? Like, can I change tomorrow? And I think that's important. I think that's important way to look at yourself where I wouldn't get that value if I said drink 60 ounces of water today. And I saw that across the chart that would not be valuable for me. This is valuable for me.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' So one thing that I really notice in doing this type of stuff is sometimes I'll be like towards the end of the day and I'm in a bad mood or whatever. Like I'm just not feeling I'm not feeling good. Just like not feeling very engaged or motivated. And I fill out my journal and I mark off the things and I'm like, oh, I didn't do the stuff today that I'm supposed to do to make me feel accomplished. Right. Right. And so and look, and there are some days where it's like it's like a chicken and egg thing where like maybe I'm just not feeling my best. So I don't do them. And then I know that. I'm like, yeah, of course, I didn't do this, this and this today because I had a bad day or something big came up. And I couldn't put any time into this. But there's also that other thing.

'''Myke Hurley:''' But you could go back and reference it in the daily page.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yep. And I do. Yeah. And so like there's a link there with those things. But like it's just funny to me where sometimes I'm like, I'm not feeling great and I don't know why. And then I realized that it's because I didn't do any of the things that I have deemed for myself to be like pivotal to having a day where I feel accomplished. And so it's just like it's a nice it's a nice way of doing that. And I agree with you. Like that's the type of stuff that works for me. Like read 20 lines, send four thank you notes like that. I'm not knocking that if that works for you. But that is not the kind of stuff that works for me in this category. I like it to be nebulous. And I like it to be like, you know, so so one of the phrases that I track is revenue. And that can be so many ways I can consider that a success. And I like that. Right. Like, you know, I could say I could change. I could be like seller sponsorship. Right. I mean, that's very specific. But it's also not the only way that I can generate revenue. Like promoting the membership can be revenue generating or selling some merch can be revenue generating. So like I like it to be more open ended than that. So I'm not kicking myself at the end of every day. Right. Like, right. I'm setting myself up to succeed with this stuff. And that's something that I really recommend people do. Like, don't make this hard for you. Give yourself like and it's this. Honestly, this ladders up to the theme thing in general. Like, and why themes are better than resolutions is you're not setting fail states for yourself with this stuff. Right. You've got kind of going easy in yourself and using it to help guide you towards where you want to go. And not being super bummed out about the fact that you didn't do the thing that you said you were going to do. Like, I don't really think that that's super valuable in our lives.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Right. Right. And I just want to be clear. Like, I fully agree with you that, you know, like I'm super pro like tracking like your input and output and your exercise and those types of things. That's just not what I use this book for. There's other things where I feel like digital is a lot better for that.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Like, you know, like if I want to track how much I'm standing up, I can put on my Apple watch and it will do it for me. Right. Like there's apps like apps like water minder and stuff. If I want to be tracking my water intake. Like I feel like digital is better because as well, like it's always on me. So I don't have to like remember how much water I drank every day and then write it down in my book when I'm done at the end of the day. Like, you know, I feel like that digital and analog tools should work for what they're focused on as opposed to like trying to shoehorn everything into everywhere.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yep. And, you know, that's why you got to something like the theme system journal you can tailor to yourself. And, you know, that's what I found worked for me. And, you know, I had to sit with it for a while, just staring at it, not using it until I was committed to the things that are going to be most beneficial for me. Sometimes like this thing arrives in the mail and you throw it open and you start writing and it's like I don't have as much chance of success if I just go at this haphazardly. Like I have to make things that were meaningful for me. So and I think I did a good job on that because I haven't changed much. But don't be afraid to change the headings and the habits. Yeah. Yeah. Don't be afraid to change, though, if you need to.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. Sorry, we haven't got them in stock. Like some point soon. I'm hoping should be maybe end of February, early March will be when they'll be back in stock again. That's not bad. But again, it's like you can you can do this stuff in any book. I think I've made the best book for it. But it's like the bullet journal, right? You can bullet journal anywhere. But probably the best book to bullet journal in is the bullet journal book because it's built with the system mind. Right. But you can do you can adopt this type of thing in other planners and other notebooks if that's your bag.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Right. Like I personally would not be as successful if it wasn't laid out for me where other people are the exact opposite. They need to roll their own, make their tweaks as they see and use this as a baseline.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' I mean, my book is opinionated, right?

'''Myke Hurley:''' Right. And that's good products.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' There was somebody saying to me that they felt that the dot grid was too tight. You know? It's like, okay, but this is the size I wanted. You know, so it's like, right, right. I agree. Like and some people don't like dot grid or they want lines or some people want plain or whatever. Right. Right. And like or some people like the paper, they would want it to be different or whatever. Right. But sure. Sure. Or they want different sizes. I mean, this is just what all of these products are like every every decent or good product is just a set of decisions that were made that ladder up to it being a completed item. Um, these were my decisions. This is the result of it. Yep. All right. This isn't the only planner that you're using, though, is it?

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah. I don't even call this a planner. I don't even call this a planner. So that's a whole topic we can hit on this.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Well, yeah, I don't call it a planner either. It's a journal. But journal planner, I think for a lot of people, those terms are interchangeable.



== Planner vs. Journal ==


'''Myke Hurley:''' Which is why we have a podcast to discuss all the nitty gritty on why they're different.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Well, let me take our second break and we'll get into your other product that you're using every day this year. We'll say maybe say it that way instead. But let's talk about Harry's. It is a new year. So it is the time that you could be making some changes in your life. Maybe you want to smarten up your image. Why not do it with Harry's award winning razors and grooming essentials? Why not look best for that next Zoom call that you're on? If you're looking to save some money with Harry's, you'll pay as little as $2 per blade, which is surely better than what you're paying right now. And if you want to do a bit more giving in 2021, Harry's helps there as well. Because every year, Harry's donates 1% of their sales to nonprofits that provide mental health care to men in need. And in 2020, they helped half a million people access these services. So why not start the new year with some savings? New customers can redeem a Harry's trial set for just $3 when you go to harrys.com slash penaddict. Harry's is a return to the essential quality products at a fair price. They have combined simple ergonomic design with their five sharp blades in one razor. And they source their steel from Sweden and manufacture their blades in their world class factory in Germany. They cut out everything in the middle. They ship directly to you. So they save you money and a trip to the store. With a 100% quality guarantee, Harry's stands behind the quality of their blades so much that they have a 100% money back guarantee on harrys.com products. If you don't love your shave, let them know and they'll give you a full refund. Brat, tell me something about your experiences with Harry's products.

'''Myke Hurley:''' I put my money where my neck is, Myke. All right. So I... You could have said mouth.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' I mean, I understand why you went with neck. Yeah, sure. I guess. Yeah.

'''Myke Hurley:''' And if I say I put my money where my cheeks are, that's a different perspective. I like that less. You actually did make the right choice.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' I've retracted my complaint.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Thank you. So, yeah, I was thinking about this today when I listened to other podcasts and I listened to the ads on other podcasts because I think we do some of the best ads in the business because we really believe in all these products and we use these products. And sure, Harry's sponsors this, but I spend a ton of money with Harry's because I love the product, not because they sponsor the podcast. It is the best shaving product I've used in my life. It's... That's it. Like, I cannot give any higher praise to Harry's and I really appreciate their support and I just love using the product every day.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Harry's has a special offer for listeners of this show. New customers can get a Harry's starter set for just $3 at harrys.com slash penaddict. You'll get a five-blade razor with a weighted handle, foaming shave gel with aloe, and a travel cover all for just $3. Get everything you need for a close, comfortable shave at harrys.com slash penaddict. Go there and claim your offer today. Our thanks to Harry's for their support of this show and RelayFM.

'''Myke Hurley:''' It's not a planner, Myke. This is a planner. Oh.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Oh, yeah, okay. Good reference there. I like that. Call that a planner?

'''Myke Hurley:''' So, yeah, so I guess the theme system journal, I do refer as a journal. I'm not sure, like, that's the proper classification for me, but that's, like, another podcast another day. Like, to me, it's the theme system journal, right? It's not my journal, right?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' No, you couldn't really use it as easily because it's, as I say, it's kind of purpose-built.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Right. So, it has a job, and therefore, I still use a planner, like what people would think of as a traditional planner, even though mine's kind of far from it, but it's general planner aspect. So, I'm using, for the past, I think, two years, I've used an A5 ring-bound planner from William Hanna.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' The William Hanna planner. The William Plahanna.

'''Myke Hurley:''' The William Plahanna.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' William Plahanna. William Plahanna. William Plahanna. Yeah.

'''Myke Hurley:''' So, we'll-

'''Brad Dowdy:''' P-L-A-N-N-A-H.

'''Myke Hurley:''' So, Dave, my contact over there, we won't charge you for that. That's on us.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' That's a freebie.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Freebie. So, we'll see that on their daily post. But anyway, disclosure, they gave me this product for free a couple years ago. I built it. They just, you know, allowed me to build out and customize a planner, which you could do, too. Like, I picked out this exterior leather of purple, this interior suede of Kingfisher blue, lime green stitching. So, I got to customize my planner cover. Planner. And it's a ring-bound system. So, you can do different things. What William Hanna offers is a lot of different formats for different types of planners. This is their whole deal. The way you work. Right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. This is their job.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Is customizing. So, like you, as you say, you can build the cover, but then the insides you pick from a selection of pre-printed page options. Right? Right. It's basically, do you know Filofax? Yeah, sure. Right. It's like bespoke Filofax, right? That's a good way to put it. You've got the sections. You take the sections in and out. You can add in different sections. Organize it yourself. There's a bunch of accessories. You're off to the races. But it's like quality products, though, right? Like nicely made, good paper, that kind of stuff.

'''Myke Hurley:''' This is expensive. Let's just get that out of the way. This is a very expensive product. But so far, like I'm at least two years into it, I feel like I've gotten great value out of it because I'm using it consistently on a daily basis. It lives on my desk. It moves around with me. The reason they got in touch with me in the first place is because they wanted to print the insert layout that I wanted to use, which I appreciated them doing that. And now it's just the regular product. And it's not some super special insert. It's just the calendar, excuse me, the planner layout that I prefer where it's a two-page per week layout where the left side is seven days, Monday through Sunday. And they each have their own, say, like, I don't know, six or seven line section on the left page. And then the right page is blank for notes. So this is not an uncommon layout in the Japanese market. The first one I used was Midori. And it was one of my favorites. They did it in the Travelers. And then now they do it in their A5 notebooks as well. A lot of other systems use this type of layout. Like I said, it's not like something super crazy or super special. But I found it works best for me because I don't need, like, an entire page for Monday. But I need more than a little square calendar block, right? So, for example, like my Monday says, you know, I'll just put on the tasks that are due that day. So I won't, like, plan ahead on Monday. I don't say, okay, do this for Wednesday. That doesn't go on Monday. If the thing's due on Wednesday, it goes on Wednesday. So, like, Monday, pay bills, update my accounting, pay the writers, write the Energel giveaway post, things like that. And then I can also have a little section where I have, you know, my wife's work schedule and my daughter's, you know, like she had a doctor's appointment that day. Like all those things go on Monday. And they each have a little checkbox by them. And I either check them off as I go or I'll follow up the next day and just check off, you know, whatever box I need. And that has worked for me for so long. I don't ever see me kind of changing this type of system for me. It's the best way that I work. I can see my whole week. A lot of it is repetitive, right? This is a very, this would work very well digitally. And it does, which we can talk about that. That it's kind of in conjunction with Todoist. And maybe we can talk about that at the end. But, you know, it works for how I work because I basically need task list reminders. I need big picture idea of what I'm doing for the day and the week so I can plan for it. And then I need a space being the right hand side of the page where I can just do notes. Like I have a one, two, three, four, five, six, seven note list for the podcast, right? So earlier this week, you know, as I would come up with podcast ideas for what we need to talk about, they just go on this page. I have a 16 item list of albums I've listened to this week, right? So I just write all this stuff down in the right hand side of the page.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' It seems like a lot that's going on that page, though. Right?

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' I think you might be losing me a little bit.



== William Hanna Planner Usage ==


'''Myke Hurley:''' That's on the right hand. That's on the blank page. So the left page is just tasks, works, to-dos for Monday through Sunday because I have something to do every day. The right side of the page is open notes. Right. It's like a notebook page, and that's where I'll just write down other things. A lot of times, like, you know, if I'm working on production for Nock, like this, like I'll have, you know, say like a list on Tuesday. I'll have a checkmark on Tuesday to, you know, Nock manufacturing call. Okay. But then on the right side of the page, I'll have, okay, here's all the tasks that go into that, you know, for that particular thing. So I can expand on that on the right side of the page.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Okay.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Not tracking. It'd be easy if you saw it. I didn't take a picture of this.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' So if it's the one that you put in the link, the six-month weekly diary with notes, right? Yeah. So you've got on the left-hand side, you'll have whatever, but then on the right-hand side, it's just like free form. You'll just put anything there. Yep. Okay. All right. Fine.

'''Myke Hurley:''' A lot of, like I said, a lot of times it's expansion to the things on the left.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Right.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Like I have the task, right? The task is usually like a one-line item. But then if that task has, so like one of my tasks every Tuesday is podcast prep. Okay. Okay. That's just a checkmark that that has to get done Tuesday, by Tuesday afternoon. Okay. But that task might involve a random set of notes that's on the right-hand side of the page.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Okay. But what I mean is like on that right page, it doesn't necessarily live in a specific place, right? Like you'll just put anything there, but you just know what it is. Yep. Total free form. Cool. Cool. Cool. That's just double checking.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Just more of an, like an in the moment note, if you will.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Not like any type of long-term journaling, planning. I'm not writing down thoughts or ideas. I'm writing down just like random bits of information. Yeah. That I'm, that pass through my head that I want to collect for whatever reason. And that gives me the space to do it. That's tied in a lot of times with what's on the left-hand side of the page.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Right. Okay. Okay. Cool.

'''Myke Hurley:''' So yeah, don't over, don't overcomplicate this. This, it's a pretty dead simple system. So, um, the William Hanna, since it is a ring bound system, it does allow you to punch your own pages. So I have, my front section is the calendar section. Right now I have six months of the weeks and then I have like the other six months in the closet. I'll go replace them when, you know, I fill this up. The middle section are the William Hanna, just dot grid pages. You can get those customized to the colors. So I have like the Kingfisher dot grid, which matches the interior of my notebook because I'm fancy that way. And the back section, I do have some punched pages of different papers. Like I have some bank paper and I have some, uh, Claire Fontaine paper just for random notes. I don't use that that much. I really, I use this a lot for the planner. And then I'll do things like in the middle section, like I've done like our Kickstarter budgets and things like that, you know, project budget planning, you know, just like a note. Like as I'm sketching down the ideas, I'll transfer that over to like a digital file later. But like, cause I'm laying things out.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' You say Kickstarter budgets, like we're not thinking about one right now. No, no, no, no, no. I don't want that. Yeah. You know what I mean? Like this is usually a time of the year where we're like, I'm like, Brad, get the, I gotta get the video. I'm usually in. Yeah.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah. I'm usually in full panic mode right now because I haven't written the Kickstarter, even though we know what we're doing, but this year we're not doing one. We've said that. I hope everyone recalls that we've said that we'll, we'll bring it up here as we get into like pen show season that how sad we are that we aren't doing one, but we won't go there

'''Brad Dowdy:''' today. But it's just a funny thought of like, it's usually this time of year where we're both like hair on fire trying to get it done.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah. But I have a page, like if I opened up my middle section where it's just notebook pages, I have a page that says retro 51 Kickstarter and it's got all these numbers and figures and all kinds of crap on there. You know, it's just, it's basically, basically just random notes that don't need to, that are really honestly kind of ephemeral, right? They don't need to be in a journal that I'm going to keep for review later. They're just kind of like, you know, notes passing through the night.

'''Myke Hurley:''' So that's what I use for the planner. I will say I do use this in conjunction with Todoist, which is kind of a task manager app on the, uh, in the Apple ecosystem. So I use that on my, my phone and my laptop. And then I also like when I'm setting up my day on Monday, I fill out the week on Monday morning, like I'll pull up my calendar too, which is mostly like family stuff. I can put my, uh, uh, my wife's schedule, any kid stuff I have going on. So those go on the, this'll just confuse you. So these go on the right side of the left page, right? Left. So Monday it's a, it's a, you know, width of the page section, right? So on the left side of Monday, I'll have all my tasks, you know, the pay bills, the pay the writers. Then on the right side of the Monday section, but still on the left hand page, Myke, I'll put, you know, my wife's work schedule and my family schedule and things like that. So, you know, it's basically just, I'm making, creating my own columns within the single page.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah, no, I get it.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Do you though?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' No, no, that one I do get. Cause I also saw on the website that they, they kind of do it like, like how the panner book works, right? Where they put some dots in so you can divide it up.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yep. Yep. So you can, uh, you know, segment these off however you want. I generally keep them open. I don't have any extra lines. I just, it's just, you know, kind of like a invisible line column.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' I have a question about the Todoist thing. No, no, I'm intrigued about the Todoist thing. All right. Hit me. How, so like what, so you, you have all your tasks in Todoist and then what, every day you sit down and write out the tasks into the book? Like I'm intrigued about the reconciling of all this stuff. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Okay. We can do this. Monday morning. Right. The entire week of stuff, I pull up Todoist and write it in my notebook.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Okay.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Okay. So, but sometimes it doesn't reconcile because Todoist might have more things that aren't repetitive tasks, aren't repeating tasks. Like if I get an email that I will then send to Todoist to do something extra on, that will never hit my notebook.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Right. Okay. Okay. So you write in to the journal. So into your planner, your William planner, the things that are kind of life events type stuff.

'''Myke Hurley:''' And repeating tasks. And repeating tasks. And repeating tasks.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Okay. Yes. All right. Well, that makes a bit more sense then. Because what I was wondering is like, do these systems not get out of sync? You know what I mean? Like where are the tasks being entered? And are you having to constantly check the paper and check Todoist and make sure that they're all lining? Because that would drive me bananas trying to do that.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Right. Right. What the planner does is really just gets me a good view of the week and make sure I do all the things that are definitively scheduled. Yeah.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' You've got your milestones in there and stuff, right?

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah. So I'll give you a perfect example. Cool. I was sitting in the bedroom last night, you know, probably like 930. I was like, oh, I need to email this person tomorrow. Right. So I grabbed my phone, added a task in Todoist. That will never go in the notebook.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Right. Right.

'''Myke Hurley:''' You know, unless I might open to the notes page and say, oh, here's a couple of things I want to make sure I ask this person. But I've actually already written that in the notes section of Todoist. So that will never see the notebook. So I don't have to reconcile it in the notebook. Does that make sense?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. It's almost like not all, but a lot of the stuff, maybe most of the stuff that goes into the William Planner could be like calendar events, really. Yes.

'''Myke Hurley:''' That's very accurate. And look, there is a lot of redundancy here and a lot of duplication. Yeah. But it's how, it's what works for my mindset for getting things done during the week.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Right. Okay.

'''Myke Hurley:''' So, and the, putting those things into the William Planner gives me the option to expand on them a little bit further, more so than I would, even though I have that capability in Todoist, more so than I would there. Gives me a little bit more freedom. So, there you go. Those aren't the only notebooks I use, Myke.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Of course not.

'''Myke Hurley:''' I think there was a time in my life I thought I could do everything in one notebook, right? Like, you know, one notebook to rule them all. We've had these conversations in the past.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yep.

'''Myke Hurley:''' I am really happy with my setup right now. As happy as I've ever been with my theme system journal, my William Planner, and just an extra notebook to write more things down, right? This is where the personal stuff goes, the ideas go, the long form writing goes. There has to be a spot for that. And neither the theme system journal or the Planner are for that. They just would not work in this. Like, I have tons of sketches in here. Like, I have a Midori book that I've been trying to finish for a month now, but I'm kind of milking it because I'm not really writing that much these days with my hand situation. But it's got like three or four pages left in it, and I'm just like kind of slow playing it because I want to start my new notebook, which is a Misubi notebook, when my hand is healed. So, that's like kind of my goal. So, I've been slow playing this notebook. But this notebook has just, this notebook is whatever, right? And you need a place for that, I think, that's outside of the theme system journal because it doesn't have the space for it or it's not set up for that and it's not what its intent is. My Planner has, it's really work-based in my Planner. And then my notebook, which I don't have a name for, which is just my notebook, is everything else, right? It's just whatever doesn't have a home in these other two notebooks that I carry, which happens to be a lot of things.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' I would expect this is a changing notebook as well, right? Oh, yeah. That means you get new products and stuff.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yep. So, this is a Midori MD that I've had for most of 2020. I started it in April. And it's full now. But aside from these last few pages, I'm just going to finish here at some point. But I've kind of been avoiding it because I'm not liking writing right now. and yeah that's it like I could use the William Hannah for that but it's a mentality thing right like you and Gray talk about that all the time is like you like things have purpose and meaning and adding that purpose and meaning into the William Hannah even though I have a section that's completely blank full of cool notebook pages it doesn't have the same intention when I go to use it so I know this notebook is basically it's the freedom notebook Myke and anything goes everything goes like I'll do ink testing or I'll write a two-page story you know I'll do product sketches and I'll do you know just random notes on the day it's just all of that stuff needs a home and I'm using one notebook for that at a time right so it's basically a three notebook system even though you know I could use the William Hannah for more of that that's just not what its intended use is and it would not work otherwise

'''Brad Dowdy:''' okay I have a couple of questions for you yeah please where do these notebooks like live so the the I know where the theme system is right and yeah William Hannah and the third notebook

'''Myke Hurley:''' like yeah where do they live okay so my desk my work desk is also in my bedroom so we have a bunch of space in our bedroom to where it's set up so my work desk is on one far side of the bedroom and then like this chair that I talk about where I sit and write a lot is on the opposite side that's where the theme system and the colored pencils are and I will go get it like if I need to like reference something in there I want to think about something that I wrote and things like that but it stays on that table for now the William William Plana it stays on my work desk 90% of the time okay maybe 99% of the time so it stays near where I will dock my laptop and my keyboard and mouse and my monitor and like I'm doing the work and like where all the worky things happens and then the notebook it goes wherever it generally like when it's not in use it lives on the work desk but you'll find it in the living room you'll find it you know where I stream you'll find it me taking it out like in a backpack it's the one that leaves the house the most probably when there is you know leaving the house to do like I won't take my planner or my theme system journal on vacation but I take my notebook right or on a trip right I would just forego the planner and the theme system like if I was taking a vacation or like a work trip those

'''Brad Dowdy:''' would stay at home but the notebook would come okay that help any yeah it does I was also intrigued if you

'''Myke Hurley:''' were traveling what would go with you yeah so just the notebook I you wouldn't take the William Planner no because if there was something that I didn't want to forget I still have to do list right so that is with me so I'm not going to miss out on what I would use the planner for in general right right so I still have access if you will to my planner because it is duplicated essentially but when I work at home like that duplication works but when I'm on the road I can eliminate that duplication and be okay right and then this theme system journal would absolutely stay at home because I think I would just forget or I just think it would be extra like that since it would be like strictly work-based like the the theme system journal like I'd be okay leaving that home but then my my singular just open freedom notebook would just would go with me wherever that that would absolutely go on wherever I was going work trip vacation trip

'''Brad Dowdy:''' any of that if you're gonna call it freedom notebook you've got to put like an eagle on it or something

'''Myke Hurley:''' yeah I hate that name but I can't think of a better name it's because it's just my notebook but it needs a better name than my notebook freedom notebooks just like a joke that's that that will

'''Brad Dowdy:''' not stick but that's gonna stick if you keep calling it that though well it happened today so it's stuck

'''Myke Hurley:''' um we will just go with free form that would work yeah you know what the reason here's the challenge what I have is called a commonplace book and I hate that name right but I don't have a better name everything book what it literally is is my commonplace book all right but I I I I'm really against that name I don't know why I shouldn't be it's a fine name but it's it's just 18 it's 1800s version of a notebook I don't like saying this is my commonplace book yeah yeah I would rather just go with like the everything notebook or like the notebook of randomness is what I call it sometimes random book

'''Brad Dowdy:''' commonplace book is very descriptive but it is a bit like you're getting ready to draft the constitution

'''Myke Hurley:''' yeah it's like I have to dust my wig when I yeah when I'm ready to use it it's like what is that

'''Brad Dowdy:''' thing that people use that like productivity system created by one of the founding fathers or something isn't that like a thing I don't know I just know the Ben Franklin there's like some note-taking system or whatever that was created by George Washington or something who knows like I think there's something like that someone can maybe someone will know in the discord and can let me know what I'm talking about here but I know there's something like that and and that kind of sounds like

'''Myke Hurley:''' you would do that in your commonplace notebook but that's a hundred the definition of commonplace notebook is what I have yeah like this is the dictionary definition of a commonplace book I just refuse to call it that that but it's it's really just my notebook and it's probably just kind of cool



== Commonplace Notebook Discussion ==


'''Brad Dowdy:''' to go with that so who knows this is the perfect way to begin the show for the year yeah good I I am

'''Myke Hurley:''' glad we did this um I felt a like I was a little little rambly little little incoherent uh some of it but like this if anyone has any questions or follow-up you know let me know I've got some pictures on Instagram how I use the theme system journal um I've got some older pictures of my planner I didn't take any new pictures of that right now because it's like my left-handed writing so janky like I I it drives me crazy to share that but I put a picture up on Instagram of what my people were asking the pictures I shared of the theme system journal was was wow your left-handed writing is good I was like no I forced myself to write right-handed with my brace on and it's very painful to do that but I wanted it for the clarity of the picture so I put up a picture of my full left-handed writing

'''Brad Dowdy:''' it's like oh okay I was wondering how you produced those very beautifully brad written pages

'''Myke Hurley:''' yeah it's uh it's uh it's like this right-handed overhook kind of move that I have to do um to to get that done so it's it's passable but I can't write much more than I wrote on those pages without it hurting and it's not hurting my wrist it's it's the brace like digging into my thumb while I write right I'm not hurting my wrist when I write like that it's just uncomfortable in general with the brace on yeah but you also ain't resting it though are you no I got deers I got deers you know me yeah yeah me my hello kitty pins and the the 12 point buck I'm about to take down in the

'''Brad Dowdy:''' backyard you're not taking a 12 pound what was it again what was the quote that the doctor gave you

'''Myke Hurley:''' he says basically you're you're not out you don't look like the type of person that's out in the woods shooting shooting a 12 point buck and dressing it down in the woods or something to that effect basically not just killing it but um like field dressing it if you know what I mean it like he said I don't look like that type of person I'm like okay

'''Brad Dowdy:''' that was a thing I'll never forget that yeah you should write that down somewhere all right if you want to catch some notes we've got a lot of notes today uh lots of links go to relay.fm slash pen addict slash 443 thank you so much to squarespace and harry's for the support of the show if you want to find brad online go to penaddict.com knock.co spoke design.com uh brad streams live on twitch on tuesdays and thursdays at 10 a.m eastern time brad is uh pen addict on instagram he's twitch.tv slash pen addict that's where you go for that dowdy is him on twitter i am i'm mike i am y k e i'm going to be streaming as well on twitch this week uh not at the times that brad is because he'll kill me uh i'm going to be streaming on friday the 8th at 1 p.m eastern time nice and i'm doing that from home i've got a kind of setup at home now uh which oh nice yeah i saw that i need to tune in and and see the setup it's most of the same stuff just not as well lit that's

'''Myke Hurley:''' the spoiler alert for you all i'm working on it i'm working on it happens hey we gotta do

'''Brad Dowdy:''' what we gotta do gotta do what you gotta do um thanks for listening to this week's episode of the pen addict we'll be back next time until then say goodbye brad goodbye brad

'''Myke Hurley:''' you

[[Category:Podcast Transcripts]]
[[Category:The Pen Addict Podcast Transcript]]