• Blog
  • Archives
  • Bio
  • Awards
  • Speaking
  • Book
  • Contact

Don’t forget your notebook

Published: Wednesday, 04 February 2009

They’re cheap.  They don’t always look very pretty.  You can even get some with a yellow hue!  (And even if you don’t, but you leave them for too long, they develop a yellow hue of their own.)  Richard Branson swears by them - he used his to research for all his published books.  And Dave Allen recommends them.  (Or he would if Palm Pilots weren’t invented…)

Notebooks.  Pieces of paper bound together for you to write on.  What should you write?

Everything you say you’ll do.  In order to be your word, you have to know what you gave your word to.  The more games you are playing in life, the more things you will be giving your word to.  Want to take on more and complete it all with integrity?  Give your word, write it down, do it.

Planning structures for fulfillment.  Have a project in mind?  Jot down the end goal, brainstorm all the tasks that would need to be completed between now and the end goal, set dates by when the tasks will be completed and you have a structure for fulfillment.

Making lists.  Shopping lists, to-do lists, people to call, emails to type, etc.  Helps you batch like-activities together and saves time.

Brain dump.  Anything that’s on your mind doesn’t exist until it’s down on paper - get it down on paper and make it real.  Once it’s down, it frees your mind to think about something else.

Six cents each at the Big W sales at the start of the school year.  Get one.  It’s worth it.

About Me

Marita ChengForbes named me a world's top 50 woman in tech & 30 Under 30. I founded Robogals and Aipoly and was Young Australian of the Year 2012. Currently working on robotics company Aubot. I'm the youngest Member of the Order of Australia (AM) and I give speeches around the world.

I tweet @maritacheng and I'm on Facebook.

Subscribe

Enter your email address to receive my latest blog posts: 

 

Random Articles

  • When?

    When are you going to apply for that grant? When are you going to start your assignment? When are you going to start your advertising campaign? When are...

  • #TechMyWay with Ashton Kutcher

    Spoke at a Lenovo event by myself for 12 minutes and then on a panel with Ashton Kutcher.  Met with Hollywood’s Steve Jobs and had a yarn about...

  • Sunday Funday

    Spent the entire Sunday working in the garage with Garth Bradbeer and Tom Cooper working on a robotic prototype.  We worked until 1am that night, and...

  • Greater than 0.00%

    No matter what choices you make every single day, life is unpredictable - everything is unpredictable. So all you can do is prepare the best you can...

  • Short Black | Sandra Sully podcast

    The lovely Sandra Sully invited me to appear on her podcast, Short Black, after we spoke at Vogue Codes together in 2018.  Check out our conversation here: ...

  • The stars won't align

    I was thinking and plotting and planning my startup. When to begin.  Was it too early?  Was the market ready?  Would I waste my time?  Would I waste my...

  • Where are you not looking?

    You’ve brainstormed and tried all the keywords that you could think of in Google, you’ve asked Jeeves, you’ve spoken to your lecturers and you’ve...

  • You’re not a failure, you just haven’t found your passion

    When I was 17, I came 3rd in an international Japanese speaking contest. However, I don’t do anything about my Japanese studies now. The year prior, I got...

  • YouthActionNet Global Fellowship Day 2: Look for what works

    Two Saturdays ago, I was in Adelaide taking a late-night stroll by the beautiful, still, River Torrens with 3 member of my Robogals Global team -...

  • You admire the things you can't do

    I've noticed in contests I've been on the judging panel for that those who have an expertise in a field, are more critical of entries that cross...

Enter your email address to receive my latest blog posts: 

 

Scroll to Top