I keep a stack of index cards in various places where I may want to capture ideas for my next book, blog post, or essay. I’ve done this for years now, placing them strategically at my bedside, my desk, in my car. I periodically collect the ones I’ve written on and put them in my index card box to sort through when I am ready to do the actual writing of a piece. We’ve all heard of writers using scraps of paper, the envelope from a piece of junk mail, even their own skin; anything they can scrounge up to scribble on before losing the muse. I prefer to expect the flashes of words and plan accordingly in a neater, more organized manner. The less cluttered my systems, the more free my mind is to run wild into the great expanse of the next project.

Happy Monday!