Uses for Sticky Notes (List#1)

Well, here’s another function for list-making (to round out yesterday’s thoughts on the subject)… When my brain is fried by a freelance writing project (in this case, lengthy reviews of computer monitors), I can turn to therapeutic list-making while I recharge. If you missed yesterday’s post, I’m letting my Weird Lists come out to play… Today’s totally random  topic: Ways I Use Sticky Notes!

Annotated, because my brain doesn’t shut up even when I’m trying to give it a break.

Ways I Use Sticky Notes:

• Cupboard contents. What do we have stashed in the outside chest freezer? Or hidden in the back of the cabinet of canned goods? I’ve got a sticky for that.
• Love-notes in lunches. I like to hide a sticky smile & note on my hubby’s sandwich now and again… While we were engaged he would stop by my apartment on his way to work every morning—early!—and wake me up with a cup of coffee. I put a “Good Morning, Sunshine” note on the coffee pot that stayed till we married and moved.

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  Steering wheel reminders. Right where I can’t miss it when I go to leave, with a reminder about whatever I was supposed to grab or do before heading out. “Unplug the truck” is a good one this time of year.

• Mirror inspirations. For several years my bathroom mirror reminded me to consider the question: “What’s the Next Right Thing to do?” …a reminder to let God stay in control by showing me what to do with my life, just taking it one “next thing” at a time. That note made at least two moves as I changed households. The current mirror-inspiration reminds me of my innate spiritual nature. It may seem incongruous, but I am reminded every time I sit down opposite that mirror to pee.

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  The “Happiness Board.” Last month I plastered the inside of our bathroom cabinet-door with cheery sunflower and taped up some pictures that make me smile (the kids, Jon & me on a motorcycle road trip) and sticky notes with quotes that resonate with me. Every time I brush my teeth or take my meds, I come face-to-face with reasons to smile.

• Staff & Project Management. To manage projects with several employees, I used to use a whiteboard full of sticky-notes. Each staff member had a section of the board with sticky-notes denoting current projects, and when they finished something, they’d move their sticky to the “DONE” section: task accomplished!
• Visual to-do list. At that same job, I kept my own to-do list in sticky-notes. I liked the at-a-glance ease of it, and I liked being able to re-order the list as priorities shifted. Between this and the project-board, I became known as “the Post-It Queen”…

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  Early “Marginalia.” Before I got bold enough to actually write in my books, I used to do my annotation on sticky-notes plastered all over the pages.

• Bookmarks. I write in my books now, but I also  tend to tab pages I want to find again easily, with notes on the sticky-note tabs too.
• Choosing baby names. This one obviously isn’t an ongoing use, but it’s how I named my daughter. Every name I liked went onto a Post-It on a wall. I gradually knocked names out of consideration—and now we have Elena Grace.
• Classroom seating chart. Another one I’m not currently using, but memorable for its usefulness.
• Stickies app. And then there’s the “Stickies” app on my laptop and phone.  Even on a screen, I like the look of sticky-notes (with a “handwriting” font) for notes and tidbits. Right now the left side of my screen sports grammar notes, some A.A. observations, and (don’t be surprised) a list of lists I might want to make.

One final use for sticky notes: they remind me to keep my mind open to see and appreciate what IS in front of me, instead of looking for what I think I need. The Post-It was an entirely accidental invention, made by a 3M scientist attempting to create a new glue. When he ended up with a substance that didn’t stay stuck, he could easily have tossed it out because it wasn’t what he was looking for. Instead he kept his mind open, recognized his adhesive’s potential different use (originally, a bookmark that wouldn’t slip out of a book), and the Post-It was born.

I aim to live my life that way—I don’t want to be so stuck on the glue-goal in my mind that I miss the Post-It-potential in front of me!