Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips

A simple piece of paper on the table next to the keyboard keeps everything flowing — especially new ideas.

I have a productivity multiplier that I use everyday and have for decades. It is not the computer that is a thousand or million times more powerful than what we used to go to the moon and back. It is a piece of paper. A simple blank piece of paper that doesn’t remain blank.

I put a piece of paper on the table next to the keyboard. A pencil sits on the piece of paper. I work away churning out words and thoughts and designs and all sort of items we produce these days. The pencil and paper sit at the ready.

A new idea. Jot a note. Back to the keyboard in five seconds. The flow of work continues. The flow of ideas on the piece of paper also continues.

A variation on what we are doing. Jot a note. Back to the keyboard in five seconds.

This continues all day.

I sit in a coffee shop. They serve food in little brown paper bags. Ah. No need to bring a piece of paper as they just supplied one.

How about writing on a napkin? That works. How about writing on a table cloth? That works, too. Writing on the table? That works, too.

Just something to jot notes in a couple of seconds. Keep working. Keep ideas flowing. Keep the work flowing. It seems to work.