• 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

  • 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...

  • Clarity in thought

    Clear away some space and time for yourself. Without the pressure of someone bursting in and occupying your space. By giving yourself the time and...

  • Show up

    Woody Allen once said that "eighty percent of success is showing up." To me, that means, you go to the meeting about the project.  You're there...

  • YouthActionNet Global Fellowship Day 1: What makes a great leader

    The first day of the "YouthActionNet Fellowship" program began with a welcome email read out, written by Bill Clinton!  How exciting!  I've always had...

  • Hot Desq

    My company, aubot, was recently invited to go to Queensland for 6 months, as part of Advance Queensland's Hot Desq program, to inspire local...

  • Press for Teleport Brain Control

    Our brain control Teleport got some great press!  It was covered by the Brisbane Times, New Atlas, Mashable, BBC and NowThis. Brisbane Times:  Robot...

  • Woman in STEM

    For National Science Week, I spoke at the Super STEM Careers event about my career in STEM.

  • Special Visitors

    During our summer working out of the Engineers Australia Victoria office, we had some special visitors. Minister Merlino, the Deputy Premier and...

  • Future is fuzzy

    I used to get anxious about the future.  Whether I could get a good job, where I would live, if I would have enough money to survive. But then I...

  • Success is in the doing

    Even if I know my chances of success are slim because I've been disorganised, have missed deadlines, have generally not followed my own rules for...

Enter your email address to receive my latest blog posts: 

 

Scroll to Top