I consistently see the meme saying “if you want to know what a mother’s brain looks like, picture a browers with 30 tabs open.” In my case, add music and the constant reminder that your battery is running low. Now you are in my head.
I’m busy.
As Michelle Obama says in Becoming (awesome book, by the way), I’m in a “constant state of calibration.”
I may not always look busy, but there’s always a doctoral dissertation going on in my head about one thing or another.
I also love lists and make them constantly. There is nothing so satisfying as putting something on a list and then crossing it off.
But, in order to do that, you have to remember where the list is. And, if you have 16 lists in 12 different places, the likelihood of you being productive is slim.
But what is there to do?
I’ve had so many sticky notes all over my house and car that you would’ve though I was related to Romy (That’s a 90s reference for all my mommas in their 30s and 40s-check it out if you’ve never seen Romy and Michelle’s High School Reunion). I’ve tried to use the notepad app on my phone. But, I can never get to it before I forget what I needed to write down. My planner is too big and bulky to bring everywhere …. so, what is an overbooked and overstimulated girl to do?
Flash forward to my obsession with David Sedaris and Sheryl Sandberg.
Both talk incessantly about the tiny notebooks that they carry around with them. Sedaris to chronicle the ridiculous and absurd in the world, and Sandberg to document all there is to be done in both work and family.
That’s exactly what I needed and exactly what I wanted! A tiny portable receptacle to hold all of the thoughts that I have – be they odd, funny, or necessary to life, all in one place!
I began to carry these tiny notebooks by Ooly. 
They are slim enough to fit in the pocket of my jeans in the cup holder of my car. Now, no matter where I am, every time a thought enters my brain that makes me stop and say “You should probably remember this,” I stop and write it down. This is how I’m remembering to look up terms like “on fleek” and “Gucci.” (Don’t come for me. After 35, pop culture terms seem to go right over my head.) It’s how I remember the names of new bands I want to check out after hearing a song or two on the radio. It’s how, as a social worker, I can remember to circle back to the 25,000 needs of patients that I’m dealing with daily. And, it’s how I keep track of grocery and store needs. I always have my trusty notebook with me!
