Ubiquitous Capture While Juggling Chainsaws

Juggling Chainsaws

I’m a real all-or-nothing kind of guy. If I discover a new band or musician that I like, I’ll immediately acquire everything they’ve made (which may explain my subconscious aversion to The Beatles, but I digress). So it would follow that I would sleep better knowing that my capture methods were truly ubiquitous; that I had all my bases covered, should a brilliant idea come to me at the most inopportune time. Obviously it’s not hard to be prepared in this regard when you’re sitting at your desk or on your couch at home. You have your index cards and pen in your pocket, or perhaps a well-placed notepad on the table nearby. Either way, you’re in good shape when the plot for the Definitive American Novel should pop into your head.


No, today we’ll be addressing the less-than-desirable situations in which capture is necessary - situations I’ve dubbed “juggling chainsaws”. In an effort to achieve “capture omniscience”, I’ve tried to come up with some situations in which capture would be the most difficult (or the least convenient). For me, it’s while I’m in bed, while I’m driving and while I’m in the shower. I’m sure you can all think of other times when you know that you wouldn’t have something on which to write (or whatever your preferred capture method requires), but these are my big three (and ideas for solving each):

  • Sleepy Time - The best bet here, I think, is the most obvious: keep writing implements on my nightstand. The rough spot here is that, due to my current bedroom layout, my side of the bed is shoved up against the wall with no room for any sort of table or anything. My plan is to either buy or build a small hanging plastic bin that will hold blank index cards and a pen. If I’m feeling particularly crafty, I’ll attach a battery-powered lamp (those “book lights” come to mind as a possibility). Sounds like a fun weekend project…
  • Pedal to the Metal - The driving dilemma is a little trickier. As any good DMV associate will tell you, it’s probably not a good idea to scrawl little notes to yourself while flying down I-5 at 70mph. So, the only other option is to use your voice. Currently, I’ve been using the voice note feature on my cell phone, but it’s a bit of a pain in that I have to hold down an awkward key on my phone to do voice recordings. My first thoughts are a dedicated personal recorder (something the records to a mini cassette or a digital, flash-based deal), or maybe using one of those free voicemail services to send my thoughts off into cyberspace for later retrieval. This one will definitely require some mulling over.
  • Splish-Splash - This has to be the grand-daddy of them all. Clearly, a stack of index cards wouldn’t survive long in a torrent of hot water and Pert Plus, so I’ll have to think outside the box on this one. The best I’ve been able to come up with so far is a dry erase marker for use on the bathroom mirror. Come to think of it, a dry erase marker might also work on the inside of the shower (the part of the shower wall directly beneath the showerhead, probably the driest spot in the whole area).

The stress-free aspect of GTD is what really sold me in the first place, and I think another way to reduce stress (beside having everything outside your head) is the knowledge that, should something magically appear in your head, you’ve always got a method of quickly recording it elsewhere. The key here is creativity.

How do you handle capture while juggling chainsaws?

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January 15, 2007 | Filed Under GTD, Hacking Life, Practical 

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