I’ve recently been using a TOPS legal pad. It’s one of those classic yellow pads that normally people use the first 1-2 pages of and never touch again. It looks like this.

Our office has a stack of these in supply and I’ve taken to using them as a way to jot down my thoughts and list things to do with brief details. If you are a busy person like me, several thoughts are running through your head at any given time and I feel that this is a great way to not lose anything that might have been useful or important. Not everything I write down is work related. Sometimes I will just list something that I need to do when I get home (such as putting on my windshield wipers since it is going to rain these next few days).

Forget online lists such as 37 signals’ Ta-da lists. It is applications like this that are the epitome of web 2.0 uselessness. Keep it simple stupid. Pen and paper is all you need. You can glance over at it anytime. No need to open up a new website, log in to your account, and type some shit in that you will never check later. By then you’d have been fired.