Everbook

Have you heard of Everbook? It’s an organization method that Rev. Bryan Wolfmueller is perfecting. I thought I’d try to type out a few models, both to explain to you how it works, and to help him show others how accessible and flexible the system is. 🙂 (Here are two introductory videos, one from Bryan Wolfmueller and another from Jonathan Fisk. As for me, I’ll stick with written words.) 

By way of introduction, a select few of you may think of it in terms of a physical version of OneNote. (OneNote is the note-taking-and-sharing application that’s part of Microsoft Office. You can take notes by hand, as audio, or by clipping items from formats to create a searchable, indexed file.) Bryan has described it as a way to centralize “customizable analog productivity tools.” 🙂

There are hundreds of planners you can look through to give you ideas (such as this or that), but what is really great about this system, the Everbook, is that it is infinite in essence.

(It might help if you’ve read Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity, though it’s certainly not a requirement. That’s my own background walking into this.)

Basic Everbook Set Up

First, you need a cover. Lutheran leatherworker Murdy Creative is even putting together its own exclusive one!

It could be a flap of leather you can tie closed or an old leather journal cover (as is Jonathan Fisk’s) with a headband that keeps it closed. My version is a little portfolio that zips up, which I got from Doxology years ago. It’s about the size of half a regular sheet of paper. (Here’s another example that could be usable.) Goal: simple something to carry that keeps papers together. 

Inside magic happens.

Either you can use pads of paper (I use something sized 3.5×5.5) or you can take several sheets of blank printer paper and fold it in half. Boom: four sides, sized 5.5 x 8, which is already a natural folder of paper. I use folded paper and one central pad of paper.

If you’ve just folded a stack of papers, I commend you for your diligence. At the same time, separate those pages. We are aiming for codex and codices! Place one folded piece of paper after another, keeping the folds together. Then place it back into a paper cover piece. (You could use different colors for title/cover pages—or entire folders—or not.)

By keeping the pages independent in this way, you can easily a) remove what you’re finished with, and b) add an infinite amount of paper, even as you keep the whole shabang able to fit in your hand.

Again, simple folded paper acts as both folder cover and interior pages. Easily removeable, easily transformable into a its folder.

You’ll want different folders of paper for different things, and part of the beauty is that you can keep folders within folders. When something becomes major or imminent, move it out as it’s very own folder. Or, when nothing is especially pressing, flip through a broader folder to find whatever is shovel-ready for whatever mood you’re in. 

If you’d like, you can take a paper that will serve as a folder cover. Give it two creases, slightly apart from the middle. It’s like creating a faux-book binding. That way you can a) label between the two creases, and b) create room for more paper.

To further organize inside your folder, title in such a way that fanning out the pages will show you all your options.  Would you fan out, from the left to right, then title along the left side. Would you fan out top to bottom? Title along the tippy top.

Pros & Cons

Pros: 

• Everbook is a versatile, infinite system, that pretty much could not have a lower cost.

Cons:

• There’s still filing involved if you want to save your notes, but at least the system implies a systematic way to file things also.
• You do have to figure out your specific needs. 
• You may get overly excited and buy too much colored paper. 🙂

As far as I can tell, this is ideal for just about any project-driven field. It allows for all sorts of brainstorming & notes, as long as you keep things together.

The reason I personally really like the Getting Things Done system is that it frees your mind to focus rather than remember everything. This system does that also. You just need a little initial input to figure out what’s on your plate & how you can best rotate your time and attention, as in more organizational methods.

Could one get too absorbed in details rather than jumping into this as a practical tool? Maybe. But if we approach this as something that can grow and develop with us, what’s the harm? A $20 refillable journal and 20-sheets of paper?

Conclusion

I don’t think my husband approaches things in a project-driven manner. Hence we developed our Pastoral Planner. Still, I am a more multi-tasking, project-driven person, and the Everbook system holds a lot of appeal to me.

You can have much more at your finger tips than a To Do list. You can start shifting towards a Next Action mind-frame with separate folders for long term and short term responsibilities and goals. As far as I’m concerned, you can seize a ream of printer paper and change the world! 🙂 With a little organizational help, that is.

Updating My Wad to Everbook

As for me, I keep a running list of projects that I update every time I redo my to do list, as I learned from Getting Things Done. Then, shuffling through my notes right now, I’m taking sheets of paper to make folder covers for the following:

• Medical stuff from recent well-child visits
• LutheranHomeschool.com notes
• Poetry/Hymnody notes
• Vocation (I’m preparing a six-session presentation on Family Vocations.)
• Random (Because sometimes I just need that for novel ideas, random thoughts & questions, etc.)
• And a single sheet of paper with home improvement plans so I can keep those clear in my mind.

Will I eventually type up my poetry/hymnody notes? Sure! But at least I know where I can find them until I do.

Will I keep all my vocation tidbits and file them later? Nah. I’m mostly adding occasional insights or turns of phrase as they come up to strengthen what I’ve already prepared. But I don’t want to run to my computer every time I have a thought, right?!

Admittedly, I keep a pad of paper in my portfolio. Along the top, I label MTWRFSS so I know what’s happening for the week. My To Do list is on the left. My dates coming up on the right. On the lower left, I list books I still intend to write up reviews for. On the lower left, I list my projects. All on a 3.5×8 inch tablet of paper. When it gets cluttered, I copy it out and think through where things stand. Sometimes a page lasts me for two weeks or more, depending on how regular & routine the time of year is.

I’ll use a mix of folded paper and my smaller paper, since my projects aren’t always a big deal. More likely, I just think of another list of resources to share.

Potential Everbook Models