by Lisa | Oct 3, 2018 | Art, Entrepreneur, Graphic Recording, Productivity, Social Media
Bullet journaling has become a huge source of creativity and productivity for creatives across the world. Originally created by Ryder Carroll, this style of record keeping can be as simple or as complex as you need it to be.
In this day and age, it can be hard to keep track of everything in one place. Even with technology, it can be hard to get everything down. Pen and paper can be the way to go. A bullet journal provides a way for you to be organized in a creative way. From tracking your water intake, keeping up with tasks to dreaming big with a bucket list, your bullet journal can hold as much information as you like.
Bullet journals can be a gamechanger in the workplace. Take a break from your technology and use your bullet journal to plan strategically, organize your thoughts and keep track of your calendar. Bullet journals can provide a full visual and creative freedom that computer screens would limit. This style of note taking can also liven up meetings as well. Repetitive operational meetings can get boring, but by adding notes to your bullet journal it can boosts creativity during those long days in the boardroom.
Getting started with your bullet journal:
- Find your journal – Decide if you want lined or blank paper, dotted versus gridded, etc. You can get a large journal or start smaller. The key to bullet journaling is customizing it to your needs.
- Figure out your topics – What do you want to include in your bullet journal? Consider creating a brain dump page before you get started. *Important note – make sure to skip a few pages at the beginning of your journal to leave room for your index.
- Create your index – Consider your index your “table of contents” for your bullet journal. This will serve as your guide for finding specific information in the future. This portion will be extremely helpful once your bullet journal becomes full of your notes. Also, make sure to number your pages to keep with completing your index.
- Design your key – Your key will have various indicators for your task lists. A simple dash “-” can serve as a general indicator of a task, while other symbols should be designed for different categories for your tasks. Design markings for tasks once you have completed them, moved to a different date or canceled altogether. This can evolve over time, but having a general guide is helpful.
- Make it your own – Having an initial setup of pages and topics is great to get you started, but the main purpose of bullet journaling is making it your own. Search online for inspiration. Get ideas for layouts, content and more. Be sure to add some fun icons to your bullet journal with our visual note taking sheet!
Need some more inspiration? See photos of my journal below. Can’t wait to see what you create!
by Lisa | Sep 19, 2018 | Entrepreneur, Graphic Recording, Leadership, Productivity
Now is the time to set priorities, plan out the remaining months of the year and get the team on track with a plan. Use a visual strategic planning session and graphic recording to reiterate team values, goals and motivations. Check out our top components of a strategic planning session to set up your company for success!
- Restate the company’s mission – Before looking ahead, state your company’s mission. Begin the discussion sharing the company’s values and principles. This will provide a steady mindset for the strategic planning, keeping everything and everyone in line with your company’s basics.
- Assess the current status – “Where are we?” Take some time to review your company’s current standings. Have team members gather statistics and updates about their areas of business. This will provide an internal understanding of what is going on and what might need some attention.
- Identity the important areas – What is a top priority? What area has the most impact? Work together with your co-workers to recognize those sections.
- Point out those pressure points – Review those trouble areas. How can you overcome this problem in this new season? Recognize your team’s strong skills and partner-specific people with the problems that they can tackle. Delegate and execute.
- Define what must be accomplished – Set expectations during your strategic planning. Provide direction on tasks and goals that need to be completed. Review the calendar if needed. Give due dates and benchmarks for the upcoming months.
- Review and review again – Check for gaps in your plan. Look for areas that might have been overlooked. Add more details. Rework deadlines as needed. Ensure each team member has time to thoroughly review the plan.
- Implementation – After the strategic plan has been reviewed and finalized, it is time for implementation! Engage in periodic conversations to check in with your team. Make sure that they feel confident about their responsibilities. Provide assistance as needed.
Let our team help you visualize your strategic planning. We offer graphic recording services for Think Tanks, strategy sessions, visioning sessions, and more! Learn more through our services page here.
by Lisa | Aug 25, 2017 | Business, Education, Facilitation, Graphic Recording
What happens when you are running a meeting or a workshop and the group starts to stray away from the agenda?
Maybe someone mentions a topic and another person jumps in to add their thoughts. Before you know it, the entire group is now discussing something outside the scope of your meeting. I have seen this happen time and time again. And so have you right? When I am supporting a facilitator with graphic recording, I always offer to create a Parking Lot for the meeting.
The Parking Lot is a placeholder for capturing ideas that should be followed up at a later date outside of the meeting. It keeps your meeting on course and it shows the contributor that you acknowledge their idea/concern.
Here is a quick video that explains how to use the technique.
What’s your favorite method for keeping meetings on track? I’d love to hear it.
Facilitating a meeting involves juggling a number of moving parts. We hope this technique will help you during your next meeting or workshop. Learn how we can support you with visual notes and meeting design, click here
by Lisa | Jan 9, 2017 | Graphic Recording, Uncategorized, Visual Thinking
“Wow! What do you call that?”
I hear this question all the time. Most people have never seen graphic recording in person, but once you see it, you never forget the experience.
Event planners and consultants hire me for their conferences and meetings. Graphic recording is a process of listening, synthesizing, organizing and drawing what’s being said.90
The magic comes in when a Graphic Recorder does this process real-time at your meeting or event. Yes, I said “Magic!”
Picture this, you are at a meeting or a conference. Your listening to the speaker or having a strategy session. A key point just came up but you didn’t catch it. Uh oh.
Lisa Nelson, Graphic Recording
Then you look up and see a graphic recorder at the side of the room taking notes and drawing pictures for you. No worries. Yeah, it’s like magic!
When you see an image and text together, you have an 80% chance of remembering the content. That’s HUGE.
Do you know a meeting planner, consultant or facilitator? Go ahead and share this info with them so they can benefit and subscribe. Thanks!
by Lisa | Dec 15, 2016 | Business, Graphic Recording, Technology, Uncategorized
This week I had the privilege of working with Wildman Event Group and GE for the #AdvancedManufacturing Summit. Speakers included Congressman Tim Ryan of Ohio and Steve Case, founder of AOL. This event brought over 300 attendees together to discuss the future of Advanced Manufacturing (#futurefactory).
The Advanced Manufacturing Summit was held at Dock5 Union Market, Washington DC. This was my first time at this event space and it was an awesome venue.
This ceiling had tons of light bulbs hanging down and it was so reminiscent of GE. I even included some light bulbs in my chart!
#Futurefactory Completed Chart of Graphic Recording
Here is the completed chart showing the key points from the presentations, panel discussions and input from attendees.
I even saved space for ideas from attendees during the reception. My favorite response from an attendee was about the future of Advanced Manufacturing, his answer was “Making things is going to be COOL”.
What stands out for you in the chart? Leave a comment and let me know.
by Lisa | Sep 21, 2016 | Graphic Recording, Visual Thinking
Graphic recording is the art of capturing conversations with hand drawn pictures so that meetings and events come alive! Check out this time lapse video from one of our projects, to see the visual summary come to life.
Here is a quick video that outlines just a few of the reasons why you should use graphic recording for your next meeting, workshop, conference, or leadership retreat.
The benefits of graphic recording:
- Supports the Facilitator. Graphic recording supports the facilitator by making ideas visible so the group can get on the same page. That’s a good thing.
- Validates Participants. The graphic recorder listens to the conversation during report outs, brainstorming, focus groups and other group discussions. Participants can actually see their input being captured and visualized with illustrations and text.
- Better Decision Making. Ideas are clarified and visible to everyone in the room. “Once the facts are clear, decisions jump out at you”- Peter Drucker.
- Increases Memory and Comprehension. Graphic recording creates a “visual memory” for attendees and it can increase retention up to 30%.
- Helps the Group to Maintain Focus. It’s easy for participants and attendees to get distracted, especially after lunch. Before you know it, someone is yawning and someone is looking at their cell phones. Having a graphic recorder in the room gives participants a way to bring their attention back to the discussion, catch up and stay focused. It’s also great for people who did not attend the meeting or conference. I often hear people say “I felt like I was there” after seeing the completed charts.
- Promotes Creativity. As soon as participants enter the room, they realize this is no ordinary meeting or conference. Big paper means BIG ideas. Graphic recording sets the stage for conversation and creativity.
Learn how you can use the power of graphic recording at your next event, click here.
Please comment below, I’d love to hear what you think about the benefits of graphic recording.
