Index Cards
In an era of all things digital, index cards are still an essential item used in our daily business tasks at Sprocket. Gone are the days of just using them to cram for an exam, now they serve as tools to brainstorm, task assign, and more. Here are just a few of the reasons we love this cheap and easy tool!
Cheap & Easy
Incredibly cheap, easy to find, and easy to use. Nearly everyone can utilize index cards as a user or recipient. No training needed for this simple system.
2. Portability
Go wherever you go, or leave behind a note for someone else. No compatibility issues, no charger needed, fits easily into your pocket/bag/purse. You can also keep them together during transport with another common office tool - butterfly clips!
3. Visual Aid
Of all the information transmitted to brain, 90% is visual. As opposed to text, visuals are processed 60,000x faster. This means those doodles might just come in handy. Don’t have time to put together a comprehensive infographic for every idea? Index cards can help clearly communicate your message to team members about the direction of your project or thought process. They can also help you visually reassign tasks, prioritize items, and meet goals. While this may not be the optimum form of communication for large groups, it works wonders in small groups and for individuals.
4. Memorization
Simply stated, physically writing things down helps best commit them to memory. The “generation effect” tells us we better retain material we have generated ourselves, as opposed to reading it. This happens when we take notes in electronic form or manually. Encoding is where handwritten notes pull ahead in the game. Encoding is a biological process that occurs in the human brain when it takes in information and commits it to memory. Handwritten notes may take longer, but this helps the brain process each letter, word, and idea. The increased processing time may help better commit these ideas to memory. Another helpful memorization tip with index cards - a study published in the journal Applied Cognitive Psychology showed subjects given a doodling task while listening to a dull phone message had a 29% improved recall compared to their non-doodling counterparts.
5. Creativity
Doodle! In addition to helping remember important information, doodling can also spark ideas and boost creativity! According to a fun Inc. article doodling can also help you focus, find solutions to problems, and help you better deal with challenges. The author also references “Doodle Revolution” author Sunni Brown who writes how “some of the most creative people in business, from Apple to Ford to Zappos and Disney, have all aggressively promoted doodling as a means of encouraging greater creativity and productivity.”
Websites like Verbal to Visual take it to another level with entire courses and memberships on “sketchnoting” with index cards and other tools. *Sprocket is not affiliated with VerbalToVisual.com in any way, we just thinks it’s neat*
Interesting Resources
Wiley-Blackwell. "Do Doodle: Doodling Can Help Memory Recall." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 5 March 2009. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090226210039.htm>.
Wall Street Journal https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-power-of-the-doodle-improve-your-focus-and-memory-1406675744
Peter Gasca “3 Ways Doodling Will Help Your Focus and Creativity” Inc.
https://www.inc.com/peter-gasca/3-reasons-doodling-will-help-your-focus-and-creativity.html
Mark Murphy “Neuroscience Explains Why You Need To Write Down Your Goals If You Actually Want To Achieve Them” Forbes
https://www.forbes.com/sites/markmurphy/2018/04/15/neuroscience-explains-why-you-need-to-write-down-your-goals-if-you-actually-want-to-achieve-them/?sh=734beb497905
Richard Mohs “How Human Memory Works” How Stuff Works
https://science.howstuffworks.com/life/inside-the-mind/human-brain/human-memory3.htm
Topic Tags: Memory Improvement, Visual Aides, Business, Note taking, Leadership, Team Building, Project, Organization, Small Business Help, Tips, Small Business Solutions, Helpful hints, Workplace Systems, Omaha Nebraska, Small Business Owners and Entrepreneurs
Questions Addressed: How can I improve my memory? How can I help my small business? How can I improve my project organization? How can I be more organized? How can I spark creativity in the workplace? How can I communicate better at work and with my team?
