Alright folks, so I’ve been messing around trying to streamline my workflow lately, yeah? Decided to put two systems head-to-head: Wagner and Howard. This ain’t some high-tech battle, just my dumb notebook war.
Started simple. Needed to track ideas for next week’s posts. Grabbed my old Howard notebook – you know, the fancy structured one with pre-made sections everyone keeps pushing. Figured I’d give its system a proper shot.
Day one felt… stiff. Opened the “Daily Tasks” section. It wanted me to split things into “Urgent,” “Important,” and “Later.” Felt like overkill for my simple blog ideas list. Like, seriously, where do “Possible YouTube thumbnail sketches” fit? Forced myself to use it all morning. Wrote down stuff like “Brainstorm sourdough tips – Important.” Felt kinda forced, but hey.
Then lunch hit, grabbed coffee at the corner spot. Had this great thought about a community engagement tactic. Pulled out Howard… and froze. No obvious spot for a raw, unformed thought like that. Ended up jammed it awkwardly into the “Notes” section at the back. Already felt messy.
Later that afternoon, pulled out the Wagner – that plain, thick paper notebook I got cheap at the market. No rules. Just blank pages. Flipped to a fresh page, bam! Scribbled my coffee shop idea: “Test – Ask community for their biggest kitchen fails before posting? Maybe poll?” No categories. Just the thought, quick and dirty. Felt instantly easier. Way less friction.
Tried using both for the whole week. Here’s what sucked with Howard:
- Wasted time deciding categories for everything. Was this task urgent or just important? Ugh.
- Felt weirdly restrictive. Had a thought about that annoying squeak my office chair makes? Not blog-related! Nowhere logical to put it. Ended up ignored.
- The layout felt like using someone else’s brain. Sections I never used took up space. Stuff got hidden.
Wagner? Honestly, felt chaotic sometimes. Just pages filling up. But:
- Zero barrier to entry. Saw a cool leaf? Drew it. Remembered I needed glue? Wrote “BUY GLUE TOMORROW” in giant letters.
- Could see the flow of my messy brain. Blog ideas next to shopping lists next to sketches. Somehow made sense to me.
- Super quick flip to find stuff later. Rough date at the top of the page was enough.
So Who Won?
Howard ain’t terrible. If your life runs on strict schedules and predefined projects, maybe it works. Feels professional, looks neat. But for the messy, fluid way I work? Trying to jam everything into its boxes just pissed me off. Slowed me down.
Wagner’s messiness won. It embraced the chaos. Grabbed the pen, wrote exactly what I needed, where I was. No thinking about where to write it, just writing. Felt effortless. Yeah, it ain’t pretty or structured like Howard. But it gets the job done without fighting me.
Maybe the lesson ain’t about which book is better, but about fighting your own style. Forcing myself into Howard’s system was like wearing tight dress shoes for a hike. Wagner is my comfy, beat-up sneakers. Lets me run where I wanna go. Stickin’ with messy.
