Storing information in an organized index is fascinating, particularly in trying to understand how I do this with the warehouse of information in my brain. After some thought, I realized I keep a digital version of a commonplace book in the collection of Google screenshots on my phone. This observation is based on the definition of a “commonplace book” provided by ChatGPT which describes it as a “personal collection of quotes, ideas, reflections, and information gathered from various sources, typically organized for easy reference and use.” Here is a link to the prompt and ChatGPT’s full answer.
https://chatgpt.com/share/67953fc7-4890-800d-9a16-0d84927cc74f
I have the habit of continuously adding to my list of television shows, movies, or music I want to revisit–a personal collection of information for easy reference. I usually collect these lists in the form of a folder of Google screenshots of the title and/or description of the particular item. When I am in search of a new television show or film to watch, or looking to discover new music, I can easily revisit these collections of screenshots to perhaps determine my next binge-watch.
I think this is the only form of a commonplace book that I utilize in my day-to-day. If I were to start intentionally keeping a commonplace book, I would probably have two main headings: Work/School and Personal. These headings represent the two dominating factors in my life. Everything that occurs in my life is tied to either my professional life or my personal life. I speak and write in a certain way in professional settings that may differ in some ways from how I speak and write outside of those spaces. A potential subheading beneath the two main headings could be Common Phrases, which then has further subheadings that describe common situations like “Greetings” and “Farewells.” The “Greetings” section under the Work/School heading would perhaps include things like “Hello.” or “Hi.” The “Greetings” section under the Personal heading might include something like “What’s up?” These are both examples of greetings, but the context of situations would determine which greeting I might use. This is of course a very simplistic example. My interactions in both my professional and personal life are more complex, and I have created a mental commonplace book of behavior and speech to recall that is specific to each environment. I am not sure how my flow of thoughts led me to confront my instinct to code-switch depending on my setting, but that is a deeper issue for another class. However, I do think this is a form of a commonplace book that I have created and stored in my brain rather than physically writing the information down.
This has been quite the journey through my brain as I work to uncover how I process information. I would be interested in learning ways or utilizing tools to better organize information.
