To be honest, I skimmed through most of it, and got a few tips on constructing stories, but nothing too exciting.<\/p>\n
Until I got to Chapter 3.<\/p>\n
In Chapter 3, I found one storytelling tip that I started using right away, and I’ve used that tip every day since.<\/p>\n Chapter 3 is titled, Homework for Life, and it gives you this assignment, as your daily task:<\/p>\n The author keeps his notes in a spreadsheet, so that’s what I’m doing too. Maybe that was the part that appealed to me!<\/p>\n I work at my computer all day, and Notepad++ is always open. I make notes as I work, to keep track<\/a> of where I’m spending my time. Most of the notes are about work projects, but I keep personal notes there too.<\/p>\n Every morning, I look back over the previous days notes, and enter my work hours in Access. And now, since reading about Homework for Life, I also make a short note in Excel, about a story from the previous day.<\/p>\n Here’s a screen shot of my list, filtered to show a few of the items. As you can see, there’s nothing extraordinary there \u2013 just mundane daily life stories.<\/p>\n And because every sheet should have at least one formula, there’s a count of the stories in cell A1:<\/p>\n Will I ever do anything with those stories? Who knows.<\/p>\n It’s interesting to jot the stories down though, and can help put a bad day in perspective, when you review it the next day.<\/p>\n Like that bad day I had on March 8th, when I stomped downstairs mid-afternoon, and announced, “I don’t want to make soup, and I don’t want to eat soup.” So, we got the last of the Christmas leftovers out of the freezer, and had a “Christmas in March” supper instead. Fun!<\/p>\n I’ll also have stories to tell my grandkids, if we’re ever allowed to get together with our family again! And I’m sure my son will share some of his bad jokes too<\/a>!<\/p>\n This video shows Matthew Dicks’ Homework for Life talk at TEDxBerkshires, in 2015.<\/p>\n Unlike Matthew Dicks, I’m not aiming to do any TED talks with my stories, or get up on any stage, anywhere.<\/p>\n Our lives are full of little stories though, and it’s nice to have a simple way to remember some of them!<\/p>\n![](\"http:\/\/ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com\/widgets\/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=B07CV2PFYJ&Format=_SL350_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=debrad-20&language=en_US\")
Homework for Life<\/h3>\n
\n
Keep Your Story Notes<\/h3>\n
\n
![\"lifestories01\"](\"https:\/\/debradalgleish.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/lifestories01_thumb.png\" "\\"lifestories01\\"")
<\/a><\/p>\nWhat To Do With the Stories?<\/h3>\n
Video: Homework for Life<\/h3>\n