This post is for issues specifically and only to do with the Johnny.Decimal Workbook area: 50-59 The index.
14.02 The Decimal Workbook║J•D
If you have completed this Workbook area and anything is unclear, please:
- Search this post to see if someone else has already asked the same question.
- If not, post your question with as much information as possible.
- Note the Workbook ID that you are stuck on, e.g.
54.02 Start somewhere clean.
Consolidating these questions in to a single post helps me identify issues with the Workbook. If I see patterns, I’ll update it so it’s clearer for future users. Thanks for your help.
If your issue is not related to the Workbook, please start a new post.
Reading through this section, the importance of the index makes sense. I just want to clarify something:
I like the idea of marking the location of things (i.e. email, file, notes, etc.) But, this would imply that while your system is complete in your Index, it would seem “incomplete” in other areas.
For example, in the travel area, if you only have an email that applies to an ID, then that ID wouldn’t show up in your files. So it might look like:
EMAIL:
16 Travel
16.01 Singapore
16.02 Emergency Trip
16.03 Canada
FILES:
16 Travel
16.01 Singapore
16.03 Canada
Is that correct? I know the Index is there to help make sense of it, but does it get confusing having various areas not match up? Just making sure I’m thinking correctly! Thanks!
100% correct.
This is why you must think of your index as your system.
Your system is not your files. Your system is not your email. Those things are but components of your system; so the fact that some of them only contain some IDs should be of no concern.
I think this might be the most important thing that I’ve realised in the last few months.
Ok that makes sense. As I’ve watched the videos that follow some of the workbook chapters, I can see how your numbers work. Still a little weird to me to see 12.02 and then 12.08, but all the more reason to live in the index. I’m sure I’ll get used to it!
A question about “storage” items. We store our yearly family photos on a cloud hard drive at our house. I’ve just finished reading the workbook, so haven’t written my scope yet, but assuming these are under the Personal area and they would live on that hard drive. But, how would I set that up? And, if it is just storage that we access rarely, would they be outside the scope of a JD system?
Ok that was a lot! Hope that all makes sense!
Family photos sound like they should be in scope.
And here’s the beauty: it doesn’t matter where they are, or how infrequently they’re accessed. It’s exactly the same problem as your question about using both a work computer and a home computer – the answer is the index.
Put these photos on whatever external/cloud/offline storage device you like, and in the index entry, just tell yourself where they are in whatever words make sense to you.
Also check out this recent post about items that span servers and drives which covers many of the same themes.
Just wanting to get some feedback on my set up so far. I’ve got my Index set up in one note right now. I’m trying to use the separate notes but seems a bit chaotic to me. So, working on my work (church) computer today and just sharing to see if this looks ok. Thanks for any feedback anyone has!
Looks good to me! Keep doing what you’re doing. 
