Have you ever heard of the concept of “5 Fat Files??” It is a practice I was introduced to in college through some of Elizabeth George’s books, such as Life Management for Busy Women. An excellent book, should you run across it!
Here is the motivation behind 5 Fat Files:
There is so much information readily available today. The click of a mouse, and we have access to more websites, blogs, tutorials and videos than we ever have time to look through. How on earth can we use it to our advantage and not get overwhelmed? And besides that, how do we find the time to wade through all that info and actually retain information that is useful?
By building 5 Fat Files, of course.
I pick 5 areas that I want to learn more about. Anything on the face of the earth that I am interested in. I limit it to 5 so that I can really focus on learning something and not just gaining information about everything under the sun. I wouldn’t really retain much if I didn’t have a purpose and goal in my reading and research!
Then, I take 5 file folders, label them with my 5 topics, and get ready to make those files FAT!
Last year I had planned on really establishing my 5 files. But then I went to Florida for 6 months and never did. I had other things to do during that time, I guess! I did kind of start some files….but I only had 4….then I had 6….and I really haven’t done anything with them for about a year. That is about to change, folks.
I decided I really want to establish those 5 files - first narrow it down to 5 topics, and then get busy making them fat!
But why do it alone when I have fantastic blog readers to share it with?
So I am opening this challenge up to you, my blogging friends! This is not a hard or time-consuming project, but something to establish and begin to build over the month of April.
Here is the game plan:
First we’ll pick our 5 topics of interest (more on that in a minute)
Then we will label our folders and get to work filling them!
Content for your files can come from anywhere. Clippings from a magazine or newspaper. A book you read. An article you read on a blog. A podcast. A website full of info on that subject. Really, information is everywhere these days!
Besides building 5 tangible files, there are other ways to build information on our topics in our day and age. 5 folders on our computers, 5 Pinterest boards….oh, I have lots of ideas that we will touch on throughout the month!
I also have some fantastic guest posts lined up that deal on different subjects that I don’t know much about. There is no way to fit in a post about every subject during the month, but hopefully some of the guests that are lined up will be a help to you! By providing a variety of content during this challenge, I hope it will inspire you to work on making those files fat.
Ok, enough explaining. Who is ready for the challenge??
Step one of this challenge begins today. Pick 5 areas that you want to learn more about. Here is a list of suggestions to help get you started:
Adoption
Archeology
Baking
Becoming minimalist
Bird watching
Blogging
Building a business
Cake Decorating
Cloth Diapering
Cooking
Couponing
Crochet
Devotional Habits
Embroidery
Femininity
Finances
Going Green
Herbs
Home Management
Interior Design
Keeper at Home
Knitting
Marriage
Music
Organizing
Parenting
Photography
Pregnancy
Psychology
Scrapbooking
Self-publishing
Sewing
Social Media
Teaching
Technological-anything ;)
Whole Foods Diet
I realize my list is a little more focused on the female population of the world, but if you are a male and want to dive into this challenge, there are lots of possibilities for you, too! Some of these things like photography, technology, self-publishing are for either gender, and you could add things like preaching, construction...whatever your little heart desires! Hey, you could research knitting if you wanted, I won't tell. :)
Once you have narrowed it down to 5 topics, label 5 file folders with your topics and get ready to make them fat! I suggest finding a convenient place for them somewhere in your home where you can easily slip content into them.
Next Thursday, April 5th, I will share the 5 topics I have picked out, and encourage you to do the same! I am so excited to see the topics you pick out and the way we can encourage each other through this challenge!
If you have a blog, why don’t you consider blogging about this project as you go? Then we can have a linky party at the end of the month and see how everyone did with their files! If you would like to blog about this challenge, here is a button for you:
If you don't have a blog, that is ok too! Just come and interact with us in the comments section. And don't worry, if you aren't in to this files thing, I'll be posting regular content as well such as Goals for the Week, etc, so don't go anywhere!
Who is with me? Are you as excited about this challenge as I am? What other topics can YOU think of to add to the list above?
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