You're a busy person, doing interesting work. You need a trusted, effective, minimalist system so you can finally feel organized– and free up your mind to get on with doing great things.
You've gone down the rabbit holes of online research and come up short. You don't need a list of keyboard shortcuts or a refresher on the finer points of GTD. You're tired of reading breathless click-bait articles on "how to be INSANELY productive in just FIVE SECONDS a day" written entirely without irony or self-awareness by childless, single men in their early twenties, with enviable autonomy over their daily work schedules.
You're an adult, with important work to do and plenty of people relying on you.
You have gifts to share with the world. You're trying to figure out how you can be productive with limitations and constraints– you don't have giant swaths of unencumbered time to get your work done. You need to be efficient and effective– while managing to save some time and energy for yourself, too. My job is to help you dig out from underneath information overwhelm so you can get on with accomplishing big things.
You need help digging out from under the piles of overwhelming information.
You need a practical solution customized to actually fit your real life.
Meet your guide
Hi there! I’m Elizabeth Butler, MD, PhD– a practicing physician, researcher, former humanities professor, researcher, working parent, and creator of the Calmer Notes method for personal knowledge management.
I’ve spent nearly two decades figuring out how busy people can organize information quickly and effectively. Instead of wasting your time searching for lost knowledge and feeling frustrated with scattered thinking, you can get on with creating great things and solving big problems, while feeling less stressed.
A bit about my journey
PROFESSOR
In my first career, I was a professor and academic researcher. While completing my PhD, I travelled to libraries and museums around Europe and North America to dig through their dusty archives rooms to solve mysteries a few centuries in the making.
MEDICAL DOCTOR
Then I went to medical school. In my career as a physician, I had to learn how to manage a whole different type of knowledge. Information comes fast and furious in medical training, and you need to adapt quickly so you don’t drown in the firehose of information.
PARENT
Kids are the ultimate source of both delight and overwhelm. Once I became a parent, I had a whole new load of information, projects, tasks, and reminders that I had to keep straight on top of work projects.
I’ve been in the trenches of information overload, too. I know what it feels like.
Want to learn more about my story?
Check out my interviews with Creativerly and Bear Notes to learn more.
How I can help
Browse my offerings
Explore my blog archives of articles on mindful productivity, note taking methods, and productivity apps.
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
I know a Dr. Butler! Are you my doctor?
I'm afraid not: Elizabeth Butler is my online alter ego/pen name/alias. I'm a practicing physician, and want to keep this project fully separate from my clinical work.
To keep these parts of my life completely distinct and separate, I've borrowed the likeness of a lovely stock photo model (who I've decided I'll vote to play me in the Hallmark biopic of my life 😊) for my online persona.
Where can I follow you on social media?
Thanks for your interest! I'm taking a break from social media at the moment: you can find out more about my social media sabbatical in this blog post.
Do you offer individual training or one-on-one consulting?
Not at present, but I may offer it down the road... you're warmly invited to join the wait list to be notified if and when VIP consults become available.
I bought the Calmer Notes course a while ago... how can I access the material again?
First of all– thanks for being an early adopter! I appreciate your support. 😊
You can head over to the student welcome hub for detailed instructions on how to access your course material.
If you need help finding your course material, please send us a message via our contact page so our support team can help.
Do you have a newsletter?
Yes, I send out a newsletter about note taking, digital file organization, and mindful productivity. I'd be delighted to have you on the list. You can join the free newsletter here.
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