Note Taking — The Underrated Productivity Tool
Recently, I attended a training on productivity at my workplace. One of the asks from the trainer to improve productivity was to have a consistent capture system (aka note-taking). I didn’t realize the importance of such a tool until now. And the dots are suddenly all connected.
If you’re like me, your mind comes up with all sorts of ideas throughout the day. Some of these thoughts may be important. Others may not be worth remembering. Regardless, it’s essential to capture them so you can use them later.
Ideas are critical for success. When you can take action on your ideas, you can achieve amazing things. Capturing those ideas is a crucial part of turning ideas into reality.
I recently re-connected with the CEO of my previous employment and thanked him for an inspiring email on leadership that he sent in 2016. Because I captured that email and have been looking at it since 2016.
I have a note-taking system that is eight years old. However, I still find inspiring thoughts from eight years ago. A lot of my ideas in this Medium came from those notes. There are numerous topics from recipes, gratitude, book summary, travel places, or even a weekly grocery list.
Note-taking is a vital skill. It helps you remember things and enables you to organize your thoughts. However, note-taking has one problem — people often forget to take notes. Some people are just forgetful and don’t get around to it. Other times, the notes are taken, but they are scattered all over the place and can be hard to find when you need them.
Whatever your philosophy is about the best way to capture these gems of wisdom, there is no doubt that a systematic process will yield better results than one which is not. Moreover, a simple system can help ensure that your notes stay with you until you can review them at your convenience.
Please continue to read to know my criteria for a note-taking system eight years ago has helped me a long way.
Mobility
The best ideas aren’t born at 9 am. They’re born when you’re walking the dog, carrying a bag of groceries, or sitting on the bus. They’re not born in your office unless you have a really strange job. So I need a solution that allows me to capture ideas quickly and categorize them on the spot to move on with my day.
But there’s more to it than that. Once you start using this system, you’ll find that your memory improves dramatically. And the more you use it, the better your memory gets.
This is because a consistent note capturing system frees up the memory space and processing power of the brain to concentrate on remembering other things.
Some people prefer to use paper note and bring it with them all the time. That doesn’t work for me. However, I bring my phone with me all the time, and I realize that I can use it for note-taking. Digital works better than physical for me in this case.
Consistent + Simple > Complex
A consistent note-taking system is more important than a complex one. A notebook and pen work best for many people because they’re simple to use, easy to carry, and reusable. However, they aren’t that portable, and you can’t search or sort things quickly.
A complex system like Evernote or OneNote requires you to first download software on your computer. It’s also challenging to remember where you filed everything because the software doesn’t have a search feature, so you must rely on tags or categories.
Here is my secret. I use Keep (keep.google.com) for personal note-taking. It’s free and elegantly simple. I can access it using a browser or mobile app. It isn’t powerful, and I can’t create all sorts of beautiful tables and drawings like Evernote or OneNote. However, Keep is simple enough that I don’t get distracted by other tools and write down my thoughts unfiltered.
A simple note-taking system is much easier to use and is less likely to lead to frustration or distraction. You can take notes quickly, which means you can focus on what’s important and get more done in less time.
Another reason that I prefer Keep over paper notes is because I can actually type 5x faster than writing. That’s a plus when it comes to time-saving.
Critical Questions
I don’t know about you, but I forget almost all I read from a book after finishing it. It’s because I am just receiving knowledge and ideas from other people without actively working on them.
I have learned a simple trick throughout the years of taking notes: to ask questions.
Ask critical questions. Question the writers’ assumptions, question their analysis, examine their data.
Then, try to answer those questions as you read the rest of the book or material in your note.
You can also question your own ideas. The more questions you ask while listening and taking notes, the greater your understanding of the topic. Your subconscious mind will still work on those questions while you are doing chores or asleep.
Final thought
Creativity has no schedule. It can strike at any time, so you need a way to capture your ideas as soon as they pop up. If your thoughts aren’t immediately captured, they can be lost forever.
Trying to remember what you need to do or what you want to look into later can lead to mental overload and stress, which will affect your ability to focus on your work.
When you are feeling unproductive and distracted, the last thing you want is for the “to do” list in your head to grow longer. That’s why it’s crucial to have a consistent note capturing system that works for you.
I’ve been taking notes for most of my life. From high school to college, I have always been the student who took many notes. But they were all scattered around and eventually lost. So then, I took it to the next level with Keep.
The thing about note-taking is that it’s very subjective. One person’s system may not be the best for another person. Sometimes, using paper is better than using electronic tools. Sometimes, using your laptop or computer is better than handwriting everything down.
My personal note capture system has evolved over time and continues to change as I find new ways to capture information more efficiently. I don’t claim that this is the best way for everyone to take notes, but it is my way of capturing data, and it has worked well for me over the years.
Indeed I’m a big fan of note-taking. I’ve been using a simple system for over eight years, improving my life. So I bet it can work for you too.
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