While the act of writing something down for later retrieval seems simple enough, the busy people among us may find the simple approach lacking in sufficient organizational hooks. A blank notebook works well if you are able to process everything you have written down in order, or the list is short enough that you can manually process it out of order. But what if you are writing 10 or more pages of notes per day? Going through your notes at the end of each day, or worse--week, quickly becomes unwieldy.
The problem is that not every note is created equal. A reference to a major project that is due next week is much more important that the name and number of someone you have never heard of, who you suspect is trying to sell you something. Since there tend to be many more less important notes than very important ones, the important tends to be buried in a haystack of little reminders.
Here are some potential solutions to this problem:
- Come up with a categorization and prioritization system that you can use to label all your notes, by placing a symbol or code in the margin.
- Use a fancier notebook--one that has different spaces for different types of notes. There are several such notebooks available at places such as Office Depot.
- Use a high-tech solution, such as Microsoft OneNote or one of its open-source cousins, that allows you to categorize and organize your notes in a sophisticated way. Note that high tech solutions are only applicable if you can actually use them to take notes in all contexts, not just while at your desk.
In the future, we at OfficeStuffer will review some of the specific supplies and products you may want to use to make improvements in this area. In the mean time, please feel free to comment on what tools and techniques you are using to take and retrieve effective notes.
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I often use 3-by-5 index cards. I walk around with a pen and an index card or two in my pocket. If an important thought or a to-do comes up, I write it down right away. Then at the end of the day I go through the index card and do what I need to with the info, and throw it away.
Posted by: Easton Ellsworth | March 25, 2006 11:17 AM | Permalink to Comment