Note-taking is important for both academic and professional life. Without the skill of note-taking, you may capture less information in a meeting, or you may not recall an important theory that your professor mentioned in a lecture. Michael Hyatt has an article to help you recover the lost art of note-taking. First he gives some great advantages of note-taking:
- Note-taking enables you to stay engaged.
- Note-taking provides a mechanism for capturing your ideas, questions, and commitments.
- Note-taking communicates the right things to the other attendees.
Then he suggests four ways to improve your note-taking skills:
- Use a journal-formatted notebook.
- Keep your meeting notes as a running journal.
- Use symbols so you can quickly scan your notes later.
- Schedule time to review your notes.
With most of my notes, I use list form with indented for sub-ideas. I drop down as fewer words as possible. Two those are the main things to make my note-taking more effective.
Recovering the Lost Art of Note-Taking – [Working Smart]
I read Michael’s post and had a sense of deja vu. But then I realized it was more likely “Lifehack vu.”
http://www.lifehacker.com/software/note-taking/geek-to-live-take-great-notes-167307.php
I use a Filofax as a reporter’s notebook and it works very well for me. One side-benefit of taking notes is that it forces me to shut up! I tend to chatter away if left to my own devices and generally what other people say is more useful (if less interesting ;-) than what I have to say in most situations. I wrote about this in a post on my blog: Tools for writing: Moleskine vs. Filofax
Someone gave me a Moleskine notebook, which I use to write anything and everything that comes to mind. I carry it with me anywhere for those lightbulb moments when a great idea pops up, or when I remember that I need to pay the bills. :)
I also rely on my Franklin Covey organizer, but I almost always end up moving my notes to Moleskine. It’s my anywhere-everywhere notebook. For now, that is.
Whatever notebook it is, as long as you’re comfortable with it, who cares whether it doesnt have a cult following, right?