Comments on: Taking Notes

By: Carol

Carol — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 19:29:29 +0000

I have a really really bad memory. I’m not sure why I didn’t even opt for an epidural when I gave birth. Taking notes really is a life saver – same as money saver. I try to take notes everyday. But it gets lost somewhere. I try to put it in my phone but I don’t carry it around the house so that’s a problem. Having a pocket notebook is also the same as my phone – I don’t carry it around the house. What do you think I should do?

By: Aurie

Aurie — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 20:00:15 +0000

my iPhone is super friendly to this idea and I will be more diligent about taking these ideas to heart. Very good post and I appreciate it. I also like to take quick pictures when possible for visual memory as well as using the notepad feature. Another good thing is that I can email myself these things or sync to the computer to store the info for personal use, a blog posting idea, or just to share with family & friends.

By: Doug R

Doug R — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 03:43:08 +0000

I ALWAYS take a notebook to the doctor’s office. Going into the appointment, it has questions I want to ask (I always forget one or two). Coming out, it has answers he gave me, plus other stuff that came up that I’ll never on God’s earth retain. I’m also studying flute, sax and clarinet with a guy who’s been playing for 40 years, and I ALWAYS pack my little Zoom H2 and record everything (another form of note-taking), then transcribe his little nuggets of wisdom verbatim–I find I misremember a lot of what he says, some of which is pretty arcane, otherwise (and end up practicing “wrong”). Next to the music on my practice stand I keep the lined pad with notes from the last lesson, which I refer to repeatedly until the concepts “stick.”

By: Carolee

Carolee — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 13:23:26 +0000

I find I use my Blackberry a lot for making notes.

I have just started a grocery list as I can never find the list to write things down, or I firget it at home….

Nothing saves money at the grocery store than knowing what you need and buying ONLY that!

It’s also great for writing down any ideas that “come to you” at strange times.

By: aj

aj — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 16:50:07 +0000

I am also frustrated due to the lack of pockets in womens clothing. I have some dress pants that have fake pockets in them…why not just put the pocket there, for heaven’s sake!

I do carry around a small notebook to write everything down in…everything that isn’t already in digital format that is. (I have been using & loving Evernote for a place to organize info I want to keep. I can’t access it at work so I have to just send an email to my Evernote account but this makes it easy to file away bits of info I might need in the future.)

Whenever I am have a moment while waiting at an appointment, etc. I read over my notebook from the beginning to review. It is amazing how bad my memory is…I will read something I had written and totally forgotten about! But that is what the notebook is for, so it IS doing the job!!

By: Tim C

Tim C — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 14:51:26 +0000

I have adopted a note taking system that I once read some other place…

I have also tried many different ways, always finding the process of fitting a notebook in my pocket very cumbersome, and furthermore the notebook looked like it had been through a war after about a week. I tried the index cards, but they also didn’t seem to stand up real well in the pocket, plus involved buying something extra on a regular basis that really wouldn’t be used for anything else.

The system I use is incredibly simple – a single piece of 8.5×11 plain paper, folded twice (in half once, and then in half the opposite direction once). This gets used for a day (sometimes 2 or three, if it doesn’t get too disheveled), and simply doesn’t get thrown out until everything on the paper has been reviewed and is either irrelevant or has been transferred to a more long-term note/list.

Very simple, cheap, and effective.

By: JC

JC — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 13:57:11 +0000

I use my blackberry notes app in a similar fashion as Greg (#1) does.

Except I have multiple files going. One is a generic list of immediate things to remember to do/buy at the store. The other lists are fun stuff like books to read, movies to see, wines that I liked. That way I can look things up at the library, update my netflix queue, etc.

If I’m in the market for something (like a rug or a new appliance) I use the blackberry notes to record thoughts and impressions of a product as well as the store and the price.

By: John

John — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 04:29:46 +0000

Thanks for the article. It reminded me of a time when I was looking at cars at a dealer.

A man was looking at the same car. We were discussing the car, and for some reason or another, he brought up the stock market. He rattled off a number of stocks that he had purchased that made him very rich.

I jotted down the stocks he told me about on the papers I had with “car” information on it. He was right on the “money.”

You took notes as a school student so you could “study” them later. Why not apply the same “learning” technique as an adult?

By: Sheila Skemp

Sheila Skemp — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 03:49:44 +0000

Like Greg I use my cell phone. I try to have as few possessions on my person as possible at all times and really do not like carrying a purse. Unlike Greg, I send my notes to my email. Anything I need to remember (bring something for someone, a change in schedule, a new song I want). I have unlimited texting so it doesn’t cost me extra. When I check my email in the evening, I transfer the notes to their appropriate places or move the item I need to bring next to the door so I don’t forget. This is the most effective system I have found yet. An added bonus, is that I don’t have my brain cluttered up with things I have to remember.

By: Nana

Nana — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 00:14:35 +0000

@Margaret — I have heard of these things too. The original “day” books, they were actually more like a ship’s log. In my area, farmers used to keep them as a record of snowfall, weather, times of harvest and seeding (which kept hazy memories from declaring “this is the worst winter ever”) As an amateur historian, they are, bar none, the best item ever for information on the everyday lives of settlers. I have heard of them as far back as the medieval times, where record of treatments for illness and plague were recorded, and if a householder came across a problem that was new to him, he would read back through the years to see if his father or grandfather had any ideas to offer.

By: Aaron

Aaron — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 16:42:00 +0000

I have to admit a notebook has become essential for me in the last few years! As a Stay At Home Dad my pockets are filled; wallet – back left, phone – front left, keys, chapstick (dry in AZ), thumbdrives, pen – front right, misc – back right. I found the X-tra small Moleskine Volants are the perfect size to go in my pocket with my BlackBerry. Same size and very thin. I even forget that I have it sometimes. They are also the perfect size to put in the car, on the table, by the phone, etc.

By: 50plusfinance

50plusfinance — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 16:14:13 +0000

With my mush I call a brain. I have to write everything down. But it has to be convenient,too. I usually write down on my phone to be easily retrieved or emailed. But there is the problem of organizing them. My Dad has pages of notes and to do lists. Just seeing all his notes makes me happy he’s doing it and I don’t have to. I’m not a list person.

By: Margaret

Margaret — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 15:54:39 +0000

I heard this story a long time ago, so I’m hazy on the details, but I have an Uncle who used to make daily notes of what was going on (so like a diary, I suppose, but probably just facts e.g. baled north quarter; replaced tire on car etc). Anyway, at some point there was a huge problem with either taxes or some kind of deal that went on where he could have been on the hook for tens of thousands of dollars. However, because he had made a note of whatever it was, he had evidence that either something had been done or said that absolved him of responsibility. Kind of makes me think I should start doing that too.

Love the idea of the index cards for stuff that you don’t necessarily want to keep a record of forever.

By: Evangeline

Evangeline — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 13:41:42 +0000

It is the simplest things that make the most impact. I’ve been doing this forever and it works like a charm.

By: Tracy

Tracy — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 13:22:48 +0000

I love to browse in bookstores – love it. I always have a pad and pencil with me to jot down titles of books that I’m interested in. I then will go on-line to my local library and search there to see if the title is available to reserve, which it almost always is. I use the library almost exclusively these days, and take advantage of their used book sales, but I do treat myself to a book or two of my own when I am going away on vacation.

By: deRuiter

deRuiter — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 10:22:20 +0000

“A short note is better than a long memory!”

By: David/moneycrashers

David/moneycrashers — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 08:21:23 +0000

Taking notes is an essential part of my every day ife, for all the reasons the authormentioned and more.

My memory was pretty good before my son was born, but I guess after all those sleepless nights, I don’t remember near what I used to.

Taking notes is an invaluable part of my day.

By: Reinder Dijkhuis

Reinder Dijkhuis — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 07:44:38 +0000

I have long felt, but haven’t tested this, that note-taking can also be weaponized. If you feel someone, like a doctor, gives you a lesser treatment than you deserve, taking notes could help signal that they’re not going to get away with that, and put them on the straight and narrow.

By: almost there

almost there — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 05:21:02 +0000

Years ago a U.S. Navy “sailor of the year” was asked what was the best magement tool to use and he answered a stack of 3×5 cards kept in the pocket. That way when all the “to do” things were crossed off one could descard the individual card. Of course, that was way before the internet/pda age.

By: moom

moom — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 02:27:42 +0000

That’s what a handbag is for (lack of pockets on dresses). But really I wouldn’t carry a notebook in a pocket as a man unless it was a jacket pocket. So usually I do have a backpack or bag with me.