Friday, April 18th, 2008...12:16 am
Sharing Notetaking Secrets
Being one who does not have a photographic memory, I tend to take a lot of notes. Notes can come from all kinds of sources. I may document a phone call. I may make lists of things I need to remember or do. There could even be notes from the dreaded…meeting (gasp).
Tips and tricks on taking notes are numerous. What works for one person, will not necessarily work for another. Sometimes I try to decipher someone else’s notes from a meeting and get glazed over in the details. However, for that person, the notes make perfect sense.
Truth is, note taking is a matter of personal preference. You have to find what works best for you. Personally, I like to be as brief as possible, and separate thoughts. I also have a tendency to tag my notes with things like “+EN” which means “add to Evernote”…or “+T”…”add to Tracks” as an action item.
One of the best tips that I have found that really works well with my approach to taking notes comes from a productivity whitepaper written by friend of BBP, Patrick Rhone. He uses little marks at the head of each note. Patrick writes, in part…
- (Dash): Undone Action Item.
+ (Plus): Done Action Item.
<- (Left Arrow): Delegated (with a note to whom and the date).
-> (Right Arrow): Waiting - (i.e. for another action).
^ (Triangle): Data Point.
O (Circle): A circle around any of the above means that it has been carried forward, moved to another list or otherwise changed status - i.e. a “Waiting” item has now become an Action Item elsewhere (with a note about where that item has gone).
I have started using this system myself, and it has really helped me to more effectively deal with notes when I review them.
BTW, Patrick’s blog is a great source of productivity tips and tricks. He would truly be classified as a black belt.
I know you guys have other methods for taking notes. Please share your ideas in the comments.
- Jason
9 Comments
April 18th, 2008 at 4:25 am
I found those marks a while back and have been using them to great effect. It is especially useful during the Weekly Review to be able to look back and see how each item was handled or executed.
April 18th, 2008 at 7:42 am
Thanks for the shout out and the kudos. One of the keys to this markup system is to make sure you use Cornell Ruled or other wide left margin paper. That way, when you draw a circle around the mark (to denote it has changed state) you have an area to note what happened to it.
Working the margins also allows you to use as much of the main section of the page as you want for meeting notes but still have an area that is all yours for metadata, reaction, doodles, etc.
April 18th, 2008 at 8:49 am
You can also use the Circa paper which is loosely based on Cornell style, I think. There is a wide left margin that is perfect for your markups.
April 20th, 2008 at 10:02 pm
“That’s a great post. Here’s a website on developing
photographic memory. Check out the tips that they offer. They worked pretty well for me. It’s at http://www.photographic-memory.org“
April 23rd, 2008 at 7:38 am
Hi! My name is Mayra. I work as a Black Belt in a mexican company. I want to know the best way to measure the performance of a BB. I mean, Which metrics are the most aproppiate way to prove that a BB is reaching his/her objectives in the company (# of proyects, savings, etc)? Thanks for your help!
April 30th, 2008 at 7:48 am
Thanks everyone for the comments.
Mayra,
Believe it or not, your comment has inspired a discussion behind the scenes for Michael, myself, and a couple of other experts in the field.
Watch this space for a future post on the topic of measuring effectiveness using GTD. There will be input from a pair of special guests for that post.
May 6th, 2008 at 12:53 pm
I use my computer note-taking software, NoteScribe to keep my business information and personal information organized in one program. Whether it’s clients, sales information, ideas, websites, anything related to what I’m doing, I plug it into NoteScribe. It’s has a function to search for words or phrases in all your notes and you can organize notes by categories, keywords, and sources. Very easy to use. Check it out at http://www.notescribe.net.
Jake
May 20th, 2008 at 12:06 pm
I use a lot of personal abbreviations. Things like esp. for especially, comm. for communication, and so forth. This seems to cut down the amount of space required, increases note-taking speed, and since I have been using most of my shorthand for years it translates as naturally to me as reading english.
June 2nd, 2008 at 1:42 am
[...] and Jason from Black Belt Productivity have asked a few productivity writers to weigh in on a comment that was posted at BBP a short while [...]
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