This may end up just being a scary look at how I make decisions. Since I am writing this around Halloween season, I guess this could be considered a scary story. If you read this to the kids, and they, in turn, have nightmares, I take zero responsibility.
I have a day job where there is a huge part of the job where taking notes is an important thing. There are a bunch of meetings, many of them more time wasters than product makers, but there are nuggets of important information that can leak out of these meetings. There are also bits of information that present themselves accidentally at times.
There dilemma that I find myself stewing over is what, from a tools stand point, do I use to take notes. I have read and really like Mike Vardy’s idea of “The approach is more important than the app.” I don’t think that is my problem. I have a pretty solid method of identifying quickly what information to write down and what to let fly by, but, I have a bit of hang up about what to write in.
This is the issue of collecting the information digitally, such as an app on my phone or my tablet, or writing things down, by hand in a physically notebook with paper. I am not making a decision as to what to buy, i already have all of the tools in place to do both, i think I am trying to settle on a process and stick to it.
What I have been doing most recently has been to carry my iPad to every meeting that I go to, open Evernote, set up that note so that I have documented what the meeting is and when it is. After that, I sit, listen intently, and wait for that nugget of data to drop before I can type it into my iPad. Often times, there is no nugget to fall. When that happens, I digitally recycle my note with a new date, and or topic and continue.
The benefits of this process is that I can write what is happening and it is easily read later when I have act on something. Anyone who has had the challenge of reading my own handwriting can testify that it is a big challenge. My parents thought I was going to be a physician based on my handwriting. I guess engineers don’t have great, artsy script either.
Also, I have lost bits of paper from time to time, but, the only time I have lost my computer is when my house got broken into. Since the notes that I write are ported to a cloud based software, I can open them on pretty much any computer with an internet connection.
The internet connection is possibly one of the drawbacks. In my case, my personal devices, i.e., my phone, my iPad, or my personal computer, if I took it to work, are not allowed on the work network. As such, any notes that I take on my iPad will not be saved until I get my iPad on a wireless connection. This means that I have to wait until I get home before I can save the notes. With that, there is some risk. The iPad could be stolen, or broken, or some other cataclysmic event could make my notes go bye-bye.
The other method that I have used in the past is to carry a physical notebook with where ever I go. I can stop, whip out the notebook and write down whatever information that I need to. I doesn’t matter if I have an internet connection, or not. I don’t run the risk of my paper notebook running out of batteries, and, if my pen, which is a favorite, gets lost, I can feel pretty confident that I can find one to use to write down what I need to write down.
The downside to the paper notebook is the whole crappy handwriting thing I talked about earlier. The other thing about the paper notebook that could be problematic is the possibility of losing it. I have been working hard toward only having the things that I need and use in my life, so, the minimization of clutter helps promote finding my stuff when I need it. I have a bag that I keep my critical gear in, an my notebook is in that bag. Then again, my iPad is in that bag, unless I am using it or charging it.
I could minimize the damage caused by losing a notebook by typing my notes from the day into Evernote and use that to make the notes searchable and recoverable. It is also a good Idea for me to review my notes when I have the best chance to be able to read what I wrote down and turn it into something useful. I also will give myself the best chance for my action items to actually make it into my task management system.
So, it sounds like I might have a plan. Let’s see how this goes. I would like to know what you use and how that works. Please leave me some notes in the comments.
