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For professional life: Pen + dot grid notepad - developed independently, but similar to the bullet journal technique. Dot grid plus pens make the whole thing ul

by nataz 8y ago

For professional life: Pen + dot grid notepad - developed independently, but similar to the bullet journal technique. Dot grid plus pens make the whole thing ultra customizable. I can sketch engineering designs, make a calendar, track action items, take detailed notes, all in the same format. The key is to be strict with page numbers, dates, and index as much as possible. Things I occasionally miss - keyword search (I can still look things up by date or subject in the index), multimedia inserts (think dragging video/photos/sound clips into one note), never ending space (notebooks run out of pages), easy backups (thinking about digitizing with photos or scans), team collaboration (if this is necessary I use Trello). Things I like - no OS/tech stack compatibility issues, "it just works", lighter then a laptop) tablet, don't need to charge, easy to read, can bring into a secure area (where outside electronics are not permitted), travels well, hard to damage. http://bulletjournal.com/get-started/ http://bulletjournal.com/get-started/ For personal life: add Google keep for simple lists, and then a mix of Trello and dot grid for larger projects (less strict formatting than professional life project management).

rococode 8y ago
Love the link, thank you for sharing! As a supplement, I've found the following system to be a useful way for organizing a notebook that has more consistency in categories of pages: http://www.highfivehq.com http://www.highfivehq.com (for example, notes for different classes in school or a set of projects you're working on). The idea is to draw lines on the edge of your pages that are visible from some index page. You can combine it with a standard page indexing system for a super easy-to-navigate notebook!
- nataz 8y ago
  That is very cool! I'm definitely going to see if I can incorporate that into my system.
- orcs 8y ago
  I've seen this before but found it limited as you can only use it on pages facing away from the other pages. I have used it but do prefer the bullet journal way
et-al 8y ago
> The key is to be strict with page numbers, dates, and index as much as possible. May you please explain how you index? Thanks!
- nataz 8y ago
  Sure. YMMV, and I encourage everyone to find the system that works for them, but this is what I have settled on. Every page has a number in the upper outside corner. Every entry into the note book has a title + subject tag, date, and the initials of a list of people linked to that entry. For easy reading and scanning I put all of this on one line. The title and subject are dark lined (thick), followed by the date MM/DD/YY, and then the initials inside a ( ). Each piece of info is separated by a ";". All of the info listed is underlined. under the intro line, I also break down actions, notes, calendar adds, etc with 3-4 different symbols. All I all this makes it clear and easy to scan quickly as you are looking for things. Each month I have 4 or 5 pages devoted to organization. I have a task list. Two bulleted columns. Old tasked are migrated over from the previous month. New tasks are added as soon as they are generated. Completed tasks get an X through the bullet. Migrated tasks get an >. Tasks that are linked to journal entries get a page number and a tag. I have a calendar page. 1 column, all dates of the month listed . Meetings, important actions and events are are listed by day, or with arrows over multiple days. Linked by tag/page number if applicable. I have a subject index. Major tags, reoccurring subjects, get a line or two. Page numbers with those subjects are added to the index. I realize this sounds complicated, but it's not once you get into a routine. The biggest this is it's okay to make "mistakes", and to get used to not having a delete key. Change is part of the notebook. Think of it like a change log. It's also important to be able to see what you change. Since I work in pen, I just make a single line through things I want to change. Note: when I finish or complete something on a task list or the calendar, I'll mark or change the symbol, I won't cross something out just because I'm done with it. Finally, I have a bunch of multi color pens I use. They are all the same brand/model, but I tend to use a different color each day. That makes it obvious as you are scanning that you are on the next day. I don't use specific colors for anything in particular, too hard to keep track of. Hope this helps.

by nataz 8y ago

rococode 8y ago

Love the link, thank you for sharing! As a supplement, I've found the following system to be a useful way for organizing a notebook that has more consistency in categories of pages: http://www.highfivehq.com http://www.highfivehq.com (for example, notes for different classes in school or a set of projects you're working on). The idea is to draw lines on the edge of your pages that are visible from some index page. You can combine it with a standard page indexing system for a super easy-to-navigate notebook!

nataz 8y ago
That is very cool! I'm definitely going to see if I can incorporate that into my system.
orcs 8y ago
I've seen this before but found it limited as you can only use it on pages facing away from the other pages. I have used it but do prefer the bullet journal way

et-al 8y ago

> The key is to be strict with page numbers, dates, and index as much as possible. May you please explain how you index? Thanks!

nataz 8y ago
Sure. YMMV, and I encourage everyone to find the system that works for them, but this is what I have settled on. Every page has a number in the upper outside corner. Every entry into the note book has a title + subject tag, date, and the initials of a list of people linked to that entry. For easy reading and scanning I put all of this on one line. The title and subject are dark lined (thick), followed by the date MM/DD/YY, and then the initials inside a ( ). Each piece of info is separated by a ";". All of the info listed is underlined. under the intro line, I also break down actions, notes, calendar adds, etc with 3-4 different symbols. All I all this makes it clear and easy to scan quickly as you are looking for things. Each month I have 4 or 5 pages devoted to organization. I have a task list. Two bulleted columns. Old tasked are migrated over from the previous month. New tasks are added as soon as they are generated. Completed tasks get an X through the bullet. Migrated tasks get an >. Tasks that are linked to journal entries get a page number and a tag. I have a calendar page. 1 column, all dates of the month listed . Meetings, important actions and events are are listed by day, or with arrows over multiple days. Linked by tag/page number if applicable. I have a subject index. Major tags, reoccurring subjects, get a line or two. Page numbers with those subjects are added to the index. I realize this sounds complicated, but it's not once you get into a routine. The biggest this is it's okay to make "mistakes", and to get used to not having a delete key. Change is part of the notebook. Think of it like a change log. It's also important to be able to see what you change. Since I work in pen, I just make a single line through things I want to change. Note: when I finish or complete something on a task list or the calendar, I'll mark or change the symbol, I won't cross something out just because I'm done with it. Finally, I have a bunch of multi color pens I use. They are all the same brand/model, but I tend to use a different color each day. That makes it obvious as you are scanning that you are on the next day. I don't use specific colors for anything in particular, too hard to keep track of. Hope this helps.