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How To Take Exceptional Notes and Be Productive with Paper
- MarlonPro 13y agoI've been trying to "go backwards" with my note taking and writing in general. I've been using OneNote on my workstation and/or Evernote on my smart phone (HTC One at the moment). Recently I upgraded my note-taking tools from Moleskine + Sharpie Pen to Midori Traveler's Notebook + Fountain Pen / Blackwing 602 Pencil. I also carry a couple of Field Notes on the go; you just don't know when that next-big-thing-idea will strike you. I make sure to capture it in ink when I catch it! I found out that I am more inspired to write/take notes when I have better writing tools. Here's my current "system": https://twitter.com/ProductivityBit/status/380162140696346625/photo/1 https://twitter.com/ProductivityBit/status/38016214069634662...
- skunkworks 13y agoAgreed. There's an emotional reward I get from not only writing with my Namiki Vanishing Point fountain pen on a nice piece of Rhodia paper, but also from seeing a clean and well-organized task list or set of notes written with good penmanship. That emotional reward really helps reinforce and perpetuate good habits, and it's something that's sorely lacking from working with electronic solutions. That being said, my phone is much better at automating my repeating reminders.
- NotOscarWilde 13y ago> not only writing with my Namiki Vanishing Point fountain pen on a nice piece of Rhodia paper > That emotional reward really helps reinforce and perpetuate good habits Please take note of the fact that a large part of the "emotional reward" is the fact that you use a Brand Name fountain pen on a Brand Name paper. In my opinion, the "good habit" that rich people like you should reinforce is charity and not generating happiness just from the fact you're able to purchase premium vanity objects.
- loup-vaillant 13y agoOne thing at a time. Also, buying expensive items is not touted as a good habit, but as a mean to perpetuate a good habit. Charity is a very good habit, and there are other ways to reinforce charity. Having a better personal life because of awesome note-taking could be an enabler.
- skunkworks 13y agoWhat a hilariously irrelevant, tangential, presumptuous response. You must be fun at cocktail parties. Do you also tell people about how they shouldn't enjoy their shoes because they were stitched up by some poor sap in a sweatshop? I hear that goes over like gangbusters too.
- RokStdy 13y agoMarlonPro, if you're ever in the market for a new or replacement fountain pen, check out the Lamy Safari[1]. I have written with very expensive (OMAS, MtBlanc, Caran D'Ache, ...) fountain pens and the Lamy Safari is better than most (and dirt cheap!). http://www.lamyusa.com/fountain_main_safari.php http://www.lamyusa.com/fountain_main_safari.php
- MarlonPro 13y ago@RokStdy I have the Lamy Al-Star Black Special Edition filled with Noodler's Black Bulletproof ink! FTW!
- keithpeter 13y agoOne data point (me): Try one of the cheaper Pelikan fountain pens. I like the Safari, but my Pelikan is way smother (but x3 the price)
- tedsanders 13y ago>I found out that I am more inspired to write/take notes when I have better writing tools. Very interesting. I worry that I'd be affected in the opposite way - if my paper is too nice, I wouldn't want to waste it on notes with marginal value, whereas if the paper is crummy copy paper, I have no reservations in scrawling all over it.
- sliverstorm 13y agoDo many people's minds really work like that? You are struck by a great idea out of the blue, and then you lose it minutes later? If I think of something important, I will generally remember it for a long time. It's only things like errands ("What did I need again...? Oh yes, butter") that I tend to forget.
- keithpeter 13y ago"You are struck by a great idea out of the blue, and then you lose it minutes later?" Not Great Ideas, no. But faint echoes, suddenly noticed connections, things that 'ring a bell', yes, I can lose those. And I need to 'listen to faint signals' in teaching. Think little used synaptic pathway glowing for 30 seconds then dimming... So I have an A6 notebook and pen around.
- prawks 13y agoI would say not great ideas, but small ones. One's I'd like to revisit in 6 months' time and mull over, connect the dots, etc. I've been keeping a "sparks" log (can't remember where I read this, somewhere on HN) where I just jot down small ideas for side projects, etc. when I have them. Then when I have some free time, I pick an idea off the list and try working on it.
- bentcorner 13y ago> Do many people's minds really work like that? You are struck by a great idea out of the blue, and then you lose it minutes later? I've found that as I've gotten older (and more busy) it's really important to keep notes. In my younger years I was more mentally agile and also more single-focused, and I got away with being not-very-rigorous with note taking (either digital or analog).
- plg 13y agoThis is awesome. Whenever I don't feel like getting things done (i.e. I feel like procrastinating) one of the best ways is to go do research on methods of getting things done ;)
- bostonpete 13y agoI prefer to read comment threads about articles discussing how to get things done. That's where the real insight is.
- chris_mahan 13y agoI like to take notes of things that people mention in articles that will help me, such as websites for pens, and what kind of notebooks to buy.
- waterlion 13y agoI find it astounding that someone went to the effort of making that video. Of the people who do use paper, who doesn't work like this, or do something very similar?
- RokStdy 13y agoI don't. I love working with paper, but I have zero organization. So I end up with stacks of uneven paper pieces with notes all over the place. For me this post has been really helpful. I am going to try this system out! p.s. I have always found funny the sort of passive disdain organized people have for those that are not organized. As though organization is something that should be innate in everybody.
- waterlion 13y agoI am deeply disorganised myself. Without keeping track of things I'd be all over the place. I find the tactility of paper beats computer-based organisation solutions hands down. But once you have a notepad in front of you I can't really see any other way of doing it, especially for someone with a technical type of brain. You need date headings, you need bullet points for items, you need tasks to check off, you need a way of representing ticked-off-ness and a way to carry tasks forward. The problem kind of defines the solution automatically.
- otoburb 13y agoI have a simplified version of this type of bullet point system, but this is more fleshed out. I will be trying this.
- ourmandave 13y agoI went to www.bulletjournal.com but I can't find a link to download their app. =) But seriously, I'm going to try this. I've been doing paper notes forever because I can never find an organizer app that fits me.
- aerlinger 13y agoIt's funny that I read the title and immediately thought "Paper" was some new app or project on Github.
- nicolethenerd 13y agoWell, to be fair, it is - http://www.fiftythree.com/paper http://www.fiftythree.com/paper (Not new, but an app, and an awesome one at that)
- ryanobjc 13y agoI love paper writing, I think it represents one of the very best things of humanity - tool use, abstract thought. But I really cant disagree with the use of moleskine more. It's paper quality has really gone downhill lately. So I recommend http://www.leuchtturm1917.com/en http://www.leuchtturm1917.com/en - the features are the ones you want (similar to moleskine) and the paper quality is top notch. Once you have switched to a quality paper, consider using a fountain pen. Aside from the style issues, the pen and writing quality is so awesome. The feel is out of this world, and sends a major signal to other people.
- runjake 13y agoConversely, I can recommend those generic lab books* with gridded pages. You can find them at any grocery store. They're $3 max, and more durable that recent Moleskines. I also recommend Pilot pens that are <$3 a pop, because they just work, and you'll end up losing it anyway. And they won't leak on you. I'm not sure what kind of signal it sends to other people, though. I can't find myself to care about that when it comes to what pens and paper I use. * http://www.phy.ohiou.edu/~rieth/lab_book/cover.jpg http://www.phy.ohiou.edu/~rieth/lab_book/cover.jpg
- ryanobjc 13y agoModern fountain pens don't leak anymore. Plus it adds a bit of fun and drama to writing. Personally I found that it encouraged me to write more.
- brewdad 13y agoCan a lefty safely use a modern fountain pen? I've always stuck to the higher end "mass-market" pens since I end up wearing/smearing the ink of better pens.
- bane 13y agoYou can, but you have to write in that weird lefty trying to be a righty technique like President Obama does. http://centerforplainlanguage.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/Obama-signs-Act1.jpeg http://centerforplainlanguage.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/10...
- desireco42 13y agoAh I just discovered BulletedJournal :) and here it is on HackerNews, nice. It helps a great deal that he has short video and exceptionally well made website as well.
- marban 13y agoFor paper to digital, I'm recommending http://whitelines.se/link/ http://whitelines.se/link/
- tarr11 13y agoMy hand is cramping just watching this video. I think the sped-up version of this video masks how much time this takes to get this thing up and running, and how error prone it is. Also, if you have terribly messy, atrophied handwriting skills like me, you are going to have a bad time.
- sliverstorm 13y agoOr if you are left-handed. I like the looks I get, but writing left-handed just isn't fun. Everything, from the way English is written to how notebooks are constructed, is designed around writing right-handed.
- huebnerob 13y agoPlay around with some different pens until you find one you enjoy writing with. Play around with some different notebooks/papers until you find one of those you enjoy too. It can be harder for us lefties to have fun, but it's only impossible if you've given up my friend.
- gknoy 13y agoI'm not left handed, and have never tried this, but you might take notes in mirrored writing, like Da Vinci did, and then flip the image when you scan it. Learning shorthand might also help.
- Luc 13y agoI'm left handed. I've tried mirror writing and I was amazed at how easily and quickly I picked it up. The problem is that _reading_ mirrored writing is a lot harder, especially cursive writing. It's difficult to stop interpreting the shapes from left to right, it's hard to see where a letter starts and ends. You have to completely relearn whole-word reading, from the level of a 5 year old, it feels like. One benefit of the mirror writing is that my regular writing looks better. I'm paying more attention to the shapes I make while writing (as a sort of low-priority, automatic background task).
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- ajcarpy2005 13y agoI have found that for me, Workflowy provides an excellent platform for taking notes and is great for organization. Its simplicity is actually a key feature. I find I miss having certain features sometimes such as being able to link between different lists but really, it starts to get complicated once you include these features. Workflowy just works.
- raheemm 13y agoThat looks so great! I'm going to give it a try!
- skylan_q 13y agoI don't know too much about Emacs' org-mode, but it looks like this is org-mode on paper. :)
- BMarkmann 13y agoOrg-mode is great, but I think there's validity to his point that taking notes on a laptop during meetings (especially with external people) can come across as rude. Running emacs on a tablet might alleviate this a bit (if you've got it flat on the table in front of you, at least people can see you're taking notes and not emailing / chatting). However, getting emacs / org-mode on my Android tablet has proven a bit challenging.
- aidenn0 13y agoMeh, I think taking hand-written notes and typing them up later will be as fast as this and also be more searchable. For meeting minutes that I need to take handwritten notes, I always put them in org-mode.
- agentultra 13y agoI was thinking the same thing. I don't use paper for note/task taking (more for journalling). I use org-mode for that stuff. Would be interesting if there was a nice script to capture a BulletJournal spread and translate it to an org-mode entry...
- diminoten 13y agoThe big takeaway from this for me is the checkboxes. Otherwise, this is basically how I work.
- bane 13y agoOut of curiosity, my company is "green" and getting them to buy non-recycled notebooks is like getting them to give me six months of vacation. Anybody know of high quality recycled notebooks, all the ones I've used are very "meh".
- subpixel 13y agohttp://www.ecosystemlife.com/products/detail/architect/ http://www.ecosystemlife.com/products/detail/architect/ I use the plain-page version, but this might work with the 'bullet journal' technique. Unless the boxes are too small...
- bane 13y agoAbsolutely exactly what I've been looking for. Just ordered a couple of them. Thanks!
- gknoy 13y agoI love writing on the "Sustainable Earth" notebooks from Staples [1]. The only thing I dislike is that the pages are perforated so they tear more easily than I'd prefer in a long-term notebook. At only a few dollars, I don't feel bad scribbling on one or two pages, and then tearing them out and re-writing them more neatly afterwards. The paper is made mainly of recycled sugar cane, and is an absolute joy to write on. They also sell printer paper of the same. 1: http://www.staples.com/sustainable+earth+notebook/directory_sustainable+earth+notebook http://www.staples.com/sustainable+earth+notebook/directory_...?
- y2bd 13y agoThis sugarcane paper is also excellent at handling fountain pen inks. Very good deal for any fountain pen users!
- gknoy 13y agoThat's why I originally bought it -- and discovered that it was amazing. The form factor of the notebooks (hard covers, spiralbound) are great as well- my only wish is that I could buy ones that were not perforated for easy tearing, or ones with a grid.
- normloman 13y agoNotebooks rarely need to be this organized. If I switched to the Bullet Journal system, I'd spend more time setting up pages and copying notes than I did getting actual work done.
- gshubert17 13y agoFor time-related tasks and events, I have used Day-Planners, Franklin-Covey planners, and PlannerPads. I pick one with enough space for the notes I usually make each day. This saves me the trouble of creating the month index pages. For general notes, I have used regular blank notebooks, with an index page in the front. When I refer to some notes I took more than once or twice, I add a line to the index page, with some title and the page number. That makes it easy to find it again.
- normloman 13y agoI use a similar system. Very simple.
- keiferski 13y agoMy only big hangup with paper notes is that they aren't digitally backed up. I always end up re-copying everything into EverNote and throwing the paper notes away. Any suggestions on how to easily backup handwritten notes online?
- ultimoo 13y agoI believe EverNote has some sort of a 'smart notebook' which is a digitally backed up Moleskine.
- fishtoaster 13y agoIf a large number of people were using a given note system (eg bullet notes), there might be a good business idea there: - You mail us your full notebook - We digitize it - It's available in a searchable web interface that understands the semantics of your note-taking system.
- cben 13y ago- We recycle the paper. Mailing means a dark period when when you no longer have your notes with you but still can't see them online. IMHO that would have been acceptable when you needed a scanner but is hard to justify now compared to the immediacy of taking photos with a phone. Still, there may be a place for mailing old notes in bulk, ones you barely touch but can't make yourself just throw out.
- MarlonPro 13y ago"Evernote Smart Notebook by Moleskine: Fill this book with ideas and sketches, then let the Evernote mobile app bring them to your computer, phone and tablet with a simple snapshot." http://evernote.com/moleskine/ http://evernote.com/moleskine/
- dublinben 13y agoI've used the EchoPen, and really love it. It records synced audio along with your written notes, and digitizes both of them. You can back them up on your computer or with Evernote etc.
- platz 13y agosee also "The Cornell Note-taking System" http://lsc.cornell.edu/LSC_Resources/cornellsystem.pdf http://lsc.cornell.edu/LSC_Resources/cornellsystem.pdf
- sashthebash 13y agoThis is not at all about taking notes? It is about managing todos and events on paper? Does anybody have a good system for taking notes during a meeting on paper? I prefer digital tools, but recently I've been doing many presentations with screen-sharing, where I cannot type at my computer.
- infinityetc 13y agoI use a system similar to the Bullet Journal for notes during meetings. I label the top of the page with the meeting name and the date. Then, I take notes with check boxes next to every line that requires me to do something (even if that means reminding someone else to do something). If you want to incorporate it into your digital note taking, just check off each line as you transfer it (or use arrows or something similar).
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- clarkm 13y agoIf you're looking for a notebook that's made specifically for this kind of thing, I'd check out the Action Method series from Creative's Outfitter. They all use high-quality materials, and many of them have task lists built in: http://www.creativesoutfitter.com/products/100/action-method http://www.creativesoutfitter.com/products/100/action-method But if you just want a blank notebook, I've never found anything I like better than the Dot Grid Book. It's amazing: http://www.creativesoutfitter.com/product/34/dot-grid-book http://www.creativesoutfitter.com/product/34/dot-grid-book
- ckeck 13y agoWas checking to see if someone had put this out there. Avid user of the Action Books, highly recommended.
- arh68 13y agoI went through a couple moleskines, cahiers too. Tried the Lamy Safari, the TWSBI, the Signo Bit, the Sliccis, etc. There's something to be admired there but I've moved on. Bic ballpoints on 32lb printer paper on a clipboard is simplest way for me to write. No ink reservoirs, no scratchy nibs, no bleed-through. I never run out of room. It's simple and it works.
- adamio 13y agoI could duplicate this system in Microsoft Word and save tremendous time typing. If I'm emailing in your meeting, then most likely the meeting or my full attention is not needed.
- pedalpete 13y agoThis isn't really note taking, it's task scheduling. I was hoping for a guide to taking better notes so I can go back to an event quickly and remember what was said.
- paulrademacher 13y agoI solve the "people think I'm doing email" problem by telling people: "I'm taking notes, not checking email" :-) Especially at interviews, so they know I'm really paying attention.
- linker3000 13y agohttp://coe.jmu.edu/learningtoolbox/cornellnotes.html http://coe.jmu.edu/learningtoolbox/cornellnotes.html A4 laser printed Cornell note taking paper in a binder works for me. It's also quick to mark up the pages in a bound notepad (2 lines).
- reeses 13y agoReviewing, revising, and summarizing are the keys. The problem with taking notes on the computer is that it's "in there" so it rarely gets edited. That act of touching the notes again reinforces the information in our brains which is why it's part of an educational notetaking system. I think she would've been just as successful had she transferred her paper notes into the computer and edited and summarized from there. ob. org-mode
- antman 13y agoShorthand also works for me. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-b3rF3KSBk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-b3rF3KSBk