The Simple Dollar, 18 Jun 2015
It’s really hard to believe, but I have to say that one of the most–and possibly the most–profound changes I’ve made in my life over the last several years was the simple decision to start carrying a pocket notebook and a pen with me wherever I go. Unless I’ve made a mental miscue when swapping out a finished notebook or something, I do not leave the house without my pocket notebook resting in my hip pocket or my shirt pocket, with a trusty pen right there beside it for jotting notes.
Why has this been such a profound switch for me? Simply put, it’s helped me in every single aspect of my life.
I don’t forget names or phone numbers or other contact information. Sure, I can put that information into my smartphone, but this ensures that I’ll always be able to do it, even if my smartphone is out of battery life. This also lets me add specific notes about the person right after their contact information so that I know why I jotted it down rather than just tossing a number into my phone without any context.
If I discover a task that I need to do, it’s immediately saved so I don’t forget about it. I don’t have to try to hold it in my head and hope that I remember it later. I just pull out my notebook anywhere and jot it down.
When I have a fleeting idea, I don’t lose it or have to work extra hard to remember it. Sometimes, I’ll have a great idea for an article for The Simple Dollar or hear a great idea on a podcast or on the radio. A note in my pocket notebook enables me to remember it so that I can investigate it further when the time is more convenient.
I don’t get distracted nearly as much by those fleeting ideas, either. When these ideas pop into my head, I either have to try to hold them in my head for a while until I have an opportunity to do something with them, which distracts me from whatever I’m doing, or I have to let them go. A pocket notebook solves this dilemma, as I can just write down that idea immediately and move back to the task at hand without that thought distracting me or without having to lose it.
I’m much better at learning things, both when I plan to or when an opportunity for learning pops up unexpectedly. Through using my pocket notebook for taking notes during classes, lectures, and so forth, I’ve landed upon a very good strategy that really works well for absorbing and processing the new things that I learn. I’ll explain that in detail in a bit, but the pocket notebook was key.
My “brainstorming” is much more effective than ever before. Not only can I brainstorm almost anywhere that I’m at, the results of that brainstorm are already part of a trusted system, so I can pick up the results of that brainstorm at a later date and actually do something with it.
These things–and many others–have contributed greatly to the quality of my personal, professional, and spiritual life.
My process for actually using my pocket notebook is loosely based on the ideas presented in the book “Getting Things Done” by David Allen. In that book, Allen describes a very robust strategy for keeping track of tasks and pieces of information that one might accumulate. While I do not use Allen’s full system, I do use big parts of it, and my pocket notebook is a key part of that.
“Gathering” simply refers to how I actually use my pocket notebook for taking notes and collecting things.
Everything I might possibly want to think about later is written down in my pocket notebook. If there’s even a chance I might want to reflect on it later, it goes in my pocket notebook. I don’t try to filter in advance–I just put everything in there.
I have no qualms about taking it out almost anywhere; if anyone asks, I tell them that they just told me something important that I want to remember or think about later. I’ve found that, over the years, people actually find this to be a pretty positive thing. People are subtly flattered if you tell them that they just said something important enough to you that you want to write it down to think about it later.
Think about it–what if you were telling someone something and they said, “That’s really interesting! Thanks for telling me! I’m going to jot that down so I can look into it more later!” and then wrote down what you said.
Most things are stored as simple notes, prefaced by a dash. I use a small dash or a dot at the start of each separate note. Most of my collection is just a long series of these notes.
I don’t worry about order or organization within my pocket notebook, as I’ll process all of it later. For the most part, I don’t worry about organizing those ideas at all as I write them down. Most of the material in that book is just a sequence of unrelated notes.
I’ll stick paper scraps right into my notebook with a paper clip–things like receipts and business cards so on. I usually have two paper clips attached to the back cover of the notebook. If I find a piece of paper I want to keep and deal with later, I’ll just stick it into that paper clip.
If I’m going to take longer notes on something, I draw a single line through one of the blank lines as a separator before and after the notes, and I title what the notes are about and where I took them.
Processing means that I go through my pocket notebook and figure out what to do with all of the little notes I’ve taken.
I process my pocket notebook a couple times a day (unless I’m on vacation or something). I just sit down at my computer, pull out my notebook, and start dealing with the stuff I’ve written down there.
I start at the previous double line. I use a double line as a separator to indicate where I stopped processing my notebook last time. Thus, when I’m ready to process, I go backwards from my most recent note to the previous double line and start there.
I move names and addresses to my address book and social media contacts to appropriate social media accounts. Usually, I have a note there that explains why I should follow up with this person, and if that’s the case, I either follow up immediately or add an entry to my to-do list explaining that I should follow up.
I recopy notes from classes or from things I’ve learned. This is key, and it’s helped me to process and absorb information far better than I’ve ever done before. Whenever I’m reading a book where I’m trying to learn something, attending a talk, or listening to a course lecture (I take a lot of online classes for personal enrichment), I take notes in my pocket notebook.
Those notes are great for helping me process the information as I’m hearing it, but they don’t do much for helping me to absorb it. I find that the best absorption–meaning that I integrate the ideas into my thinking and interpretation of the world–happens when I recopy those notes.
So, what I usually do is copy them into Evernote. I make a new note in Evernote with the name of the talk and then transfer my notes from my pocket notebook onto the computer within that Evernote note. As I go along, I’ll look up things that I’m unsure of and add those details to my notes.
This process is incredibly helpful for actually learning material. I had no idea how useful this really was, and I truly wish I had known about it when I was in college. It has helped me to really understand lots of different subjects.
I add to-dos to my to-do program. If an item constitutes a task I need to take care of, I either do it immediately or I add it to my to-do program of choice, Todoist. (During the day, I usually just follow my to-do list and try to crank through as many things as I can find on it.)
I figure out what to do with the other miscellaneous things I’ve written down. There are usually several other miscellaneous things that I need to deal with–things to look up, expenses to record, and so on. There’s usually an obvious thing to do with each one of these things and I try to just do it right then and there; if it’s not feasible, I turn it into another to-do.
I make a double line when I’m finished. When I reach the bottom of the last page of notes, I just make a double line, as before, so that I know where to start processing the next time.
These days, I rarely leave home without my pocket notebook. It’s become such an essential part of my daily routine that I don’t even think about grabbing it when an idea pops into my head. I just pull out the notebook, jot down that idea or that fact, and put it back, almost without any effort at all.
It saves me time. It saves me money. It helps me build social connections. It helps me to learn. It helps me to avoid forgetting important things.
It’s simply an essential part of my life.
It’s really hard to believe, but I have to say that one of the most–and possibly the most–profound changes I’ve made in my life over the last several years was the simple decision to start carrying a pocket notebook and a pen with me wherever I go. Unless I’ve made a mental miscue when swapping out a finished notebook or something, I do not leave the house without my pocket notebook resting in my hip pocket or my shirt pocket, with a trusty pen right there beside it for jotting notes.
Why has this been such a profound switch for me? Simply put, it’s helped me in every single aspect of my life.
I don’t forget names or phone numbers or other contact information. Sure, I can put that information into my smartphone, but this ensures that I’ll always be able to do it, even if my smartphone is out of battery life. This also lets me add specific notes about the person right after their contact information so that I know why I jotted it down rather than just tossing a number into my phone without any context.
If I discover a task that I need to do, it’s immediately saved so I don’t forget about it. I don’t have to try to hold it in my head and hope that I remember it later. I just pull out my notebook anywhere and jot it down.
When I have a fleeting idea, I don’t lose it or have to work extra hard to remember it. Sometimes, I’ll have a great idea for an article for The Simple Dollar or hear a great idea on a podcast or on the radio. A note in my pocket notebook enables me to remember it so that I can investigate it further when the time is more convenient.
I don’t get distracted nearly as much by those fleeting ideas, either. When these ideas pop into my head, I either have to try to hold them in my head for a while until I have an opportunity to do something with them, which distracts me from whatever I’m doing, or I have to let them go. A pocket notebook solves this dilemma, as I can just write down that idea immediately and move back to the task at hand without that thought distracting me or without having to lose it.
I’m much better at learning things, both when I plan to or when an opportunity for learning pops up unexpectedly. Through using my pocket notebook for taking notes during classes, lectures, and so forth, I’ve landed upon a very good strategy that really works well for absorbing and processing the new things that I learn. I’ll explain that in detail in a bit, but the pocket notebook was key.
My “brainstorming” is much more effective than ever before. Not only can I brainstorm almost anywhere that I’m at, the results of that brainstorm are already part of a trusted system, so I can pick up the results of that brainstorm at a later date and actually do something with it.
These things–and many others–have contributed greatly to the quality of my personal, professional, and spiritual life.
My process for actually using my pocket notebook is loosely based on the ideas presented in the book “Getting Things Done” by David Allen. In that book, Allen describes a very robust strategy for keeping track of tasks and pieces of information that one might accumulate. While I do not use Allen’s full system, I do use big parts of it, and my pocket notebook is a key part of that.
“Gathering” simply refers to how I actually use my pocket notebook for taking notes and collecting things.
Everything I might possibly want to think about later is written down in my pocket notebook. If there’s even a chance I might want to reflect on it later, it goes in my pocket notebook. I don’t try to filter in advance–I just put everything in there.
I have no qualms about taking it out almost anywhere; if anyone asks, I tell them that they just told me something important that I want to remember or think about later. I’ve found that, over the years, people actually find this to be a pretty positive thing. People are subtly flattered if you tell them that they just said something important enough to you that you want to write it down to think about it later.
Think about it–what if you were telling someone something and they said, “That’s really interesting! Thanks for telling me! I’m going to jot that down so I can look into it more later!” and then wrote down what you said.
Most things are stored as simple notes, prefaced by a dash. I use a small dash or a dot at the start of each separate note. Most of my collection is just a long series of these notes.
I don’t worry about order or organization within my pocket notebook, as I’ll process all of it later. For the most part, I don’t worry about organizing those ideas at all as I write them down. Most of the material in that book is just a sequence of unrelated notes.
I’ll stick paper scraps right into my notebook with a paper clip–things like receipts and business cards so on. I usually have two paper clips attached to the back cover of the notebook. If I find a piece of paper I want to keep and deal with later, I’ll just stick it into that paper clip.
If I’m going to take longer notes on something, I draw a single line through one of the blank lines as a separator before and after the notes, and I title what the notes are about and where I took them.
Processing means that I go through my pocket notebook and figure out what to do with all of the little notes I’ve taken.
I process my pocket notebook a couple times a day (unless I’m on vacation or something). I just sit down at my computer, pull out my notebook, and start dealing with the stuff I’ve written down there.
I start at the previous double line. I use a double line as a separator to indicate where I stopped processing my notebook last time. Thus, when I’m ready to process, I go backwards from my most recent note to the previous double line and start there.
I move names and addresses to my address book and social media contacts to appropriate social media accounts. Usually, I have a note there that explains why I should follow up with this person, and if that’s the case, I either follow up immediately or add an entry to my to-do list explaining that I should follow up.
I recopy notes from classes or from things I’ve learned. This is key, and it’s helped me to process and absorb information far better than I’ve ever done before. Whenever I’m reading a book where I’m trying to learn something, attending a talk, or listening to a course lecture (I take a lot of online classes for personal enrichment), I take notes in my pocket notebook.
Those notes are great for helping me process the information as I’m hearing it, but they don’t do much for helping me to absorb it. I find that the best absorption–meaning that I integrate the ideas into my thinking and interpretation of the world–happens when I recopy those notes.
So, what I usually do is copy them into Evernote. I make a new note in Evernote with the name of the talk and then transfer my notes from my pocket notebook onto the computer within that Evernote note. As I go along, I’ll look up things that I’m unsure of and add those details to my notes.
This process is incredibly helpful for actually learning material. I had no idea how useful this really was, and I truly wish I had known about it when I was in college. It has helped me to really understand lots of different subjects.
I add to-dos to my to-do program. If an item constitutes a task I need to take care of, I either do it immediately or I add it to my to-do program of choice, Todoist. (During the day, I usually just follow my to-do list and try to crank through as many things as I can find on it.)
I figure out what to do with the other miscellaneous things I’ve written down. There are usually several other miscellaneous things that I need to deal with–things to look up, expenses to record, and so on. There’s usually an obvious thing to do with each one of these things and I try to just do it right then and there; if it’s not feasible, I turn it into another to-do.
I make a double line when I’m finished. When I reach the bottom of the last page of notes, I just make a double line, as before, so that I know where to start processing the next time.
These days, I rarely leave home without my pocket notebook. It’s become such an essential part of my daily routine that I don’t even think about grabbing it when an idea pops into my head. I just pull out the notebook, jot down that idea or that fact, and put it back, almost without any effort at all.
It saves me time. It saves me money. It helps me build social connections. It helps me to learn. It helps me to avoid forgetting important things.
It’s simply an essential part of my life.
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