- I have always been a huge nerd for note taking.
Yes, I know, it's very sad.
Every time you turn around, though,
there's something new and shiny, some way
that I can newly track my thoughts and excites me.
I have tried everything, I have been a bullet journaler,
I've designed my own planner,
I've used notion templates and just regular paper and pen.
One day I was talking to a dear friend of mine
and former client fabulous note taking journaling YouTuber
Matt Ragland, and he recommend a book
by Sonke Ahrens and it is called "How To Take Smart Notes."
And oh, the notes I took from this book about notes.
So many notes there would be.
This book completely changed my perspective
about what it means to take effective notes
so that what you are making a note of,
you're more likely to comprehend, understand and remember.
This has led me to stop with all the nonsense
and the productivity for productivity's sake
crap of trying different note taking tactics
because what I have learned works so well.
This advice has allowed me to be so much more productive,
it gets me in the zone to be much more creative,
and it all comes down to just one rule
for useful note taking.
Hey guys, before we get started
let's take a few moments to think the sponsor
of this episode, and that's our friends at HP.
If you've been following along with me for a little
while you know, I'm in the middle of writing my third book
"365 Days Of Good Morning, Good Life."
And the timing could not have worked out better
as HP has just unveiled a new line of premium accessories
focused on connectivity, customization, and sustainability
including my favorite, the 975 Dual Mode Wireless Keyboard
which has become my go-to writing companion.
This is basically the Rolls Royce of keyboards,
let me tell you.
It comes with built in smart features and customization
that gives you a better typing experience.
And trust me, when you're sitting down typing for hours,
you want that experience to be creme de la creme.
It also has smart sensors built into it
that adjust the back lit keys
based on the lighting that is around you.
This is perfect for those early morning editing sessions
or the late night additions that I have to put
into the manuscript.
And one tiny little detail that makes a huge
difference is the rechargeable battery
which has six months of battery life.
Amazing, when you are doing your best work
on your devices, you cannot sacrifices in the
areas that it makes the most difference.
And my keyboard and my mouse,
those things I have to choose very carefully
so that I stay productive
when I am seated at the computer to get work done.
And even when I'm not at my desk, when I'm traveling
I still need my wonderful accessories.
And that's when I throw my fancy HP Prelude Pro
recycled backpack with my favorite accessories in it
my laptop on the back of my husband
so that he can help me get to where I'm going
with all the things I need.
It's fitted with lockable zippers.
So everything's super secure
and it's made of 65% recycled fabric.
So you can feel good about this timeless design.
Check out the link in the description
down below to find out more details
about the HP 975 Dual Mode Wireless Keyboard
and the Prelude Pro recycled backpack.
And thanks again to HP for sponsoring this episode.
The experts all agree,
we must externalize our ideas through the form of writing.
And the reason we need this rule is simple.
Productivity for productivity's sake is dead.
We can't keep going down these productivity
rabbit holes and not getting anything done.
Let me ask you a question and please share your thoughts
with me in the comments below.
When you take notes how often
do you actually remember what you wrote?
It really depends on your approach, right?
Let's say you're in school and the professor says something
and you decide to copy it down verbatim.
What's the matter with that?
You're just trying to make sure you get it
down exactly right and so you replicate it.
Sometimes we do this in the same way
if we're reading on Kindle
if we see a big section that we're like, this is gold.
I don't wanna ever forget this.
We'll highlight the entire section.
So instead of just something short and snappy
it's a whole paragraph
'cause we wanna be able to remember it and refer back to it.
Well, in the book Ahrens says that we need to stop trying
to copy things verbatim when we are making notes.
It's easy to do that
because we're trying to make those notes in a hurry.
Sometimes, especially if you're handwriting,
that's a little bit
of a challenge you wanna get as much down
as you can possibly remember, but then you're taking notes
in terms of how good your memory is,
not necessarily for comprehension.
And it's even worse when we're typing notes.
When you're typing notes, you're very fast
it's much more likely
that you can type exactly what you heard or what you saw.
But when we are trying to take notes
so that we remember them and so that we learn from them,
they really shouldn't be exactly what was delivered to us.
It should be what we interpreted from that interaction.
So the rule for useful note taking is really simple
and it's to make fleeting notes.
(gentle music)
A fleeting note is basically just anything that comes
to mind or anything really fast
even a single word that you wanna put down.
It's sort of like the anchor
for the memory of what you're going through at that moment.
You wanna be able to take these fleeting notes
really quickly, really easily
and have a designated place for them
so that you know exactly where they are
when you need to go back to them
and get them out of your head as soon as possible.
The reason why fleeting notes matter is
because the faster you get them out of your head,
the sooner you'll be able to understand it
and build upon it.
You've got this one word on paper,
you've got this quick little phrase
or this little thought that you had.
And now this is an opportunity to leverage those notes.
As soon as you can be sort of like done with the experience
let's say it's after the class or after a meeting,
going back to those notes and immediately interpreting them
so they're more than one word is really important
because that's when the information is super fresh
in your mind.
And you're actually going to be able to work
through some things with it, not just okay
here's what I understood and here's what happened.
But more ideas that might populate
in the moment now that you're sort of simmering on it.
(gentle music)
A page of fleeting notes is going to be pretty useless
to you unless you interpreted them
in the moment that they inspired you.
Because again, it's just maybe
a word and or a random thought
and you can't remember why you were inspired
by it or why you might wanna remember it later.
That interpretation process is so important.
But once you have gone through that process
of sort of fleshing them out into your own smart notes
then they become that kindle to the fire that could result
in a lot bigger ideas evolving.
So we really wanna get into the habit
of taking fleeting notes
so we can use them to our advantage.
One example could be
you're gonna go have a coffee meeting with someone.
And so you'll have a notebook there
and you're not going to spend a lot
of time looking at it and taking notes.
That would be rude, you're having coffee with someone.
But let's say they inspire an idea,
you write it down or they refer you to a great book
and you write it down.
That's amazing, really useful.
But what's key is after that coffee meeting is over,
the person will usually leave the coffee shop
and I will stay there.
And I'll refer back to what I wrote down and do
a little bit more of a deep dive of what just happened.
I'll probably add some things I never wrote down
cause I knew I'd remember them like what's going on
with their family and to check in with them later
because they're going through a tough time or to flesh
out the idea that they gave me from the one word I wrote.
And just do more of a recap of what that meeting was
about and what to do, especially next steps.
This is so much easier than,
oh, yeah, I had lunch with Susie a few weeks back.
What did she say she's up to these days?
I wonder who I could be refer in her business.
I can't remember.
And that could have all been in your notes
and that could have been something that you
documented really well so that when you do follow up
you have super relevant information,
which by the way is very impressive
because everyone thinks everyone forgets everything
which is mostly true.
Another example of fleeting notes.
If you don't have your pen and paper for me
when I take walks outside, I don't have a pen and paper
but I get a lot of ideas on my walks.
So some of my fleeting notes are actually voice memos.
I have a quick tap on my Apple Watch
that I can do a voice memo
or I'll pull out my phone and just start talking
about something that's occurring to me.
It doesn't have to be a fully fleshed out idea
but it is my own idea usually.
So it's pretty easy to talk through.
So there are other ways to do fleeting notes
but it's just more about knowing yourself
and the self-awareness of what should I not do
so that I don't get distracted
and forget what I'm thinking about.
The other reason I really loved the advice in this book is
that it said fleeting notes need to be discarded.
Which is great, 'cause I love a declutter.
Okay, so rip that page outta the notebook.
Once you've looked at the fleeting notes, interpreted them
in a place where you can keep everything, and move on.
A couple of options that I recommend
for where to keep your permanent notes,
the notes that happen after you've interpreted
a fleeting note is one being Roam Research.
This is another recommendation from Matt actually.
Roam Research has become my golden place
for ideas and written content and even Kindle highlights.
I'm using a tool that will send Kindle highlights
into my Roam Research.
So anything that I wanna be able to refer back to, I can
this is such a great place to build
upon content ideas and build upon project ideas.
Just because if I keep all
of my permanent notes there together,
I can look for common searches, common keywords
and bring them all together
into a final product of some kind.
And then of course there's Apple Notes on your phone.
Sometimes this is just going to be a good place
for you because it's on all your devices.
So once I've written a fleeting note down
I sometimes will go into Apple Notes
and make a note of something more permanent and say, oh
I just came up with a podcast idea,
outline it in Apple Notes and then deliver the podcast
just by reviewing what I wrote there.
And of course, pen and paper
if you are the pen and paper type, I totally get that.
I have a planner for that reason
because sometimes writing things down goes ingrained
into your brain much more permanently.
And so that's of course an option.
Just make sure you're taking a fleeting note
and turning it into something more permanent
that you can leverage for the future.
So the key process here.
Get into the habit of making fleeting notes in the moment.
And as soon as you can afterward,
interpret them into something more permanent
and then discard your fleeting notes.
This is the key rule to taking useful notes, for your life,
for your business, for anything you want.
That's all for today, thank you so much for tuning in.
I appreciate it as always.
Remember, subscribe for good vibes,
kiss the ones you love, and go after the life you want.
Cheers. (gentle music)
This is so much easier than.
Oh man, I haven't talked to John in a long time,
and then you go.
That's so weird, why would I use my dad's name?
(gentle music)
Just plain old regular pad of pen, pad of pen.
It's amazing, what is a pad of?
What's a pad of pen?
That's that's gonna be the name of my next product.
I've invented the pad of pen.