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Fairtheewell's avatar

I love this. I keep notebooks for to do lists, notes when on calls with doctors, handy man stuff, packing lists, anything. But always thought I needed a separate one for personal thoughts and accomplishments. As a stay at home mom and hew writer, content creator etc, I like the idea of having it all in one place. Im a bit scattered brained so this just makes it easier. Thank you

Mark | The Banana Stand's avatar

Hi Fairtheewell, thank you for commenting. I like simple & the system I describe is as simple as I can make it. Even notes that are years old, I vaguely remember when they happened & I can get my eyes on them usually within just a few minutes. BTW I did try to create an index on the back page (& working forwards as it filled up) but it added complexity & the effort just wasn't worth it.

Sara Burdick's avatar

completely agree! i write down everything, on paper!

Mark | The Banana Stand's avatar

Yep Sara, tried digital and it just didn;t suit. There’s something easy about grabbing my day book going into a meeting and having an entire blank page to scribble things down on.

Michelle L Smith's avatar

Your note-taking approach is much more comprehensive than mine but I do have years of scribble in cheap school workbooks. I do a digital version too- mainly because I don’t trust my memory.

Mark | The Banana Stand's avatar

Hi Michelle! thanks for your response. My approach evolved over years, without any strategy or even planning. It works for me because I take my day book to all meetings and write pretty much everything I think is important. I did try digital, but for me, at least, I can be more present in meetings and zooms if I just quickly scribble quick notes, rather than typing on a keyboard.

I thought seriously about a Remarkable 2 - but then, couldn't see the advantage.

Drew Morrison's avatar

Great piece and advice. As a big journaler I’ve never really thought about journaling about work. I use DayOne as my journal a lot (even though I have some paper notebooks).

DayOne has a web feature now and I think I’m going to start a work journal. It’ll be a good reminder of things that happen throughout the day as well so I don’t forget. We often gain wisdom through experience but forget where that wisdom came from.

Mark | The Banana Stand's avatar

Hi Drew! I actually don't think of it as journalling although technically, it probably is. It's just a cheap notebook (my day book) where I scribble down the day's happenings. It surprises me how few people actually do this. Even in in a formal meeting, like a board meeting, the minutes that come out are summaries of summaries. I prefer to capture the zeitgeist of the moment. Way more context.