I messed up. Full stop. I had planned to write an article about basic coding. I had some idea in my mind, driven by rage, but I did the thing I call people out for: I didn’t write down enough context for myself to come back to that article. I wrote a few sentences, but I don’t know why I was writing it. So today I’m going to write about the importance of good note taking.
Why should we take good notes? Simply put, our brains kinda suck. We forget things, or worse yet create false memories. I’m sitting here typing now slightly aggravated at myself; I know I had a good article to write, but now that’s gone. Notes are clues to future you: what you were thinking, what you were feeling, what was happening that caused an event, etc. They’re concrete evidence of what happened for you to re-create the scene later.
What makes a good note? A good note is situational. Meeting notes probably require a summary, important points, participants, and action items. Personal notes require careful context as to what is going on at a particular time. Daily notes should have timestamps. I can’t write you should do x,y, and z to have perfect notes. You have to create your own formula to give yourself enough context to understand what and why you were writing.
When should notes be taken? In the moment! That’s the entire point of this article. If you can’t write down something immediately, at least jot down something quick and get back to it asap. If you don’t, you’ll most likely lose it forever.