I’m not sure when I started using a journal, it was probably around 2016 when a lot of change was happening in my life. Up until then, I never wrote anything down.
All the writing I’d do – if you want to call it “writing” – was in work emails. I remember observing how I enjoyed creating emails, even though the subject was somewhat dull.
I’d love crafting the email – the choice of words, the subject line, the formatting, the rallying call to action at the end lol. I enjoyed it, but these emails were always work-related, so nobody really appreciated them. I was like Jamie Oliver cheffing in a cheap burger joint, nobody cared for my organically-made spicy compote, ketchup would do.
I’d also write the occasional email to a friend, and I remember putting a ton of work into those – but by 2016, lengthy email writing had all but dried up. Social media and texting put paid to that.
But I did enjoy writing, that much I knew. I just didn’t have a vehicle for it. Then journaling, and more broadly note taking, came along.
So the idea is this: You get an idea, a thought, basically anything you want to keep for future reference, and you put it in a note. Simple as that. The effect is pretty impressive, life-changing even. Here’s why.
Things I Make Notes About
I take notes about:
- Journaling: I have written a load of long, sprawling essays that are usually when I just want to get something off my chest. They’re a form of meditation. Basically observing what you’re thinking about. It’s easy to ruin a perfectly good day by keeping something inside that needs airing. Often, just airing it in a note is good enough to get past it. Then you get on with the rest of your day.
- Quotes. I love quotes, little nuggets of wisdom that often pack a lot in a few words. I have a rolling list of favorite quotes that I add to.
- Making lists. To-do lists, processes, etc.
- Intel notes: I call these “Intel” notes. I have a few of these about things I’m interested in learning about. Some of mine are “IM Intel” (IM = internet marketing) and “YT Intel” (YT = YouTube). When I come across interesting articles, resources, nuggets in social media threads, etc. I add them to the corresponding note. Its a way of bookmarking stuff, with the added benefit that you can add plain text (not only URLs.)
- [Insert Word] I Like: When I come across something I like, I add it to one of these notes. One of my favorites is “Sites I Like”. Whenever I come across a site, or element of a site (could be anything from a color scheme I like, to an email opt in or footer that is cool, I add them here, often with a screengrab and arrows pointing to the element I like)
- Code (usually CSS) from different sites (this arguably shouldn’t be here, but, again, convenience. I’ve tried another system of backing up CSS but it didn’t stick. So an imperfect system is better than no system)
I don’t obsess about note names. I try to give each note a name so it doesn’t get saved as “untitled,” but there are likely a good few that remain nameless in my system. Oh well.
I don’t bother tagging them or creating folders and sticking them in there either. It’s possibly a good idea, but that’s an extra step that might become a barrier to adding a note.
The note-taking practice needs to be as frictionless as possible.
The most important thing is the note gets captured in the moment. If making the note becomes arduous in any way, then it might stop me from doing it. And, as I’m about to explain, the benefits of note taking far exceed the lack of organisation.
Besides, I mostly use the search function to find stuff, so even less reason to categorise things.
Why Note Taking is Beneficial…Maybe Even Life-Changing
I think there are two main reasons why note taking is helpful.
Information Retrieval
The first and more obvious reason is it’s helpful for information retrieval (sounds fancy.) There are many times when I need something, or someone asks me about something, I’ve seen that thing, but I can’t remember what it’s called or where I saw it. I search for it and up it pops. This has happened hundreds, possibly thousands of times since I started note-taking.
E.g. someone asks me “do you know a good email marketing course”…”so I search “email marketing” and it pops up. “Here you go.” Note, when I add links to resources, I usually add a description next to it so it can be found. E.g. “URL – Kay’s Email Mastery (email marketing course)”
As I said before, I mostly rely on the search function to find stuff. I hardly ever look at the titles to find things, so labeling things helps.
Offloading
There’s probably a more eloquent name for this, but I’m going to stick with “offloading” as that’s how it feels.
80% of stuff (maybe more?) I make notes about I never read again. Especially the long form, journal stuff. The notes are a vehicle to get information, thoughts, dilemmas, etc. out your head and somewhere else. Compare it emptying your phone of photos to the cloud. You want them there for future reference, but carrying them around with you slows you down. You want them, but you don’t need them day to day.
Summary
Is this really necessary? Don’t we have an infinite capacity to retain information? I’m not sure; all I can go on is what works for me. Note-taking for both finding information and offloading stuff has made a big difference to my life.
If you’ve never tried it, give it a go. It might make a huge difference to your day to day. It did for me.
I use Evernote, but any note-taking app will do. I particularly like this one because of how it syncs (most of the time) effortlessly across devices. So I can be making a list while I’m walking my dog, get home, and continue it on my desktop.