Take Notes That Can Be Understood in Two Weeks
Many of us already know how important it is to carry around some kind of note-taking device, be it an old-fashioned pen and paper or one of bajillion’s smartphone apps designed to help us capture and organize our thoughts.
But catching these thoughts in most cases is not enough. A good note is not just a summary of an idea or action element. Taking notes correctly provides both a note and a way forward.
What I mean? Well, one of the first things I realized when I started to study David Allen’s ” How It Is Done” system was that it wasn’t enough to write Mom’s Birthday. This is not a sticky note to help you choose a gift or plan a party.
Instead, you need to write the next action or the next series of actions: “Ask Mom what she wants for her birthday.” “Book a table at the restaurant.” ETC.
These are the notes you will need the next time you grab your notebook (or open the app). Instead of seeing “Mom’s birthday” which forces you to start the thought process around “what else needs to be done for Mom’s birthday” over and over again, you will have a clear action being taken.
Eliza Keith, co-founder and CEO of Lucid Meetings , takes this “notes should show the way forward” idea a step further by explaining to Inc. that a good note should be clear to everyone involved in the project. for at least two weeks after it was recorded.
Here’s what she suggests you do in the context of a team meeting at work:
In the last five to ten minutes of the meeting, review all notes by asking the following questions:
- Did you miss something important?
- Is that correct?
- Is each note clear enough for others to understand? Will we know what that means when we look at it again in two weeks?
Your team might try to quickly answer the first few questions, but the last one will get them thinking, and notes that say something like “Study this report” will be corrected. Examining this report will mean nothing after two weeks, while checking the totals in the Q4 sales report will become apparent later when you try to hold each other accountable.
Of course, this method works just as well in your personal note-taking practice as it does in team meetings. If you ask yourself if you can figure out what your notes mean in two weeks, you are less likely to write “weird thing with a sink?” and is more likely to write “If the kitchen faucet is still splashing after 1 week (2/25), please submit a service request.”
And then I would add a calendar reminder to such a note, but that’s just me.
Once you get into the habit of taking notes that are both understandable and action-based, you will probably also develop the habit of regularly reviewing those notes instead of forgetting about them (and, by extension, forgetting what you said to yourself. you wanted to do or remember or plan).
Therefore, taking notes that still make sense after two weeks becomes even more important because you will probably still return to those notes after two weeks – either to remind yourself of what you need to do next, or to think about everything. that you have done.