I’ve taken enough notes to last me a lifetime.  Context includes school, work, home, hobbies, and many more.  What do they all have in common?  The need to retrieve, sort, and act. 

I use to take notes in notebooks, on paper, post it notes, and on whatever I could get my hands on.  The issue I had with such types of media is retrieval.  How many times have you said “now where is that green piece of paper I wrote that phone number on?”

So several years ago I switched to taking notes via my email.  I sit in meetings or jot down notes in an email to myself.  I can flag, label, sort, search, forward, … my notes.  I can take notes on my laptop, on my phone, and now, yes, even on my Nintendo DSi.  For all the whiteboard work, I take a picture and include that in my email.

Many will say “turn off your phone and shut your laptops” during meetings or events.  Is an open notebook just as much a distraction?  If I really wanted to not pay attention could I not day dream in my head?  It’s funny, when I’m taking notes on my phone people will get upset and say “stop texting” or are you playing a game?

What I’m actually doing is optimizing my time.  Instead of physically writing in a static notebook – I’m taking notes that I can later cut and paste – forward, and yes – share with the entire group!  This saves me tons of rework.   

So the next time you see someone using a tool, instead of assuming ask them to share and maybe you too will capture some creativity.

Thank You for listening.