Note Taking Formats

[remyc88]

I saw this the other day and I was fascinated by how Bill Gates takes notes...

...The other thing I noticed during the course of the meeting is how he takes his notes. He doesn't take notes from top-to-bottom, but rather logically divides the page into quadrants, each reserved for a different thought. For example, it appeared that all his questions were placed at the bottom of the page...

I'm wondering does anyone else do this? And if so, how do you divide up your quadrants?

Currently I take notes from Top-Down and sometimes I may miss some points when I'm processing these notes in my Weekly Review.

(Linky: http://weblogs.asp.net/rhoward/posts/6128.aspx )

[whkratz]

What???? He didn't use a tablet pc running OneNote???

[Bryan]

I frequently mindmap notes on just about anything, including meetings. I've been doing it for almost 20 years, and obviously, YMMV; but it works very well for me. I also adapt my notetaking style to the meeting. Basic staff meeting notes are often linear, b/c I've learned there will be no more than 1 side of a page of info, much less actionable items. I then march down the list asap after the meeting and note disposition of each action (e.g., "added to project list").Mindmaps would have each main topic as a "branch" and actionable items actually stand out pretty well.

Those unfamiliar w/ mindmap can search w/ google. Tony Buzan is perhaps the most well-known authority.

--Bryan

[remyc88]

whkratz:

yeah, isn't that interesting? Considering that OneNote was suppose to be his pet project! lol :?

[ScottL]

Reminds me that they caught microsoft with linux running their servers...LOL

[TesTeq]

BillG and Microsoft are smart and we should follow them. If you want to be as successful as Bill do not use any software or tablet pc for notetaking. Paper is more reliable so you can focus on your notes and do not need to keep your equipment alive (dead battery, not enough memory, general protection error, infected disc and so on, and so on, and so on, day after day...)
Regards,
TesTeq

[me_brown1110]

I do different things depending on my mood:

1) Take notes in mindmap format but leave room on the side margins to write questions. Box those questions. After the meeting, tackle the questions first and then mark through them as I accomplish them. Or, transfer them to a post-it or context list, depending on time frame.

2) turn the paper landscape-wise. draw a line down one side to make a 2 or 3 inch margin. take notes in the 'big box' as usual (mindmap or however you want) and then write questions, notes to yourself, whatever in the margin.

BillG's notetaking style sounds pretty savvy, actually. It recognizes that several different processes occur during a meeting, and his notetaking style has a place to notate each process.

adios--mike

[Anonymous]

At one stage I used a quadrant type approach.

I now use this approach

Small margin over left hand side. Big margin over right hand side. Lots of space in the middle.

I make notes as I go from top to bottom in the middle. I annotate the notes with indicators for Actions/Decisions.

In the right hand margin I write questions as they occur to me. This is so that I can refer back to them during the meeting at appropriate times - without having to interrupt whoever might be speaking just so that I don't forget something.

I found the quadrant type approach restrictive because I like to make lots of notes and you don't have anywhere to go once the quadrant is filled.

[remyc88]

thanks for sharing your ideas. I'm going to try out various formats & techniques over the next few weeks.

I know this topic seems silly and I may be overcomplicating things (they're just notes for crying out loud!!!) but well, I guess this is just one area I need to work on. Thanks again!

[vegheadjones]

I'm finding this very interesting as well, and I think I will try out phoulihan's method. Thanks for sharing.

[Anonymous]

Is there any info anywhere on the quadrant approach... ? what goes into each quadrant?

Phoulihan-- what do you put in Left margin?

[phoulihan]

Is there any info anywhere on the quadrant approach... ? what goes into each quadrant?

Phoulihan-- what do you put in Left margin?

The left margin is where I put a quick indicator that refers to the notes in the body of the page. I usually use an indicator for Actions/Decision/Ideas - but it sort of depends on the context.

I also vary the indicator over time just to keep myself interested. Currently an action is a big A with a circle around it. But I went through a phase of using the Greek alphabet (alpha for action, delta for decision,...) and sometimes I just use a made up doodle - anything to keep me interested.

Then I can quickly write up formal actions/decisions as minutes if required. Or on a daily basis just go back and process actions (into projects/next actions) or waiting ons,... It also makes it much easier for my assistant to process if I'm in a hurry and just need to throw it to her.

Hope this helps.

It is a long time since I used the quadrant approach - I think I learnt it at some long ago induction to management training. I think it was have a quadrant each for actions/questions/decisions/notes - but I may have got the headings wrong.

[Anonymous]

you gotta be kidding you folks are putting thought time into "how to take notes"?

[earlofmar11]

Of course we do... I find that the way I take notes can make quite a difference on how effective I am later when processing them etc. Sometimes giving thought to seemingly futile and simple things can yield quite big returns. And sharing and discussing in a forum of like-minded but unique people often opens new horizons. In Dutch we have a proverb "Wie 't kleine niet eert, is 't grote niet weerd" (He who doesn't honor the small things isn't worthy of the big ones)...

Marc.

[Anonymous]

I appreciate insights on the little things. even if others are skeptical.
--grasshopper
hoping to one day be worthy of bigger things

[emp]

Yes, little doodles or "icons" help me as well.

In University, I always sketched a little book next to referenced literature.

That way, I could just skip over my notes and collect books that I wanted to get from the library or even buy.

::: emp :::

[GrantRobertson]

you gotta be kidding you folks are putting thought time into "how to take notes"?

Dude, they teach classes in college about how to take notes. Some colleges and universities require all freshmen to take them. How you take notes is really important if you want to get anything at all out of them later.

[AdamsRib]

Some colleges and universities require all freshmen to take them.

These sources of note-taking are really limited to the Cornell and the SQ3PR methods. I, personally, would like to see sites that discuss different methods. I'm familiar with mind/concept mapping. But the one described that Bill Gates used is unfamiliar to me.

Anyone know of other resources of note-taking? Or do you just develop your own system?

[GrantRobertson]

Anyone know of other resources of note-taking? Or do you just develop your own system?

Normally, I just use simple outline format. But for school I adopted an entirely different approach. Most students read their texts and highlight everything they think will be important. Then, in class, try to write down everything the instructor says, always missing something, and never being able to really pay attention to what he/she is saying.

I read my texts and don't mark a thing in it except for questions I have. It's kind of an @Agenda for when the instructor is going over that part of the subject matter. During class, I keep my text open to the topic the instructor is currently discussing. As he/she makes points I highlight them in the text. If they make additional points that aren't in the text then I write them in the margins. If they stress a point then I underline it as well. This is also the time when I will ask any questions I wrote in the text and write the answer right there.

This way I can stay much more focused on what the instructor is saying. Also, people don't see me taking copious notes so they never ask me if they can borrow them.

[innovationtools]

I read this thread with great interest. Rather than dividing a note page into quadrants, I use colors to denote action items or things to which I want to call more attention. I accomplish this using a Lamy 4-color pen, which is a fantastic tool (about $60-70, available at most fine pen shops). It has blue, black, red and green ink cartridges. It's great for linear note-taking, as well as for quickly creating colorful mind maps!

[GrantRobertson]

Lamy 4-color pen, which is a fantastic tool (about $60-70, available at most fine pen shops). It has blue, black, red and green ink cartridges.

Dude, you've got way too much money on your hands. I can get the same thing for $1.69 at the local drug store.

[jrj102]

This thread is very interesting to me... I've had some difficulty in this area recently-- allow me to explain.

All through high school and college, I had a photographic memory. I never bothered to take notes, as I remembered literally everything I read or heard. (Yes, really. I always aced tests. I always considered it a form of cheating.)

However, as I've gotten older, this ability has slipped away, and I don't have the memory I did in my youth. (Not even close.) The problem is that I never learned to take notes! Now I take copious notes, but because I never learned this skill in school I know that I'm not taking as good of notes as I should, and that I'm not getting the benefit out of them after the fact that I could.

Hearing how other people take notes is very useful to me. I now use OneNote and a Tablet PC (which I love-- they really have made my life easier.)

[spectecGTD]

In reading David's books and listening to the CD's, two areas of weakness which jumped out at me were mind-mapping and note-taking. At 57, for some reason I had never encountered mind mapping. And my note-taking is woefully inadequate for many of the same reasons set forth in the prior note - in college I usually just listened to the lectures, skimmed the text, and passed the tests (can't claim to have aced them; just passed).
My business practices have been pretty much the same and over the years I stayed well-organized keping things in my head with Outlook as a buffer. However, over the past 3-5 years I've begun to notice things slipping. As I've tried to compensate by taking notes in meetings & at events, ironically I've found myself getting more disorganized with pages of notes floating all over the place.
I'm now implementing GTD, using my Palm (a gift which had been sitting in the box for a couple of years), and have decided to focus on increasing my note-taking skills. So far, the best approach I've found is dividing the page into a slim left colum, a wide center column, and a medium right column (similar to a web page layout). I take notes in the center with actions or key words in the left colum, and questions, follow-ups, or links in the right column. If the meeting or event requires a summary, I draw a fourth line from left to right across the bottom and write it there. Using different color pens also helps to visually orient me to these elements. Finally, I'm trying to discipline myself to review the notes immediately after the event and deciding on next actions, if I've inherited any. Everything else in the notes is either dump, delegate, defer, or file in reference.
Anyone willing to critique this method? I'm looking for opportunities to improve, have a thick skin, and am not resistant to change.

[Anonymous]

I did some searching not too long ago on the topic of note taking and was surprised to find a lot of different systematic methods have been devised:

http://muskingum.edu/~cal/database/notetaking.html
http://www.sas.calpoly.edu/asc/ssl/notetaking.systems.html
http://www.wcupa.edu/_academics/cae.tut/TCornell.htm

- Matt