Article first published on my personal blog at HIVE. (Original Spanish)
Hello, friends and readers, I hope you’re having a nice day. As you’ve seen in the title, today we’re going to talk about note-taking, an obsession of mine for several years, long before I started my higher education.
Countless are the notebooks and diaries that I’ve filled and still keep. Taking notes is a skill that I recommend developing. It can be extremely important in different areas of our lives, from school and work to personal life. It allows us to bring to reality the ideas that pile up in our heads or to unload some information to save time and remember other more important things.
Over time, I’ve added to my workflow not only physical notes but also a considerable number of digital applications with varying degrees of usefulness. However, I’ve never been able to abandon my love for traditional notes and diaries. For me, pen and pencil on paper will always be unsurpassed.
What to Note?
My sheets have been filled with many things, from phone numbers, doodles, loose ideas, sketches of future drawings, personal projects, to-dos, and lists. On the other hand, I use apps more for reminders and immediacy, to create lists that I can easily edit, have interactive features, set reminders, and alarms.
Both ways of taking notes create a symbiosis where they are not detached from each other. On the contrary, they complement each other efficiently. My notebooks give me the space to reflect and plan, while the apps allow me to follow my plans efficiently.
My Note-Taking Techniques
These techniques are written from my experience. They may change from person to person, or you can adjust them to your tastes and needs:
Underline the Most Important: Use whatever you have on hand to underline what you consider most important. This will help you remember it better. You can use markers, colored pencils, highlighters, whatever you have on hand.
Summarize: When taking notes, summarize as much as possible but never sacrifice the understanding of the note. It will allow you to capture the essence of the information without having to write and read large texts. Summarizing forces you to think more deeply about the information to understand it, helping you remember what you’ve noted even better.
Diagrams and Graphs: These will help us visualize the information and quickly find connections.
Colors: Don’t be afraid to include color in your notes. It will help us to quickly locate information, as well as create a personalized classification system.
Review Your Notes Regularly: If you take notes and do not periodically review them, many ideas and connections will go unnoticed. You can spend a few minutes a week or at whatever time you see fit to review all your notes, make corrections, add insights, or just see how your plans are going and what you need to change.
My Favorite Note-Taking Apps
Currently, I’m using several apps, as I clarified above, each with their distinct applications.
Obsidian: This is the ultimate personal knowledge vault. Not only does it allow us to take notes, but it also allows us to create connections, quickly search through notes, and hundreds of other functions. It uses Markdown formatting for notes, allowing for a great level of customization. The Obsidian community also stands out for the creation of free plug-ins that will allow us to get the most out of the application, adding table management, calendars, banners, and an endless list of new features. Up to this moment, it is still my favorite and the one I use the most in my day-to-day.
Google Keep, Tasks, and Calendar: Undoubtedly, these Google solutions are not basic at all and are extremely useful. You can capture ideas, take notes, make diagrams, set reminders and alarms, plan schedules, save photos, and even draw pictures. Thanks to their synchronization, you will be able to work on all your devices efficiently. These tools working together will help us maintain our personal and professional organization.
TickTick: It presents itself as a cross-platform solution for managing tasks, notes, and calendar. It stands out for its simple and friendly interface, including a slight level of gamification and the possibility of applying the Pomodoro technique to adjust our times and breaks or Eisenhower matrices to classify the priority of tasks. Not all its functions are free but it is undoubtedly a great alternative.
I could add other applications such as Notion, Mind Notes, Sectograph, which have a large number of users and a very good reputation. But the most important thing is that you try which of all the available solutions suits you.
Through trial and error, I’ve created a system that works for me. And while it may not be perfect, it has transformed my life in ways I never imagined. I combine the analog and digital, but the love for paper always stands out. Carrying a place to take notes everywhere is an enriching experience and one that I advise, it’s an excellent way to foster creativity and visual ideas. Without a doubt, these notes will be a reference in my future. No matter if you prefer digital over analog, don’t miss the opportunity to materialize your ideas.
Finally, I would love to hear your thoughts, experiences, and tips on note-taking. Do you have a favorite technique? Do you prefer paper or digital? Have you tried any of the apps I mentioned? Please share in the comments. I heartily thank each of you for taking the time to read this article. I hope it has provided you with value and helped you in some way. I wish you much success and a nice day, see you next time!
Translated with DeepL.com (free version)
I apologize if there are any grammatical errors, English is not my native language, I have tried to be as careful as possible.
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