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Ask HN: What's your note-taking methodology?

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Re: Ask HN: What's your note-taking methodology?

#31

Post by xcambar »

robotburrito wrote: post #28

For a bit I was using vimwiki. I really liked it, however, getting it to work with images was a huge pain in the butt. So lately I have been using Obsidian. It allows me to use vim mode, paste images, and also write notes in md format. Check it out at https://obsidian.md/

It took me many attempts to adopt Obsidian, but eventually, now I am hooked.

The key for me was Daily notes (see Periodic Notes plugin) + Tasks. It allows me to write freely while using todo-like bullet lists to remember the upcoming tasks.

I'm planning for more extensive use but one step at a time...

Re: Ask HN: What's your note-taking methodology?

#32

Post by justsomehnguy »

pessimizer wrote: post #25

I'm not strictly taking notes any more. I'm journaling/free-writing to get extended/detailed ideas down that I've had, which consists of a bunch of text files in a directory that sometimes end up combined in subdirectories, often refer to each other, and are frequently appended to/refined. But the main thing I'm doing note-wise is that first I read a thing through once, trying to carefully understand, but not necessa…

Offtopic:

> and at least 15-20 minutes of it is done while shitting

One of things I understood too late is what a proper shit takes 2-3 minutes at worst, I just used that time to be alone with my things and thoughts.

YMMV, of course.

Re: Ask HN: What's your note-taking methodology?

#33

Post by bityard »

I don't understand the question. Or at least I don't see what you hope to learn from the responses.

Pretty much every aspect of note-taking is a deeply personal choice based on what you are doing, what the subject is, and what you want the notes to represent in the end. And probably changes over time, of course. You can learn about tools and methodologies but at the end of the day, these are just options to make your note-taking possibly more efficient, they don't help you take better notes, that only comes with experience.

IME you can't be "taught" how to take effective notes any more than you were "taught" to walk or function in society. You just figure it out after a while.

Re: Ask HN: What's your note-taking methodology?

#34

Post by selykg »

I use the CODE and PARA methods from Tiago Forte.

Much of what I'm taking notes on are things I am learning for my job and self improvement. How I use that knowledge, how they might relate to a project I am working on, how they relate to my core values, life goals, or priorities.

I feel strongly that I start with a quote or summary of what I learned. Then I reword it and summarize it in my own words, then I link it to other things I know that resonate with that idea or thought or nugget. Then I look at how to use it in my current projects.

Re: Ask HN: What's your note-taking methodology?

#35

Post by dotancohen »

org-mode and Git.

I've tried so many systems over the past two and a half decades. I only picked up org-mode last year, for the decade before that it was Markdown in VIM... I absolutely live in VIM.

I love having just plain text files, not a day goes by that I'm not grepping or finding or seding or occasionally even awking through them. I moved from Markdown to org-mode for the collapsible sections, like an outliner. Yes, there are some VIM addons that can do collapsing, but honestly org-mode does it better and I can slowly add other nice org-mode features as I need them. I do have Evil installed, though. The only thing Emacs really is missing out of the box is a decent text editor. ))

Re: Ask HN: What's your note-taking methodology?

#36

Post by Rochus »

Depends on the job and available typing skills; when I do requirements elucidation I usually just write down everything the stakeholders are telling including the questions; I use https://github.com/rochus-keller/CrossLine which lets me structure the text on the fly; after the session I do different summaries which either reference or transclude the outline items generated during the sessions. Also during design meetings I usually write down everything which is easier and almost an automatic process.

Re: Ask HN: What's your note-taking methodology?

#37

Post by jesuslop »

Google Keep for ephemeral and the rest simple files that are sophisticating with years. First some scribbled TXT files in folders, then word to paste images, now markdown+latex (typora + mathpix) with TOCs. I've started linking from one another so perhaps a personal wiki is down the line. My files are pets not cattle, thematic and focused, except one for things I wanted written but not coherently as a whole.

Re: Ask HN: What's your note-taking methodology?

#38

Post by actually_a_dog »

I have a dual system. For stuff I want to remember, but doesn't need to go into a computer per se (such as things that come up in my 1:1 meetings with my manager, or topics for our meetings), I write them down in a nice, leather bound journal using a pen. By necessity, this stuff is summary points and ideas that I want to keep in my head, and because it requires active listening, it allows me to engage the mental processes that help recall that information later.

For stuff like technical instructions, template snippets (either code or text), and the like, that all goes into a file on the computer, just like a lot of y'all are doing. Basically, if it's something I'd ever feel the need to copy/paste somewhere, it goes in a file.

Re: Ask HN: What's your note-taking methodology?

#39

Post by dotancohen »

bityard wrote: post #33

I don't understand the question. Or at least I don't see what you hope to learn from the responses. Pretty much every aspect of note-taking is a deeply personal choice based on what you are doing, what the subject is, and what you want the notes to represent in the end. And probably changes over time, of course. You can learn about tools and methodologies but at the end of the day, these are just options to make your…

  > IME you can't be "taught" how to take effective notes any more than you were "taught" to walk or function in society. You just figure it out after a while.
You're old. So am I.

Nowadays parents get their children diagnosed "on the spectrum", this both excuses the lack of ability to function in society and also provides benefits. Nobody is expected to figure it out any more, in fact in some circles it seems fashionable to either be "on the spectrum" or to have a child "on the spectrum".

Re: Ask HN: What's your note-taking methodology?

#40

Post by toastercat »

.txt and .md files in a folder I sync with Syncthing, and edit with Sublime Text 3 on my desktop machines, and Editor[1] on my phone. I create a file per topic, e.g., `ruby.md`, `docker.md`, `cooking.md`, and switch quickly between files using Ctrl + P in Sublime Text.

[1] https://billthefarmer.github.io/editor/

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