Why you’re never happy with your note-taking system

Why you’re never happy with your note-taking system Ben Hong (@bencodezen) Atomic Notes Workshop Netlify Virtual All Hands January 28th, 2021

Atomic Notes Workshop Netlify Virtual All Hands January 28th, 2021

Senior Developer Experience Engineer at Netlify Vue.js Core Team Member A little about me I/O Psychology Serial Hobbyist Why you’re never happy with your note-taking system @bencodezen April 21st, 2021

Before we get started… #1. Slides will be made public #2. The talk will be recorded #3. There is a Q&A session at the end Why you’re never happy with your note-taking system @bencodezen April 21st, 2021

Why do we take notes? Why you’re never happy with your note-taking system @bencodezen April 21st, 2021

Why do we take notes? To store information so we can retrieve it later To engage with the material to make it easier to remember To leverage work we’ve done in the past so we can iterate on new ideas To navigate our own brain as we explore un nished thoughts and ideas @bencodezen April 21st, 2021 fi Why you’re never happy with your note-taking system

My Journey with “Traditional” Note-taking Why you’re never happy with your note-taking system @bencodezen April 21st, 2021

Why you’re never happy with your note-taking system @bencodezen April 21st, 2021

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Atomic Notes Workshop Netlify Virtual All Hands January 28th, 2021

This works great Why you’re never happy with your note-taking system @bencodezen April 21st, 2021

This works great up until a certain point… Why you’re never happy with your note-taking system @bencodezen April 21st, 2021

This works great up until a certain point… Information Tipping Point Why you’re never happy with your note-taking system @bencodezen April 21st, 2021

Why you’re never happy with your note-taking system @bencodezen April 21st, 2021

My Frustrations with “Traditional” Note-taking Why you’re never happy with your note-taking system @bencodezen April 21st, 2021

My Frustrations with “Traditional” Note-taking It doesn’t scale with the information age Performance becomes an issue Inability to compose ideas freely Why you’re never happy with your note-taking system @bencodezen April 21st, 2021

Why you’re never happy with your note-taking system @bencodezen April 21st, 2021

Apps get slow… Why you’re never happy with your note-taking system @bencodezen April 21st, 2021

Why you’re never happy with your note-taking system @bencodezen April 21st, 2021

Getting Introduced to “Modern” Note-taking Why you’re never happy with your note-taking system @bencodezen April 21st, 2021

NIKLAS LUHMANN

ZETTELKASTEN

~90,000 INDEX CARDS

70+ BOOKS ~400 ARTICLES

What are atomic notes? Why you’re never happy with your note-taking system @bencodezen April 21st, 2021

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Core Principles for My Note-taking System Why you’re never happy with your note-taking system @bencodezen April 21st, 2021

Principle #1 Your notes. Your ideas. Your brain. Why you’re never happy with your note-taking system @bencodezen April 21st, 2021

Why you’re never happy with your note-taking system @bencodezen April 21st, 2021

This is the most intimate source of information about you that could possibly exist on the internet. Why you’re never happy with your note-taking system @bencodezen April 21st, 2021

Principle #2 Speed is essential to note-taking ows fl Why you’re never happy with your note-taking system @bencodezen April 21st, 2021

Why you’re never happy with your note-taking system @bencodezen April 21st, 2021

Principle #3 Context is critical when capturing information. Why you’re never happy with your note-taking system @bencodezen April 21st, 2021

When capturing information, the most relevant question to quickly answer is: “Why was this important enough for me to spend time to capture?” Why you’re never happy with your note-taking system @bencodezen April 21st, 2021

Principle #4 Redundancy is key to retrieving ideas. Why you’re never happy with your note-taking system @bencodezen April 21st, 2021

The 5 Ws of Retrieving Notes Who inspired me? What sparked my interest? Where was I? When did I take this note? Why did I take this note? Why you’re never happy with your note-taking system @bencodezen April 21st, 2021

Principle #5 The foundation of gaining new insights exists in the relationship between ideas. Why you’re never happy with your note-taking system @bencodezen April 21st, 2021

Atomic Notes Workshop Netlify Virtual All Hands January 28th, 2021

Core Principles for My Note-taking System Ownership of my ideas begins with me Context is critical to capturing information Redundancy is key to retrieval Notes should be captured organically System should make it easy to refactor notes Why you’re never happy with your note-taking system @bencodezen April 21st, 2021

Next Steps Why you’re never happy with your note-taking system @bencodezen April 21st, 2021

How to Take Smart Notes by Sönke Ahrens Why you’re never happy with your note-taking system @bencodezen April 21st, 2021

Thank you! ✉ buttondown.email/bencodezen twitter.com/bencodezen youtube.com/bencodezen Atomic Notes Workshop Netlify Virtual All Hands January 28th, 2021