Friday Question #113
Do you ever take notes on lectures, meetings, books, etc. – whether it be at school, work, or recreationally? If yes, how do you prefer to take them, and do you ever use them again? If no, why not?
I was a huge note taker in college and that has not changed. I take a ton of notes at work meetings (and still run them). I take physical notes in the books I am reading (see post-its picture above). I “add star” to the posts I want to come back to in google reader. I put sticky notes all over magazines. Notes, notes everywhere (I like to make lists too).
But, do I ever use them?
I have found that with the physical notes I take, in books/magazines and for meetings, I am more likely to go back to them. It seems that with the digital ones though, like adding a star to a blog post, I am less likely to go back. Maybe something about the physical ones seems more pressing, since they have, well, a physical presence.
Either way, when I am reading/listening and something strikes my interest, I often can’t get it out of my mind until I have done my own research. I wonder if anyone else is the same way…
Themocracy
I am not much of a note taker. I do jot down notes during meetings at work if it’s directly related to what I’m working on but otherwise I just don’t feel inclined to take notes. Sometimes I’ll read something and it will be funny/thought provoking/whatever and I’ll try to take a mental note of it, but I always forget. Then I have trouble going back to look for it. Maybe I should be taking notes…
I’m like you – I take lots of notes. Oftentimes, merely writing it down commits it to memory, so I don’t need to go back to review my notes. But, I also can be really forgetful, so in those cases when I can’t remember, I’m always glad I wrote it down. =)
In college I was a huge note taker. I find that the act of taking notes helps me commit something to memory and understand it better. In daily life, I don’t take notes in books, magazines, or blog posts.
I was the queen of note taking in college. I guess I did it at work too. I definitely used them. I’d highlight texts and take notes in a spiral notebook. Then I’d study the highlights and my notes. If someone would pay me to go to school I’d be all over it!
I take notes in classes, but not really in anything else. And I often don’t ever come back to my notes once the class is over, but I feel so bad throwing away old notebooks (as if I’m throwing away knowledge!).
I write things down because it helps me to better commit it to memory…but i rarely go back and read my notes
I am exactly like this. Especially the part about “when I am reading/listening and something strikes my interest, I often can’t get it out of my mind until I have done my own research”
I am a compulsive note taker…especially when I was in school. I prefer writing them down on paper first. I just find that I remember them better when I have it written out. And then, when I go back to them, I type them up….and then half the time don’t look at them again haha. I think doing both just helps me commit it to memory.
When I take notes on books I also use post-its. Or..sometimes I just write (pencil) right in the margins.
I take notes on my laptop using an application Evernote. I am an Architecture major, so usually I store all my notes, thoughts and school/personal info in Evernote. I tag every note and I usually find myself coming back to it. Maybe because evernote offers cloud storage, easy mobile access on the go and desktop storage both in sync at all times, it makes much easier to catch hold of my notes. True now note taking has kind of become an addiction and digital ones are easier as I carry my laptop pretty much everywhere.
I don’t take notes…but I probably should! I did in college, as an English major…but I guess maybe that made me sick of it!
I’m a huuuuuuge notetaker. Actually I got forced into taking the minutes at the Director’s meeting I was at yesterday. That wasn’t because my note quality, more because I always brag about how fast I am at typing!
I like taking notes. Writing it down helps me to remember it better. Yes, I do go back and use my notes. Very often I find that I abbreviated too much and don’t understand what I wrote.
i’m such a note taker, too! i do the same thing w/ post-its. usually i save my notes but i rarely go back through them. that’s why i like journals and try to keep my notes in journals somehow b/c they are easier to save and also show me when exactly i was interested in those things i was taking notes on. but i haven’t been journaling lately so of course it’s an all around mess 🙂 i can’t wait to start school and start taking notes that i’ll be using for the rest of my life… and being tested on them. i actually like being tested and writing papers. it’s like a very useful application of knowledge 🙂
anyway- i totally laughed through your entire “grandma” post. you are hilarious!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! so many of the things i was like…yep, my grandma does that… hahahaha. my mom’s mom is obsessed with birdfeeders and watching them all day!!!! way too funny! and that umbrella… priceless. 🙂
I WAS a note taker when I was in school, or college. For some reason, I don’t do it as much in graduate school. I don’t really know why.
A lot of times, I take notes on things, and then it just ends up being clutter. I don’t need more clutter!! I’d rather store it in my head. 😉
<3 <3
i take tons of notes, but i’m pretty scattered about it now. i have my real estate books that look identical to your picture above. i write lots of things on sticky notes and paste them all over my desk. i think i like the process of going through them and throwing them away (i know, big waste of paper), when i’m done!
I used to take copious notes in school, but I don’t think I ever used them. I always take notes in my meetings at work, though not for me. Note-taking is part of my job and it’s more so everyone else remembers what was discussed. Like I said, I don’t usually go back to notes, so they’re not effective for me.
HUGE note taker and list maker! And I like the old fashioned pen and paper method too. 🙂
I am a huge writer and by that I mean that I write down EVERYTHING. For some reason, doing anything digitally doesn’t imprint it on my brain. I have to put pen (or pencil) to paper. I still underline when I read, make notes in margins, put stickies on certain pages. I take notes in meetings all the time, even if we have print-out of exactly the same information. I learn by writing. It’s funny that I never go back and look at my notes (well, except for work and school, when my performance was being tested). I think when I’m reading for pleasure, making notes is just my way of going over something in my mind. Once it’s in my head, I don’t really go back to rehash it. I’m the same way with journaling. I never go back to read old entries. Just the act of jotting down thoughts is what’s important to me. That’s probably why I have such an easy time writing books, but not editing 😉
You always have fun Friday questions 🙂
Writing something down helps me commit it to memory. I don’t always revisit it but the act of doing it helps me retain it.
i think it is silly to take notes unless you need them to study from! happy friday 🙂
I am not a note-taker. I do much better when I just listen to the presentation and try to soak it in. Considering I am a master multi-tasker it amazes me that I cannot write and listen at the same time.
I use a paper and pen method for all of my notes on just about anything. For work, I take notes for tasks I do during the day, like settings when I’m working on resolving a problem. Seminars or user group meetings, I write down all of my notes in a paper notebook. Any web sites, I do write those down in a note on my smartphone.
I always write them down. Always. even if I have a computer, I prefer to write them down. 🙂 It’s how I learn; sometimes I go back to them, depending on the subject, other times, not so much!
My notes are impecciable. In school, or faculty meeting, everyone wants to sit next to me because I take such copious notes. And for school, I usually re-write them because I hate when they are sloppy. I am soooo TYPE A!
Actually, I am not much of a note taker. I used to take lots of notes and still do in certain lecture situations if there is no handout. But not anymore, unless there is something very important I need to remember. I realized that I very rarely ever went back to my notes and I don’t find I’m as attentive when I’m jotting as I listen or read.
I love taking notes but I haven’t been doing it as much lately. In fact, I haven’t been doing it at all. Sometimes life is just too consuming for notes. 😉