It seems that a very popular category of software on both PCs and mobile devices is software to help people take notes. Take notes, and sketch out ideas, and, uh... well...
What are all these notes people are taking? I have a single text document for things I need to remember, a few addresses and such. I've been using the same one for a decade now, and it's still only a couple of screen heights in size. And for things to remember on specific dates, I have iCal, which I only started using a couple of years ago, before that I had a couple of sticky-notes on the wall, that was all. So what are people doing with all these note-taking and idea-organizing apps?
Hmmm, come to think of it: in senior school (10-12th grade) we were handed a tall stack of note-taking paper, which a teacher joked would last us til Christmas if we were lucky. I think after three years I had used five sheets.
... if you use a couple of sheets per day for some reason, how do you even find the notes again, or remember what you have noted down? Aren't the text books better organized than random scribbled notes?
The sort of notes I keep are mostly short term, but for when things are sufficiently complex.
ReplyDeleteFor example a table showing key features of several devices, so I can compare which ones do what.
Data sheets are often too big, so I make notes on key facts on a device. I do this less now 90% of my datasheets are PDF, and very few are paper.
Another favourite is to draft out state diagrams, flow diagrams and DFD's so I can get a full picture of what's going on, and what cause has what effect.
Sketches include block diagrams. Sure the schematic has all the wires on it, but you only see one or two devices per sheet, so a block diagram can give a gross interconnect, so you can keep track of what's going on.
Other notes are like recipes. For example new hires have to set up their system (PC, workbench) to match what is being done, so a installation guide is very useful.
Currently I find Wiki's to be the best way of organizing notes which can be grouped, and need to be searched. Otherwise Word/Visio or Power Point can get the idea clear and solidified and in a form that can live on after you leave.
I've never been one for having indexed engineer log books. I'd rather have a well maintained ring binder.
In my personal life I have an address book, five hand written recipes and that's it.
First, I take voluminous notes when I'm at lectures or classes. For me, the benefit isn't in going back and reading them later, it's in doing the writing. I learn things better when the ideas come out of my fingers, not just into my ears. I think I've collected two file boxes of notes, maybe 20,000 sheets all told.
ReplyDeleteSecond, I keep a journal. Sometimes I write what I did; more often I write about what I thought about what I did. I've got 30-something bound notebooks from before my first laptop, plus 20-30 MB of stuff I've typed since 1992.
For the notes, I rarely ever looked back more than a few days or maybe the beginning of the semester. For the paper journals before I keyed them in, I looked by date. Once on the computer, I used full-text searching. (grep, then Spotlight)
@ Eolake:
ReplyDelete"how do you even find the notes again, or remember what you have noted down? "
This is the BIG problem. Notes everywhere, no indexes, no filing system, just piles of little notes
which would take forever to search.
But Pat's right - it does assist the memory if we write things down.
Maybe it has something to do with being more careful to actually focus on what we are trying to recall or record. Maybe looking back through those piles isn't the important aspect of all that. I hope not, because I've got stacks of little notes about computer tricks or features or techniques
which I'll likely never need again,
and probably can't sort out anyway.
Hello.
ReplyDeleteI do stick very important notes to the bathroom window, usually one per week or even per fortnite. All other scribblings are stored in a paper cal, and I'm surprised to see after a while how many of the stuff got solved on it's own just by leaving it alone haha.
I still use paper for that. I have a master notebook, a large copybook with a4 sheets. It contains anything from pencil sketches, thoughts, poetry/song lyrics, links, phone numbers, rules for games, and even a completely sketched issue one of a comic book I will never draw.
ReplyDeleteUntil the courier becomes real... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmIgNfp-MdI I guess I'll still use the master copybook.