Why I treasure note-taking
What's the point of taking notes? Many people view the practice as a waste of time, and indeed there are some who are against writing notes.
Even so, I treasure note taking for a long and growing list of reasons.
It connects me deeply to people
Just a few moments before writing this note, I found a note that I had watched Donnie Darko with my friends, which gave me an excuse to message them and gossip.
At Christmas, I'm able to draw upon months or even years of notes I've taken about people to choose thoughtful gifts that no social media algorithm could ever choose.
These are just a few examples from thousands of times I've thought to interact with people, all because of something I had written in the past.
It blocks distractions, allowing active listening
If I attend a meeting, I will tend to zone out, even more than many people as I likely have Inattentive ADHD. Zoning out means I'm unable to effectively contribute to the meeting, or derive useful information from the meeting.
Taking notes is my impervious armour against the daydream demon. It forces me to focus, directing my extrasensory attention to one place, or what ADHD people know as hyperfocus. This often results in too many words - I'll note even minor non-words, a facial expression, a glance someone might have wanted forgotten. But it is much easier to have too many words and cut back than it is to have too little and add what's missing.
It protects me from rumination
All too often I begin a thought that turns into a doom spiral. Scribbling notes of this thought reveals to me all the merit and silliness of the thought. Then I can let the silliness go, and keep the merit if there was any.
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30099387
Notes accumulate, memory fades
I often encounter information that I will perceive only once, but I must remember it a long time. The most common example is the name and number of someone I've just met. Would you really trust just your memory for something so important?
Zoom recordings are unsearchable and slow
The experience of seeing a video, hearing a voice cannot be reproduced by notes. Even so, for your future self who is in hurry for key information, rewatching a recording is excruciatingly slow.
Ask HN: Why the obsession with note taking?
Browsing notes means our own interest instead of an algorithm
https://maggieappleton.com/garden-history
Writing is thinking
If you’re thinking without writing, you only think you’re thinking. #quote
https://critter.blog/2023/01/04/let-me-write-i-mean-think-about-it/
Original creations are a legacy My dead dad's journal
Who can remember their grocery list perfectly?
Google isn't good enough
Googling every answer is slow
Google Search is getting worse, because the public internet is getting worse.
Notes compound in value
Note writing creates durable cumulative knowledge
Gains from my second brain
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30151963