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[Patrick Rhone]

One of the things I have struggled with all my life is taking good notes. This is mainly due to a focusing issue I suffer from

[Jason Echols]

Are these situations in which you would be uncomfortable recording the lecture or speech?

[Patrick Rhone]

No, not in most cases. I have been playing with the idea of getting a Livescribe Pulse ( http://www.livescribe.com/ ) but the idea of having to use a special pen, special paper, etc. kills the desire. I guess if I had a recorder that was very small, something unobtrusive, that was dead simple, that would not be so bad...

The thing with a recorder though is that it means having to go back after the fact, listen to the whole thing all over again (but this time with lot of starts and stops), and get the notes in order. Fact is, I just don't have that kind of time often.

To be honest, on self examination I think a bit part of this comes for be jealous of the talent many others have for such a thing. When I see the notes others take in such situations and then I look at mine, I feel so sheepishly inadequate. There have even been times in past situations where I have asked for a copy of someone else's notes because they were so much better.

Then I see things like Mike Rohde's sketchnotes (http://www.rohdesign.com/weblog/archives/002768.html) and then I really feel small...

I think I would be happier with strategies and/or tips that would help me improve. Maybe I am searching for the holy grail in a situation where you either have Christ's cup, or you don't.

[Stephen Smith]

Patrick, those sketches make me feel small, and I think I'm a pretty good note-taker. I have the same kind of focus problems, that I attenuate with vitamins and supplements and careful lifestyle design.
Here are some tips that I found helpful:

• Avoid things that will distract you - choose where you sit carefully, away from doors and windows
• Have a pen and notebook or laptop or other tool that makes you feel good - the sizzle is what helps you, not the steak
• Drink plenty of water, if you feel sleepy or distracted
• As for technique, work on grabbing keywords and don't be afraid of mind-mapping. You may even want to use blank paper so that the lines do not constrain the mechanics of your thinking and note-taking

[Patrick Rhone]

• Have a pen and notebook or laptop or other tool that makes you feel good - the sizzle is what helps you, not the steak

It should be known that I an a big fan of good paper and nice pens. For notetaking I mostly use the Levenger Circa system. For pens, I have a rotating 4 or 5 fountain pens that are my daily writers (don't even ask how many pens are in my collection though - way too much money spent).

All of these are great suggestions though. Thanks.

[Nathan Hale]

I'm pretty torn between lo-fi and high tech note taking. I think it's easier for me to write more meaningful notes by hand...the way I arrange them on the paper, impromptu mind maps, etc, all really help me to absorb information better. Still in the end I like having them organized and searchable, due to sheer amount of notes I have to take for some of my graduate classes, and I sure as heck don't want to take the time to go back digitize/scan/retype my hand-taken notes...although I supposes that could pass for review. So sometimes I go digital, sometimes lo-fi, it's all about how I'm feeling in the moment...but I lack a consistent system, which is becoming more and more important to me.

What makes you stay with a lo-fi solution?

[Patrick Rhone]

What makes you stay with a lo-fi solution?

Because I am even worse at typing while trying to listen.

I actually will, when needed, take my handwritten notes and transcribe them into a digital medium for the same reasons you might. Of course, this is hinged on the quality of my lo-fi notetaking.

[Jamie Phelps]

Depending on the legibility of your handwriting, Evernote may be able to OCR your notes and make them searchable.

[Patrick Rhone]

Mhandwritting is such that even I can't OCR it half of the time

I will give it a shot. It it works, then I have just found a use for Evernote (am a Yojimbo fan myself)

[Bookworm]

I have the same problem attempting to take notes in a fast moving, content-filled meeting environment.  I recently missed a required seminar and was able to view it online at my desk instead.  It took me an hour and a half to watch an hour presentation, because I kept pausing to take notes.

A few thoughts:

• Do you get agendas/outlines ahead of time?  If yes, and you want to take analog notes, print yourself a copy of the agenda with plenty of room to write.  Obviously, the same concept applies if you're taking notes on your laptop -- use the agenda as the skeleton.
• Do you get good quality minutes/PowerPoints after the fact?  If yes, don't worry about taking many notes.
• Is this meeting going to generate projects and actions that affect your work directly?  At minimum, try to capture the items that should go directly into your system.

[Patrick Rhone]

These are all good thoughts and suggestions Bookworm. Thanks for sharing.

[Brad Blackman]

Then I see things like Mike Rohde's sketchnotes (http://www.rohdesign.com/weblog/archives/002768.html) and then I really feel small...

Oh man those sketchnotes are great. I used to do some like that during church, then I started doing them in the traditional outline format. Then I got a gridded Moleskine.

Oh boy, I've had so much fun (believe it or not) filling in the little squares with all sorts of different patterns. I should scan them and post them sometime.

It sounds like you're having a hard time doing 2 things at once (writing and listening.) What if you just try writing down key words or phrases here and there? For example, the other night when we were on the conference call talking about the look of the forum, I wrote down "Orange -- font bigger, darker" and things like that.

[Patrick Rhone]

The keywords idea I think would work better for me and better in a mindmapping situation.

I am excited to try the basic mindmapping instructions that I posted about. I just have not hit the need yet. Actually, I should probably do this during the next conference call but would either need a headset or to put it on speaker (which I might do to facilitate taking notes).

[Shane McCarron]

Speaker only works if the Duchess and Princess are not sleeping...  Headset might be a good idea.  Your Mac should have built in Bluetooth - right?

[Patrick Rhone]

Both of my main systems do (Macbook and New iMac). I just do not have a bluetooth headset.