My 30 minute rule for note taking

One of the biggest problems in productivity and note-taking is that we take many notes only to never see them again. We read an amazing book and feel like it is the best book we have ever read, highlighting every sentence we can, convinced that this book will change our lives. Fast forward a couple of weeks, and that book can no longer be found in our note-taking app. It has disappeared into the endless void we call our note-taking app. I have had this problem of losing notes, and I guess you have had the same problem. Many of our greatest notes disappear, and we will never be able to find them again.

Tools will not solve the problem

You might have tried changing your note-taking app in hopes of actually solving the problem. I have done that as well, but it has never worked. I have not been able to solve the problem by changing apps. Actually, it has made my whole note-taking process worse. Constantly changing apps in the hope that the next one will solve the problem never did.

I figured out a few things about the note-taking apps I was using. There are some apps that make it a lot easier for you to find your notes. Some apps, like Mymind and Twos, have a serendipity or review feature, which I love. Some apps have a graph view that makes it easier for you to jump through your notes using the connections in the graph, but it is not something that is required to solve the problem of losing your notes.

My new 30-minute rule

I have made some changes to my weekly review. Instead of just cleaning out my notes inbox, I now spend half an hour to an hour going through my notes using the serendipity feature my app offers. It does not have to be 30 minutes, and it does not have to be once a week. If you take a lot of notes like I do, I would recommend doing it weekly, but you can do it when you want and for as long as you want. The point of this exercise is to get into the habit of spending more time reviewing your notes and less time taking notes. I am trying to spend more time connecting my notes together and using them to generate new ideas instead of just taking notes to have the most notes possible. That is not the point of taking notes. Notes that just stay in your note-taking app forever and are never looked at have no value to you. That is why I have started believing in spending more time reviewing your notes and less time taking them. How you choose to do it is up to you. I like 30 minutes once a week, but you might like something else better. You just have to try and see what works for you. That is how I figured it out. Remember that your notes are there to help you do something or remember something that matters to you. If they don’t do that, they are worthless.