— personal - thoughts, reading notes — 1 min read
I write notes for almost everything - meetings, recipes, some code workflow, etc. - and I store them everywhere. I just can't find a system that works for me right now, so this will be a test system. This is probably because I consider myself highly organized, probably to the point of perfectionism, which isn't practical. I am capable of setting aside a solid day or two to organize my Pinterest, kitchen, or whatever organizing project I happen to think of. It's actually satisfying.
Naturally, this extends to notekeeping. I need to have a system that allows me to find my notes easily, so I refer to them whenever I need them and to do so for free.
But why do I need to keep notes in the first place?
Laziness - I'm lazy AF. I like writing but I also don't feel like writing code out by hand. It doesn't seem productive/effective anyway. Also, I'd like to avoid the Google Doc nightmare.
Out of sight, out of mind - For me, once a topic/thought leaves my mind, they're gone forever. It's just how my brain works. Also a curse and a boon, so I just have to learn to live with it. However, some thoughts, I'd like to revisit from time to time, like looking through my wishlist, or even projects I'd like to do in the future. So they need a place to live while I ... don't think about them obsessively.
Efficiency & productivity - if it's a repetitive task, at least I have my own notes on how I did it, what worked and what didn't. That way I don't waste time experimenting or looking for answers I already found the last time.
Reinforces learning - I learn better when I'm forced to write about it. Because it means organizing my thoughts, putting them together and seeing relationships between concepts that I would have otherwise missed. Plus it helps me foresee any opportunities.
They look beautiful - Sometimes I just like seeing them organized beautifully. Aesthetics matter to me.