I Still Write Notes on Paper

In a world of ever proliferating digital devices it is in some ways surprising that we are still taking notes on paper.  Yet, despite the many promises and predictions that have been made, paper based notes are still one of the primary ways in which individuals create and keep notes.  The challenge today however is that while many are still taking notes on paper the sheer volume of information we create, receive and need to retain puts a strain on our ability to keep up with those same notes.  In addition, we are challenged today to be able to find the notes after they are written.  I have personally seen many different systems which are attempts to integrate paper with digital notes but each of these systems is either redundant or assumes a level of extra work that most people are unlikely to continue to do over time.  While I remain a huge proponent of digital based notes, I find that in my day-to-day work I still have a need for notes on paper.  Even this document which is clearly being created digitally was first sketched out in my Moleskine notebook.  

I have developed a system for taking notes on paper that is really an evolution of the way in which I formerly took notes using a Franklin Planner.  The system I use allows me to take paper notes without having a need to digitize those notes, while still making the notes searchable.  Using my system requires a few decisions and some discipline.  What follows is an outline of my system with a bit of guidance provided along the way.  Please note that this is a fairly long post due to the number of specific directions. 

To make the best or optimum use of this system you must first decide if your workflow can be accomplished using just one notebook.  This is a very important consideration since the need to have multiple notebooks would make this system cumbersome.  My own life and work does allow for the use of one notebook which I carry at all times (even on weekends).  Once a decision has been made to limit my notebook entries to just one book then the type of book becomes the next critical decision.  I personally use the Moleskine Ruled Notebook in the hard cover 5 X 8.25 size.  This book is large enough for taking notes during meetings and telephone calls but is also small enough to carry with me.  The hard cover works well when I am taking notes in my lap such as while waiting in airports, sitting on planes (another feature is that paper notebooks are permitted to remain “on” during takeoff and landing) or moving about throughout the day.  

The Moleskine notebooks have 260 pages.  Typically for my use the notebook will last between three and five months depending on my work schedule and the time of year.  The Moleskine notebook is more expensive than most notebooks.  In stores such as Target or Barnes and Noble they can cost about $18.00.  However, there are typically very competitive prices for these notebooks on Amazon.  Lately I have been able to purchase books for around $10.00 each.  Despite the cost I have found that the binding in a Moleskine book is such that the book will always lay flat.  The pages will not typically turn automatically thereby requiring you to hold down the page when writing.  This feature might not be important to some but this feature alone has made me a loyal Moleskine user.  By the way, the Moleskine is considered to be among the more fashionable notebooks to carry but while this is a nice bonus (it will make people see you as smarter and perhaps a bit hipper) I buy them because I like the pages, and the way the book works for me.

Once you have selected your notebook we move to setting it up.  I recommend that you place your name and contact information on the inside page.  I also like to note the date that the notebook is started as a quick reference.  The notebook I am currently using was started on October 2, 2012 and will likely last until almost the end of February given where I am in the book as of this writing.  Just as an aside I write fewer notes during the holidays and as such this book will last a full five months.

The key to making your notebook searchable is the creation of an index.  In many ways the index works in the same fashion as the index in a book.  It will be the first place you will look to find information inside the book and will save you from skimming pages when you want to find specific information.  What makes the index work is the weekly review process I will describe in the following.

To create the index I turn to the back of my notebook.  From the last page I count off six pages (starting with the last lined page of the book as the very last page is an unlined page).  The logic for counting off six pages is that it will allow for the creation of six months of index pages which is likely going to always be a minimum of one month more that you need.  Additionally, having six pages will permit each month’s index to run longer than one page if necessary but I have rarely found that to be the case.

Your sixth page (counting from the rear) will be marked for the starting month’s Index.  In my current notebook the sixth page is marked “October Index” since the notebook was started on October 2.  I write the index label at the top of the page in the center.    

Entries on the index page will be made at least weekly and in some cases more often.  I use a simple criterion to determine if an entry should be made.  When I review my notes during the week I ask myself if it is likely that I will need to review that note again.  If the answer to this question is “yes” I make a reference on the index page.  Some notes I know instantly will need to be indexed and when that is true I index those notes right away.  The references on the index page are noted with a code that tells me which page of my notebook the note is written on and will also tell me which sequence number represents the particular note.  An example would be as follows:  On the 16th of November the second note I wrote was related to my preparation for a coaching call with a client.  Since time spent coaching clients is something that I bill for this is a note I would want to quickly locate in the future.  The code I write in the index is “16-2 Coaching with the name of the client.”  This tells me that the note was written on the 16th of November and it was the second note that I wrote on that day.  The sequence is important since sometimes my notes may be several pages long.  The sequence number helps me to quickly locate the page on which this particular note is located.  

When taking notes I start each day using the right hand page in my notebook.  While I can’t say that I have a particular reason why I begin each day on the right page I think it is mostly driven by the fact that I am right handed.  For me this is the easiest place to write notes.  I generally begin each day with a blank page.  At the top of the page I write the date on the right hand side.  I typically write the date using the following format “2/1” I don’t typically include the year since the date for the beginning and the end of the notebook will be indicated on the front cover page.  When I write my first note of the day I move to the first line of the page and I write the number “1” and I place a circle around the number.  The circle denotes that this is my first note of the day.  The circle helps me to easily see that this number is the sequence number.  

I generally write my notes on the right hand side of the page.  However, during the day I frequently have a use for the left hand pages.  I call these the “notes” pages.  I will typically use the left side for jotting quick notes such as things that I am capturing quickly that may not necessarily be worthy of a sequenced note.  As an example my left hand page notes over the past week included items such as “cancel Marriott hotel”, the names of a group of people I met while conducting a course, and an address I wrote down that I needed for making a hotel reservation.  Sometimes I will index these notes but that is not typical.  Finally, I will usually use the left hand page for capturing tasks that I do not have time to put into my Task Management system.  When I do this I will note an asterisk next to the item so that I know it represents a task that I will need to either do or manage later.

All in all my system is fairly simple.  I hope that perhaps you will find it useful for managing your paper notes.  While I expect that more and more people will ultimately use digital notes I think that this system is a good way of managing those notes that we place on paper until we all move to totally digital notes.

I would very much enjoy getting your comments on this system.  Also, if you have recommendations for improvements I would love to hear them.  It has taken me about six years to make the system work for me yet I welcome an opportunity for improvements.