(hat'tip to
blog.carolynworks.com/)
I came across an interesting paper tonight:
Does Taking Notes Help You Remember Better? Exploring How Note Taking Relates to Memory, Workshop "Supporting Human Memory with Interactive Systems", HCI Conference, September 4th, 2007, Lancaster, UK
Many years ago I worked on a very interesting project. When I left that project, I made a point of making electronic backups of my work (notes, designs, etc) and many of the project artifacts - with the thought of someday culling some great ideas for templates. Those backups were made with some older version of a Windows OS backup system - and on media - that today I can no longer access.
A few years later I observed a fellow consulting colleague displaying a habit of writing in an expensive hardbound journal notebook for every project / client engagement on which he worked.
I too began that habit.
Today I have journals going back over 10 years...
In those journals are the records of every major decision, meeting, conversation, requirements discussion, conceptual design, problem encountered - and solution considered/devised.
They are not searchable - but I can generally find things in a reasonable amount of time. They are not very portable - but I have kept them - and paid to have them shipped for every move I have made.
Recently I went through those journals and re-established contact with folks with whom I had lost contact over the years. LinkedIn was very helpful in that regard.
For major projects, I prefer the
Staples Record Book (300 pages, 10-7/16" x 8-3/8")
For shorter projects, or Research & Development, I will often use a
Journal Composition Book
When I need to do a lot of diagrams, I use a
Composition Notebook, Quadrille Ruled
I also happen to prefer to keep a separate paper
At-A-Glance Weekly Professional Appointment Books
In many professional meetings, I am often amused at the lack of even the minimum note-taking effort that is expended. By forcing myself to write notes with pen and paper, I have a stronger reinforcement of the material, better memory retention, and a great ability to incorporate diagrams into my record of the discussion.
I have also experimented with writing a daily blog within a team environment - as a mechanism for communicating status, issues, avenues explored, vendor/product research, conceptual solutions proposed, as well as capturing decisions that might have otherwise been left to rot in the purgatory of an email inbox.
Additionally, I use
Notepad++ to write a private daily journal that I store in a "YYYY-MM-DD.txt" file naming convention.
When it comes time to produce "official" content - I prefer to use the
Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect tool.
