From the notebook
A notebook you will actually use
Keep the system small enough to return to.
Begin with a place, not a system
Choose one notebook or one folder for everyday notes. A useful place is easy to reach while you are reading, working, or walking out the door. Start there before choosing categories, colour codes, or a new app.
Give each note a little context
A title and a sentence about why you saved something are often enough. “Kitchen shelf measurements” is easier to find later than “Tuesday”. For a quotation, include the book or page it came from. Context makes a note useful after the original moment has passed.
Separate a thought from a commitment
An interesting idea does not have to become a task. Keep questions, observations, and possible projects as notes. Move something to a task list only when you have decided to act on it. This keeps a notebook from becoming a list of promises.
Leave a way back
At the end of a longer note, write one line about where to continue. It might be a question to check or a small experiment to try. When you return, that line saves you from reconstructing the whole train of thought.