Quick notes don't last
Quick notes are notes you take while consuming information.
Quick notes don't last.
They lie around in your notebooks, book margins, smartphone, web apps or whichever place you decide to keep them. Most of which end up trash. You never read them again.
Think of quick notes like shopping bills. They give you a good idea of how you spend your resources. But only if you go through them. Otherwise they’re only stacks of paper in your wallet waiting to be emptied.
The problem with most note-taking systems is they allow you to keep but not organize and connect the notes.
That’s why the first step towards building your knowledge is to find a system. Offline systems work fine if you’re super organized. (Zettelkasten, the popular note-taking system started by Luhmann is a piece of furniture by the way, consisting of 6 stacks of 4 wooden drawers, with each drawer brimming with paper). Though the modern age has enabled many brilliant tools — Evernote, Roam Research, Rem Notes, Obsidian, etc. You can start with any of them.
Next, you should get into the habit of sorting your quick notes. Don’t stack notes. Go through the notes and decide which one to keep. Ideally after you have taken them or at the end of the day. Be merciless to discard the unnecessary.
The final step is to turn them into evergreen notes. Don’t take it too seriously. This only means writing it again in your own words. Feel free to add any ideas of your own. As you have more notes, you can add links of new notes to the old ones. This allows you to have a system of knowledge which lasts for years and can be reused for many purposes.
Want more ideas like these? Sign up to my weekly newsletter. Every Sunday, you'll receive a curated newsletter or an essay help you work smarter and achieve more.