Takes notes as you go
You don’t always need an outline to start taking notes. Life is rich and packed with surprising events. You don't have to limit yourself to your niche.
Everything in your life can be a spark of inspiration. A blog post, a piece of news, someone you meet on the street, an interesting conversation, movies, documentaries, podcasts.
The first advantage of taking notes on the go is that you might learn something new from the same source of information. Like the other day I was re-watching my all-time favorite documentary — “Jiro’s Dream of Sushi”, an artistic narrative of a sushi master’s life. The first time I watched it, I only felt the passion, love and pride of Mr. Jiro for his profession. During the second watch, I also ended up with the lessons of an essentialist. (How he was able to charge over $300 for a sushi meal in a 10-seat restaurant located next to the subway of Tokyo). Each time brought me different assumptions and perspectives.
Also, I realize if I only take notes when I decide to write something, I tend to reach a creative block. On the other hand, if I take notes everywhere, after I’ve watched a movie, exercise, talk to someone, listen to a podcast, I’m booming with ideas to write. And very so often, these notes come to rescue when I lack the mental power to produce.
This fuels my desire to create evergreen notes. During the day, I can take quick notes on what’s happening around me. In my free time, I can turn somes of these notes into long-lasting pieces to keep, repurpose and improve over time. It will take twice as long, but I'm saving for something bigger.
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