Taking Notes to Move Forward
I've taken notes all my life, and it's been almost no use to me. Until recently, because I changed my system.
First, to be clear: I've been using Obsidian for 3 or 4 years (after Apple Notes, Airtable, Notion...), and even though I love it – I'll come back to it – it isn't about the tool. It's about the process.
I used to hoard notes.
Like an obsessive with Diogenes syndrome, I was afraid of losing an idea, of letting the providential thought slip through my fingers. So I piled them up, and piled them up. And once they were in my vault, I did nothing with them.
Over time, I found technical ways to use my notes more – mostly by putting them in front of my eyes – but it wasn't enough.
What was missing? Pressure.
The most important part isn't writing a note: it's the work you do afterward to fold it into a body of knowledge you use every day. Putting pressure on a set of ideas so they fuse and form a diamond.
So now, this is how I do it:
- I write a note in a catch-all file (Inbox).
- Later, I move it into the relevant file (e.g. productivity, presence, creation, family...).
- In that file, I group related notes into large sections, each with a subheading and a summary.
- At the top of the file, I write (or maintain) an overall summary of two or three sentences that gives the essence of the subject, often in the form of a clear, concrete piece of advice.
- Rinse and repeat.
So the end goal is to produce that targeted advice, which I can apply right away and which I make sure to reread regularly. Having compiled it from several sources makes it personal and concrete.
That was one of the things I did this morning.