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Taking Good Notes

I have Sticky notes all over my office.  I have slips of paper scattered everywhere.  I have notepads filled with scratched out notes.  All this helps keep me on track, but is often not the most enlightened way of making notations of things that I need to do.  It also does not record what I need recorded in a very organized manner.

I need to get better at this.  Any ideas from  you would be helpful.   What are you doing to keep track of the random things that come across your desk every day.

Here is what I have learned.Keep good notes.  I fail at doing this allthe time, but I am try to change my ways.

Here are the things that I try to include in every little not I jot down…

Rule #1 – Don’t assume you will remember anything.  The minute I get done writing a note, I shift gears to another subject or get interrupted.  Write it all down.

Name – write down the persons name that the note is about.

Reason – write down the reason for the note.  Do you have to do something or deliver something?  Do you have to make a call or send an email.  Write down the next step you have to do.

Date and time – make a note of the date.  If the slip of paper gets shuffled around you may forget when you wrote it.

Phone Number – if you have to call someone – include the number.  When you return to the note, you will have it handy.

Group – Make some kind of note as to what group this note pertains to.  If you have several areas of responsibility, this might help jog your memory when you get back to the note.

Do you have any ideas about what is needed to keep a good note?  Leave a comment.

1 Comment (Open | Close)

1 Comment To "Taking Good Notes"

#1 Comment By Steven Fletcher On January 28, 2009 @ 9:55 AM

Like you, I typically write stuff down on a pad of paper that I keep near my desk. I have also been getting into the habit of just entering notes and reminders into my outlook calendar. I’ll just place them randomly throughout the week. This way they pop up and remind me to either call someone back or fix a pending issue, etc… I’ve seen other employees throughout the company use a post-it notes program that resides on their desktop. I’ve never used it, so I am unsure of how effective it is but it’s an idea.

I’d also be interested to hear what others do?