Jotting down everything that happens at your daily meetings can boost your productivity and make your workday better. Handwritten notes are a powerful tool for creating the neurocircuitry through the hand-brain complex supporting the brain’s capacity to retrieve information. Here are a few examples of how taking notes with a pen and paper can make your life better.
1. Make a Million
How often has a million-dollar idea flashed through your brain and then it’s gone? They can come to you in the shower, at the gym at lunch and if you don’t write them down, you will forget them as soon as you enter the office or sit down at your desk. Carrying a notebook with you can change that. Just scribble your million-dollar idea down and carry on.
2. Be Better
Taking notes will help you improve the quality of your work (work and personal). Your notes are your personal external memory storage. Your notebook can be a “refresher course” on all the things you have picked up through life.
Taking notes can make you look good – to your boss. If you’re in a meeting and are seen to be writing all the key factors and ideas down, this is a subtle hint about your character. It shows you have determination, can self-motivate, and are efficient.
3. Check It Off
Notes can help you keep your To-Do list up to date. Studies have shown that as soon as you walk out of the room – your brain will automatically forget what was discussed. Writing things down can stop this from happening. So when the inevitable change comes thru you have a base to build your new day (or week).
4. Be Your Own Master
You have a plan. You need to stick to it. But it is all too easy to get sucked into a whole host of conversations, “busy” activities, and, of course, the ever-addicting world of social media. Taking notes can help you stay on track and do the things you need to do rather than put them off for “tomorrow” (or get sidetracked by the never-ending flow of emails, text messages, and phone calls).
Jotting down as and when you get more requests piling in helps you prioritize them. This allows you to focus on the activities that are really urgent, rather than those you feel are urgent. You don’t have to constantly derail your day because someone thinks their request is the most important thing you’ve heard all day. The world doesn’t work like that, and you shouldn’t either.
5. Taking Notes Reduce Stress
After a meeting (or any activity at work) your brain will be cluttered with loose ends, ideas, and just a boatload of information. This isn’t good for your stress levels – having a cluttered mind can feel unsettled. Taking notes is a sure-fire way to regain control of your thoughts.
Studies have shown that stress-free minds are more productive. Being stress-free physically increases your brain’s density in the prefrontal cortex. The prefrontal cortex is responsible for much of our conscious thought and reasoning, and the ability to focus through emotional turmoil.
Controlling stress is extra critical during the COVID pandemic lockdowns. The U.S. Institute of Mental Health says that long-term stress may lead to serious health problems, such as heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, and other illnesses, including mental disorders such as depression or anxiety.
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For note-taking – I use a pen and paper notebook. I can take it pretty much everywhere to capture those million-dollar ideas. I know that many like to take their notes on a laptop or tablet because they think it’s easier to edit and organize their notes and tasks. But research (PDF) says using a laptop or tablet may be slowing you down and cluttering your notes with irrelevant information.
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Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.