beck qing

📝 note systems

Current setup as of January 2023 —

Digital:
Analog:
  • sticky notes for lab tasks and data that are stored in a notebook
  • dedicated notebook to reflect on therapy sessions
  • dedicated notebooks for high-information-density events, like classes and conferences

I need some tool to manage daily to-do's and to keep them in line with my goals. I have personal goals as well as professional ones.

I don't want my note systems to feel like chores. Once it feels like a chore or refined art, I no longer want to do it, whether due to pressure from obligation or from perfectionism.

ANALOG

Since I will not equip my phone with company security features and invites are not meant to be forwarded to personal accounts, there is some inevitable separation between professional and personal spheres, at least digitally.

A physical notebook could bridge the gap between these spheres, or it could enforce the divide. I am currently leaning towards keeping a professional-only notebook. I have bought spiral bound notebooks, which lay flat, to enable easier lab record keeping, which could possibly extend to other aspects of my work, but likely no further if I have any intention of sharing.

My current notebook, which was started when I was hired, is a mix of personal reflection within the professional sphere, private but business-related information, and notes from work, organized but incomplete in areas, with a few systems being tested.

Of those, I enjoy seeing a week at a time. Week spreads help me focus my work and coordinate wetlab protocols. I do need a better task migration and assignment system though, as I find that I don't readily remember to checking the past in order to structure the present.

I don't relish the idea of different sections / collections. However, this could be the path to more regular sections, so that the week generally looks the same and requires the same amount of space, no matter how much data is generated that week. It would also allow for a separation of what is personal and what could be shared. Keeping a separate notebook means that it can be handed off with little personal loss.

Corporate social gatherings can lead to insights about the company and department's history and culture, which can be relevant to one's work. External conferences provide even more context and I find that I struggle with not being able to readily duplicate information to host in two notebooks —or that I have not yet made a system for referencing other notebooks. The personal and professional are so interwoven that it can be hard to design a system that treats them as separate.

I have found that I benefit from taking notes on the people I meet. I've looked into personal CRMs for this, but have not yet managed to make a habit, nor divorce it from the thought of it being overly transactional and impersonal with others. Instead, my contact notes are scattered in my other notebooks and I am still looking for a solution! I’m hesitant about reinventing the wheel, but maybe it’s not a bad way to learn.

I enjoy the unobtrusiveness of a small paper notebook in a lecture, meeting, or even just in chance encounters! It’s slightly more odd than a phone in the latter case, but it wouldn’t be my only joyful oddity.

DIGITAL TOOLS

I've poked around some number of digital notekeeping tools, and none are particularly satisfying to me. The best I have gotten is honestly the native Samsung Notes app, which integrates well with the S pen. Being able to take the pen out of the locked phone and jot something down or draw a diagram has been priceless. For reminders and events, I use TickTick and Google Calendar.

handwriting

I've looked into other digital note apps, but I haven't found any I love — handwriting / stylus integration is important to me, which narrows down the field significantly when I am searching for a chosen, singular app.

I want to love OneNote, given the range of what can be included in a page and where, but I have found that it takes too long to load and I perpetually have problems syncing it, whether with a business or personal account. I still occasionally use it for recording melodies that are atranged in 2D space, but I find it overall no better than Samsung Notes on most fronts.

I have tried Nebo also, but it hasn't stuck for me, despite the great features. The handwriting conversion is impressive, and I enjoy the tool selection and written commands (e.g. strike-through to erase, vertical bar for new line), but somehow having to make the distinction between text and drawings within the structure of the page and not just the tool I'm using is enough friction to dissuade me from using the app regularly. Additionally, not being able to pinch to zoom makes it feel even less aligned with my default behaviors.

I had trouble with Squid, Bamboo Paper, and other note taking apps — they didn't feel as intuitive as OneNote or Samsung Notes.

At a certain point, if I need more drawing tools than are available in the Notes app, I will switch to my primary drawing app, Infinite Painter, which is overkill in many situations, but familiar and easy for me to use. (Key features that are absent in note taking apps: layers and blend modes, fast tool and color switching.)

non-handwriting

Of the the digital project management tools that do not support handwriting, I have used TickTick, Todoist, Notion, and Trello. I can appreciate aspects of all of those, but TickTick is the only one I use regularly. I occasionally use Notion and Trello for shared task boards and ongoing but infrequently tackled projects.

In January 2023, I switched from Todoist to TickTick because on the latter, if you complete a daily recurring task late (e.g. after midnight), it will create the next instance of that task still that day, which is ideal if the goal is just brush your teeth before bed and you end up going to bed at 1am one night and 10pm another. There are also Habits you can track and retroactively edit to make this easier.

Aside from that, I use Google Calendar for events. At one time, I synced it with Todoist, but found that that wasn't how I actually planned my day or used a calendar.

THE GOAL

Writing out a daily sticky note with hours and tasks is satisfying, and it definitely increases my productivity. However, productivity is certainly not the only thing I want to optimize for, and I'm not interested in the transactional thinking associated with tracking all hours of my day.

My note systems are designed to maximize my personal satisfaction and minimize resistance, in hopes of encouraging consistency. I am not trying to be the most "productive" person I can be. I am trying to remember to do what I find important.