What are your note taking habits when you listen to a speech, sermon, presentation or similar? I find that most people fit into one of three camps. Which one describes you?
- You take a note or two, whether mental or written, but the content goes in one ear and out the other.
- You take some written notes, but rarely reference them later.
- You take written notes, identify how the content applies to you and consistently review your notes to evaluate action taken and catch any items you missed.
The problem with habits #1 and #2 is that they have a similar outcome. Hours or days later, only broad themes are remembered. Weeks later, little to nothing is remembered let alone applied.
In a relationship, sometimes you need to listen just to listen, but not when you sit in the crowd listening to a speaker. If you listen without purpose, without notes, action and review, what is the point of sitting there?
Do you have the opportunity to listen to good speakers? Do you want to grow and develop more or at a quicker pace? If so, consider some new habits the next time you are listening: Write. Act. Review. Practice a little and you will be delighted with the results!
For some tips on how to take good notes, I recommend Michael Hyatt’s post on the Recovering the Lost Art of Note Taking.
4 Comments
I definitely fall into camp #1. I need to develop the discipline to be at # 3.
I think you’ll find the post I linked to from Michael Hyatt quite helpful.
Evernote is my favorite app for capturing and organizing notes. The basic version is free, it’s supported on all the major platforms/browsers and is easy to use. @MichaelHyatt posted a nice guide recently on how to structure your notes in Evernote for maximum effectiveness. Happy note taking!
http://michaelhyatt.com/how-to-organize-evernote-for-maximum-efficiency.html
http://www.evernote.com
Pingback: Websites and apps I'm enjoying these days | It's Worth Noting | By Levi Smith