How do you remember everything you need to remember?
Writing it down, pen to paper will help you remember.
Just now I wrote, “Note to self – drinking carbonated mineral water makes me feel bad. Just drink regular water and almond milk. Sheesh!”
I’ve been going through some health issues and trying to figure out why I haven’t been feeling my best lately, so I’ve really been paying attention to what effects food is having on how I feel. Hence the note.
In a few days or weeks, I will have forgotten that the carbonated water makes me feel bad and I’ll have another, and then feel bad all over again. Note to self – give away the cans of carbonated water in the fridge so you don’t drink them again!
Are you writing down your “notes to self”? The things you need to remember to do while you’re in the middle of processing a transaction and suddenly remember that you need to send a postcard to the printer? Or when your phone is ringing back to back and each person needs you to do something? Are you writing that down?
Why Pen to Paper and Not an Electronic Note?
There’s science that backs up putting notes in your own handwriting. There’s a connection between moving the pen across the paper with your hand and the brain storing that information. There is no connection with tapping the keys on the keyboard.
My husband bought me a fountain pen for Christmas one year and I LOVE IT! Ever since I got the pen I have been doing more journaling than ever before. Funny thing is, I actually adore my own cursive handwriting. That aside, there are reviews for fountain pens that say if you want to improve your cursive handwriting, then a fountain pen will naturally help you do that.
I pity the kids these days who are not being taught the art that is cursive handwriting. I hope the art teachers take a stand and teach it as part of their curriculum. It’s so incredible and unique to each of us. Like a fingerprint or our eye color.
Daily Review
To get the most of your note-taking, you’ll need a system for review. Perhaps that’s transcribing the notes into Evernote or a to-do app. It could be keeping separate journals like small Moleskines for the different categories of your ideas. (birthday present ideas, errands to run, grocery lists)
I keep everything in a pink spiral notebook from Staples. I write with a pink pen and put the pen inside the spiral when I’m done with the notebook. The notebook goes back and forth from my office to my home.
I take notes from any classes or events I attend. I take notes from conversations with people either on the phone or in person. Meeting notes go in there too. And just simple random thoughts.
Having everything in one place allows me to go back whenever I need to.
I’ve also gotten into the habit of putting the date on the page first and putting a box around the date. This lets me remember when I wrote down my notes.
The simple fact that you can go back over your notes (especially from a conversation) can be super helpful. My lead agent walked into my office and told me that our seller wanted to list his house for $425,000. I didn’t write that down. Instead, I drew up the entire contract in DotLoop, sent it over to the seller, and got a message back asking me to change the price to $425,000 since I had written in $420,000.
It just pays to write stuff down.
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