Keeping a Lab Notebook [pdf] (2013)
How I take notes:
For professional life: Pen + dot grid notepad - developed independently, but similar to the bullet journal technique. Dot grid plus pens make the whole thing ultra customizable. I can sketch engineering designs, make a calendar, track action items, take detailed notes, all in the same format. The key is to be strict with page numbers, dates, and index as much as possible.<p>Things I occasionally miss - keyword search (I can still look things up by date or subject in the index), multimedia inserts (think dragging video&#x2F;photos&#x2F;sound clips into one note), never ending space (notebooks run out of pages), easy backups (thinking about digitizing with photos or scans), team collaboration (if this is necessary I use Trello).<p>Things I like - no OS&#x2F;tech stack compatibility issues, &quot;it just works&quot;, lighter then a laptop&#x2F;tablet, don&#x27;t need to charge, easy to read, can bring into a secure area (where outside electronics are not permitted), travels well, hard to damage.<p><a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;bulletjournal.com&#x2F;get-started&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;bulletjournal.com&#x2F;get-started&#x2F;</a><p>For personal life: add Google keep for simple lists, and then a mix of Trello and dot grid for larger projects (less strict formatting than professional life project management).<p>How I index using pen&#x2F;paper:<p>Every page has a number in the upper outside corner.<p>Every entry into the note book has a title + subject tag, date, and the initials of a list of people linked to that entry. For easy reading and scanning I put all of this on one line. The title and subject are dark lined (thick), followed by the date MM&#x2F;DD&#x2F;YY, and then the initials inside a ( ). Each piece of info is separated by a &quot;;&quot;. All of the info listed is underlined.<p>under the intro line, I also break down actions, notes, calendar adds, etc with 3-4 different symbols. All I all this makes it clear and easy to scan quickly as you are looking for things.<p>Each month I have 4 or 5 pages devoted to organization.<p>I have a task list. Two bulleted columns. Old tasked are migrated over from the previous month. New tasks are added as soon as they are generated. Completed tasks get an X through the bullet. Migrated tasks get an &gt;. Tasks that are linked to journal entries get a page number and a tag.<p>I have a calendar page. 1 column, all dates of the month listed . Meetings, important actions and events are are listed by day, or with arrows over multiple days. Linked by tag&#x2F;page number if applicable.<p>I have a subject index. Major tags, reoccurring subjects, get a line or two. Page numbers with those subjects are added to the index.<p>I realize this sounds complicated, but it&#x27;s not once you get into a routine. The biggest this is it&#x27;s okay to make &quot;mistakes&quot;, and to get used to not having a delete key. Change is part of the notebook. Think of it like a change log. It&#x27;s also important to be able to see what you change. Since I work in pen, I just make a single line through things I want to change.<p>Note: when I finish or complete something on a task list or the calendar, I&#x27;ll mark or change the symbol, I won&#x27;t cross something out just because I&#x27;m done with it.<p>Finally, I have a bunch of multi color pens I use. They are all the same brand&#x2F;model, but I tend to use a different color each day. That makes it obvious as you are scanning that you are on the next day. I don&#x27;t use specific colors for anything in particular, too hard to keep track of.<p>Hope this helps.<p>Reposted from an older thread @
<a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=17799232" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=17799232</a><p><i>edit - notebook choice is important. I use something like this (<a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.amazon.com&#x2F;Dotted-Bullet-Notebook-Journal-Hardcover&#x2F;dp&#x2F;B07168XGHT&#x2F;ref=psdc_490755011_t3_B08CZHWZ18" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.amazon.com&#x2F;Dotted-Bullet-Notebook-Journal-Hardco...</a>) 
</i>Not an affiliate link.
Its sturdy, you can&#x27;t pull out or add pages (which is a feature), bound and stitched, decent quality paper, dot&#x2F;grid, and normally under $15&#x2F;book.