The Power Of Capturing
What I read: The 5-Bullet-Log: A Note-Taking System to Increase Self-Awareness and Learn More From Life by Silvia Bastos. Published May 6, 2019.
Today’s post won’t be long because the topic is conceptually simple. While this post references the article, it’s also about something specific I do and in that sense is a bit self-indulgent.
Anyone who knows me is aware that over the years I have tossed around various ideas and strategies for self-improvement. Among them is the power of note taking discussed in this article.
However, rather than referring to it as note taking, I instead use the concept of “capturing” to describe documenting important information and thoughts. Note taking versus capture are perhaps words in search of more than a subtle distinction, but I find the concept of capture more useful for my needs. Maybe you will too.
When I think about note taking, I recall my school days when I was busily taking notes in class as a teacher was delivering a lecture or when I was pouring over a textbook. I know we can take notes about many things, but that’s what comes to mind.
Note taking conjures a specific kind of capture for me while thinking of it as capturing generally means that whatever information or thoughts I want to remember and document, I have a way to do it.
Capturing is all-encompassing. I’ve written in the past about writing all sorts of things down to help you navigate through life well: ideas, books to read, names and contact information, useful websites, quotations you want to remember, money making ideas, tasks you want to complete, and appointments and calendared events. To name just a few.
The 5-bullet note taking concept the article describes is a great system. I’ve tried some version of it myself and it’s quite useful. But I always remind myself that these systems are just that, systems. There’s no end to the systems I can try, but it’s the underlying principles that are most important.
Most systems I’ve run across are based on the same few principles. The systems vary but the principles remain the same. It’s the principles behind the systems that are ultimately what we should focus on. That’s why I use the word capture to describe my approach. I see note taking as a subset of capturing, essentially a principle, but your mileage may vary. Use the verbiage that resonates for you.
Bastos’ 5-Bullet Log system is a great system. If it works for you, use it.
Systems often don’t conform well to the uniqueness of each individual. Systems are often solutions to a problem or need from one person’s perspective. Which is fine. Sometimes one person can create something so amazing that it’s widely adopted by the masses.
That said, the 5-Bullet-Log system errs on the side of simplicity and conciseness that elevates it higher in the echelon of productivity and note systems I’ve run across. It’s one of the better ones in my opinion.
Use whatever works for you. As the great martial artist, actor, and director, Bruce Lee, said,
Use only that which works, and take it from any place you can find it.
It does not matter what mechanism you use to capture. Paper and pen. Documents on your laptop. Index cards. Anything will work if it works for you. The tool I use is Evernote. (I don’t make any money by recommending Evernote. I probably should as often as I tout how useful and easy to use it is.)
Evernote syncs everything to all your devices plus their cloud. It’s all accessible from your phone, laptop, or the web if one of your devices isn’t handy.
I do find one of Bastos’ thoughts particularly compelling, the idea of writing (capturing) for my future self.
What could I write about today that my future self would benefit from reading?
I never thought of it quite that way before and it’s a useful question to ask myself. Now when I launch Evernote I have that question in my mind for which I will forever be grateful to Bastos. It has improved my capture efforts considerably.
Bastos also lists some specific kinds of information you can capture such as creative ideas, big wins, cues and signs (shorthand for things to help you improve), big lessons and questions, and actions and experiments (things to try out). Add these to the list of possible information elements you can capture however you decide to do so. I’m always on the lookout for new types of information or ways to brainstorm ideas that can become part of my daily process.
Writing in any form is also a great way to think. Writing as thinking on paper (or screen) is time-tested advice that’s been offered by great minds throughout history. You’ll find your thinking becomes more organized and clearer once you start writing stuff down more often.
Finally, keep it simple. If you start segmenting your capturing into too many places, you’ll lose track of it all. Here’s my system that’s not intended to be something you copy (but feel free to if you like), but to give you an idea of how I’ve simplified my process.
I keep three Evernote documents (Evernote calls them notes, go figure) active at all times:
Outline that provides some structure to my life. I capture high-level objectives and projects there to keep me on track.
Generic dumping ground for anything I want to capture quickly. I review this entire document regularly and delete, revise, annotate, or move the information to its final repository resting place.
Journaling is something I balked at doing for most of my life, but now I keep a daily journal and write something every day, even if it’s just one sentence. Here is where I think as I write, and it really helps
I move anything that needs to be retained long term to a consistent repository. Names and contact information go into my contacts. Financial transactions go into a spreadsheet. Quotations go into a quotes document. Websites go into a sites document. And so on. I also keep learning documents, each named for a topic area, and this is where I keep notes, resources, ideas, summaries, and anything that helps me learn something and reference it later.
If you have the time and can place information in its final repository location initially, do it. It eliminates one step in the process. For example, if I bump into someone and want to capture their name and phone number, I enter it directly into my phone contacts.
Lastly, make sure all this is backed up. If you ever lose your data, you’ll realize how important it is. Evernote syncs everything multiple places, but I’m so paranoid about losing data that I regularly export all my Evernote notes to a file that gets backed up along with all my other laptop files.
My laptop is backed up using three separate backup systems (I told you I was paranoid). Also, figure out how to backup your phone’s contacts and photos/videos. Most people forget to back up their phones. One hard drop on the pavement and your phone could be toast. I use a service through my cellular provider to backup my contacts and Dropbox has a great feature I use that backs up photos and video you take in real time.
Happy capturing. Until next time.