BY CHRISTOFF OOSTHUYSEN

How many hours do you loose a day looking for notes you scribbled down or documents you kept for future reference? Now add these up, and soon you have an extra week to invest in yourself, your family or a new project – not to speak of the improved results in your productivity!

If you have not made the shift to electronic note taking, you have no excuse any more, as you probably have a device on you for most of the day, ready to capture and organise key information pieces to be ready to use later!

But with a vast array of apps and methods available, it can be overwhelming to know where to begin. This quick guide will equip you with practical tips on capturing and recalling information electronically, using the proven Getting Things Done (GTD) framework and referring to the most popular electronic note-taking tools to help you find the perfect fit.

Start with easy capturing

The first step in mastering digital note taking is effective capture. Here’s how to seamlessly transition your ideas and important pieces of information to a digital format:

Always have a capture tool: Whether it’s a note-taking app on your phone, a voice recorder, or an automated scanning app, always have a readily accessible tool to capture ideas and record information.
Embrace voice notes: Speaking your thoughts is often faster and more natural than typing. Utilize voice recordings for brainstorming sessions, interviews, or capturing sudden inspirations.
Learn keyboard shortcuts: Master keyboard shortcuts for common actions like creating new notes, capturing images, and adding tags. This drastically improves your note-taking and data capturing speed, especially when capturing information in real-time situations.
Leverage OCR (Optical Character Recognition): If you find yourself needing to take notes from physical documents, many apps offer OCR features that convert scanned pages into editable text. This saves you the time and effort of manual transcription.

Mastering recall when information is needed

Once you’ve amassed a digital collection of notes and documents, the true challenge lies in recalling that information efficiently. Here’s where the Getting Things Done (GTD) framework comes in – a system designed to streamline workflow by capturing all your mental “to-dos” and key pieces of information, to organise them to demand your attention at the required time and place – and to prevent you second-guessing your brain’s ability to remember.

The GTD system arose from the work of David Allen, a productivity consultant who created this approach to capture all your tasks and projects outside your mind, freeing you from mental clutter and allowing you to focus on getting what you are busy with.

The GTD approach consists of the following:

Capture: This aligns with the capture tips mentioned above. Gather all your ideas, tasks, and information in a trusted system such as an app used on your phone and laptop.
Clarify: Go through your captured notes and define what each piece of information represents. Is it a task you need to complete? A reference you might need someday? By quickly categorise each note you know how to treat it.
Organise: Utilise tags and checklists within your note-taking app to organise your clarified notes. GTD suggests having separate lists for “next actions,” projects that are ongoing, items you are waiting for information, and “someday” items.
Review: Schedule regular reviews (weekly is the best) to revisit your lists. This ensures tasks don’t get lost and allows you to prioritise and move things forward.
Engage: With your organised notes and clear action steps, focus on the tasks at hand, engaging in action-oriented work. By knowing your system will not forget, you can enjoy the beaty of finding flow in your work.

The main benefit of following this approach is that you can offload your mental work on remembering to-dos and information to a system, freeing up mental energy for focused work. By clarifying and organising your notes and information, GTD helps you identify next steps and prioritise your tasks, making your workflow more efficient. And nnowing exactly where to find relevant information in your system makes it easier to recall details when needed.

With the foundation of capture and the GTD framework understood, you may explore some of the most popular electronic tools to use such as Evernote, Notion or Notably. However, the world of electronic note taking is constantly evolving, with a wave of new apps leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the user experience.

Here’s a glimpse into some recent developments:

NotesLM: While not yet available outside the USA (except if you connect through a VPN), NotesLM represents a potential future for note taking. This app utilises AI to automatically summarise a collection of documents, transcribe audio recordings, and even generate action items based on your notes. Such features revolutionises the way we capture and utilise information.
Notion AI Assist: This feature within the popular Notion app utilises AI to suggest relevant templates, content blocks, and even connections between different notes. This streamlines note creation and helps you build upon existing information.
Supernotes: Apps like Supernotes are pushing the boundaries of mobile note taking by integrating handwriting recognition with AI. This allows you to write notes naturally with a stylus, and the app converts them into editable text, making them easily searchable and organisable.

While AI-powered note taking is still in its nascent stages, these advancements offer a glimpse into a future where technology seamlessly assists us in capturing and managing information.

By following the GTD approach and exploring the available tools, you can unlock the power of electronic note taking and become a master of your digital mind. Remember, the most important aspect is to find a system that works for you and helps you capture, organise, and utilise information effectively.