Note taking answers three questions

Baldur sees note-taking as answering one of three questions:

1. How do I manage my creativity?
   • Generate ideas in a structured way through research and sketching.
   • Preserve those ideas.
   • Explore the ideas until they have gelled into a cohesive plan or solved a problem.
2. How do I manage my knowledge?
   • Extend your memory to help you keep track of useful information (client data, meeting notes, references).
   • Connect that information to your current tasks or projects so that you can find it when you need it.
3. How do I manage my understanding?
   • Break apart, reframe, and contextualise information and ideas so that they become a part of your own thought process.
   • Turn learning into something you can outline in your own words.

Examples

No single approach will satisfactorily meet all three of these questions, so note-taking tools tend to favor one. For example,

• A creative-first note-taking tool favors flexible expression over organization or recall. A blank canvas.
• A knowledge-first note-taking tool favors structured recall over flexibility. A database.
• An understanding-first note-taking tool favors atomicity and relationship over recall or flexibility. A mind map.

These categories are helpful both in categorizing the plethora of note-taking tools by their intended purpose. The questions may also serve as a guide to the right tool for a particular project.