telos(2/0)

Note taking answers three questions

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

Notes are a means to an end

Notes are a means to an end, or telos. The ‘end’ might be visualized by either a concrete object or a formative experience. Concrete Telos Most note-taking is for the purpose of a deliverable. A thesis perhaps, or some other concrete project. Note-taking that has no end in mind lacks a context and is in danger of what Baldur calls “an intimidating database of opaque words and alien ideas” (The Different Kinds of Notes).…