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Spontaneous Thinking

Hello: I apologize if this has been covered before, but I couldn’t figure out what search terms I needed to use. After trying several I decided just to post.

So David Allen repeatedly says that you need a system for capturing thoughts as they occur. “Your best thinking about work won’t occur while you’re at work.” However, I can’t figure out what system he recommends to capture those thoughts and put them into the larger system. Am I missing this, or what do the rest of you do?

Do you keep a notebook handy and then go back and translate that into your system at the end of the day/week? Or what?

Thanks!


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Merlin Mann's picture

I think he’s suggesting

I think he’s suggesting that you take notes through the day in whatever way is easiest for you, then toss them into a physical inbox to be processed on a daily basis or what have you.

mwr's picture

Re: Spontaneous Thinking

The technical term would be “ubiquitous capture tool”. Google it up for 1.5 million or so pages where different options are discussed, including this one from Zen Habits.

Berko's picture

Re: Spontaneous Thinking

I use a combination of paper notes (usually index cards) and Jott. I send pics of index cards and my Jott transcriptions into Backpack. From there, I clip reference material into Evernote. HTH.

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An aspiring librarian who has realized he needs to manage his own information effectively if he’s ever going to help others manage theirs effectively!

 
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