Actually, the Rapid Solving book is a pretty good one. I just graduated with my M.A. in Critical & Creative Thinking at UMass Boston and it was a technique that was used in several classes on multiple projects. The professors really latched onto it. It’s a very handy way of brainstorming and organizing ideas.

Another tip: Post it notes are also excellent if you are scheduling an event of some kind and have multiple sessions/speakers going on.

Use a white board or big post-it sheets on the wall to mark out the calendar structure (day or week). Then use regular size post-its to mark out each session or speaker. Place them on the calendar so you can easily see and re-order as needed. This allows you to see the big picture and to be able to make sure your topics/speakers won’t conflict with each other.

Right on!

My girlfriend just facilitated the scheduling of an academic year of lectures using a huge-ass piece of butcher-block paper and over 200 index cards.

It’s amazing how much easier the lo-fi route is for large, mungible, chaotic projects.

Oh, you’re going to enjoy the Rapid Problem Solving book - a few simple techniques for organizing thoughts, alone or in groups. The stuff can be done with index cards using pins or magnets, as well, which is my own preference, since post-its can really do fall off the wall pretty easily, and really can’t be used for long-term display, or ongoing changes. Project planning, storyboarding, laying out a writing material, braintstorming… lots of applications.

Personally, I am up to my eyeballs in packing to move house. I use color coded post-its for labels on boxes. One color for each room in the new place. I fold them in half and tape them to the edge(top meets front) of the box so one note is visible on both the top and front of the box. Post-its are a great way to label boxes because they can be easily removed to avoid future confusion when the box is reused.

I prefer to stick a stack of post-it notes in the back, and when I come across a section I want to take notes on I take a post-it and slap on the page. I prefer to use the really small post-its as they tend to be sufficient for a single page of a book.

I also use the orientation of the post-it for extra bits of information. If I want to mark an interesting quote, I “underline” the quote horizontally with the sticky part of the note. If I want to mark an interesting section, I align the sticky part of the post-it vertically in the margin.

This makes it pretty easy later on to find quotes that I liked, as I just have to look at pages with post-its on them, and the location+orientation of the note tells me what I found interesting.

To quote my first contribution to the wiki:

Note that Post-It adhesive leaves a residue and is also acidic. If your Moleskine is for daily use, you may not care, but if you are using it as a diary or long term sketchbook, you want to avoid the use of Post-It or similar temporary adhesive products. Reference: http://orpheus.ucsd.edu/preservation/postits.html

Obviously, for most books it doesn’t matter whatsoever. But it is worth knowing for those few books that are valuable or otherwise long term items. I use post its all the time… but I now avoid putting any on or in my collection of golden age pulp magazines and other collectables.

Here’s one if you’re a student: If while reading your textbook at home or in the library and you don’t quite understand something, write your question on a Post-It and stick it in to whatever you’ll likely to bring with you into class. When you get an answer, scrumple up the Post-It. Particularly suited to Science subjects where the answer will be ‘Because of X’, not ‘Well, how does it make you feel?’ as it would be in, say, English Lit.

I have post-its (and pens) stationed all over the house so that whenever I remember something I need to do or have an idea, I don’t have to interrupt what I’m doing to go put a note in my inbox. When I finish what I’m doing I take my post-its with me and stick them in my inbox. Works especially well in the kitchen for generating shopping lists.

I’ve got a flap on the inside of my wallet where I slap a PostIt Note any time I need to remember to call someone or to pick up items from the store on my way home. Incredibly low tech, but it works for me!

—jason

On the subject of Post-Its, Rake Magazine, a Twin Cities-based free monthly, did their cover article this month on the history, the man, and the social impact behind those little yellow notes. A really good read: http://rakemag.com/features/detail.asp?catID=61&itemID=20620