Writing notes without reading them is just letting your past self go unheard.
There’s one rule in note-taking that I impose upon myself. Less a rule, really—more of a contract. A contract between myself in the present, myself yesterday, and myself tomorrow.
Two guidelines keep it:
- Take notes daily, and store them safely in a trusted, consistent system.
- Every day, read (not do) yesterday’s notes.
My past self has weird ideas, so I don’t engage with all of them. I don’t need to do what he says, but I owe him at least an acknowledgment. I can’t always make people listen to me in real life. So I figure I owe it to myself to show up and be an audience when no one else will.
Thoughts are heavy. Spending all that time writing them down, then never sparing a moment to revisit them is just teaching yourself that your thoughts don’t matter.