Get Everything Done

I'm in the one-book camp. (Two if you count my purse book, which is an extension of the desk book.) Most of my notes are short-term.

If a page is mostly notes, I draw a circle in the margin beside each action item (including "decide if this is an action item" and "at the break, tell Joe...") If a page is mostly tasks or planning, I draw a box around notes.

Of course, if there's a better place handy, I use it. A few projects have their own files. Calendar is obvious. If the better place isn't handy, notes go into the everything book. Since that book is also my todo list, I review it often. I do my weekly planning in the same book.

I tear the corner of each page as the action items are finished.

I carry a small book in my purse, and use in it the same way. The only difference is I don't check it every day.

The downside to this is filing. I tear out the page, or transcribe, or photo-copy, depending on what else is on the page and how neat it is, and the type of book binding. Most of the notes are short- or mid-term, so I let it sit for a few months rather than file things immediately. By that time, most of the pages can be thrown out.

I have a few tricks to make filing easier, but don't always use them in the moment.

The best method changes with job and your temperament. At school, I carried a folder for each class, and they were information-dense. I have a separate book for work, and use my purse book for home notes taken at work and vice-versa. (Often, it was "Write in book in front of me. Oops, better re-write that in the right place.")

Dad takes neat-enough notes for work all in one book, then indexes them and shelves the books by date. Extra notes either get glued into the notebook or go in a separate file. He often has to look up old notes, but rarely has to carry them around. He's a design engineer, and does much of his thinking and brainstorming in those books, in black ink. Supposedly that helps if there's a patent dispute. His daily and weekly planning, though, go on separate sheets that are tossed, as do any rough drafts.

A lawyer, on the other hand, wouldn't want to carry six months of notebooks, including notes from unrelated cases, to each meeting. Nor would she want to keep a record of her brainstorming.