Evergreen Notes

Good notes should behave like memory

At its best, a good collection of notes is like a powerful extended memory. It helps us quickly answer questions like, “What did this person tell me?” “What should I remember about this topic?” “What things am I currently working on?” We think tens of thousands of thoughts every single day, and the job of a good

Write exactly one note for each idea and write as if you were writing for someone else: Use full sentences, disclose your sources, make references and try to be as precise, clear and brief as possible.

Every time you take a note, ask yourself, “How can I make this as useful as possible for my future self?” That question will lead you to annotate the words and phrases that explain why you saved a note, what you were thinking, and what exactly caught your attention. Your notes will be useless if you can’t decipher them in the future, or if they’re

Think of yourself not just as a taker of notes, but as a giver of notes—you are giving your future self the gift of knowledge that is easy to find and understand.