Hacker News Reader

Comment by diego | Hacker News Reader

Never once in my life I thought "I wish I had taken notes when I met person X." I naturally remember something worth remembering to me, and never once I found out that there was something important that was said and I was worse off for not having written it down. Is it just me?

View on HN

Memory capability and behavior is variable. I can remember and keep in mind vast swaths of code, but I am capable of forgetting someone’s name in seconds.

I have to meet with new groups of people on a regular basis and am likewise horrible with names. My notes in meetings consist of first names written down as a map of where people were sitting. If I miss a name, I leave an empty spot. It has helped me with remembering names. I often never refer to it again.

I literally have to keep a text file on my phone with peoples names. I have exceptional visual and spacial memory, but names just slip through like sand through a sieve.

With the text file, I just have to recall on roughly which line the name was and I am able to recall it. I have no idea why or how this works, but it does. I did try to keep a "Mental" list, but that just does not work, I need to type it in or write it on a piece of paper for it work.

Probably not in a business setting. But often I wish I'd taken better notes during doctor visits.

Situations I wish I had taken better notes (both before and after):

- Doctor visits

- Lawyer visits

- Pre-purchase home inspections

- Financial advisor meetings

If you don't have the possibility of taking notes and it is important pop up a recorder on your phone and use it. When you get the chance get over the recording and take notes this time. You will know what you want to write down in retrospective. You can skip through the parts that are not important.

To add to that, having a notes app on my phone where I can, in advance of one of these consequential (but infrequent) meetings, accumulate my concerns and questions ahead of time is a lifesaver.

Given that my brain is very happy to erase itself while in conversation, I've found pre-notes to be an important tool in making sure that I come out of those (expensive) conversations with all of my questions answered.

I forgot things other people said and regretted not being able to recall. Either you have great memory or even worst so that you don't even recall that something was said.

The easiest example are requirements gatherings. Tons of things are said and they become blurry after a while.

Must be nice. Personally, if I don't write it down I will probably forget about it. Perhaps I will even forget that there was something worth writing down...

I have been big on journaling for my entire life, though.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com