Ask HN: How do you record your thoughts? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: How do you record your thoughts?

44 pointsDavidSJ79 comments

Wherever you are, if you have a thought you want to record, how do you do it? What if it includes illustrations as well as text? What devices are ideal for this? Is dictation software good?

Some of my own ideas as far as devices:

* Pencil and paper - Pros: Lightweight, flexible. Supports illustrations and complex layouts. Cons: Hard to edit or search retrospectively. Low bandwidth text entry. Requires space to store. Easier to lose/damage than well-backed-up digital content.

* Laptop (e.g. MacBook Air, MacBookPro, or EeePC) - Pros: Fast text entry. Searchable and editable content. Cons: Unpleasant to carry around everywhere. Illustrations and complex layouts are awkward.

* Tablet - Pros: Fast text entry. Supports illustrations and complex layouts. Searchable and editable content. Cons: Unpleasant to carry around everywhere. No Mac tablets.

* iPhone (or G-1, etc.) - Pros: I've always got it with me anyways. Content in searchable and editable form. Cons: Low bandwidth text entry. Very small display area. Illustrations and complex layouts are awkward.

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I find myself needing short term storage for ideas ("What should I try to do today?" "What needs to go in this class?") and long term storage for ideas ("Why does the screenshot on the home page link to an image which you have to close to continue interacting with the site instead of linking into to a conversion funnel?").

Short term ideas go in cheap little $1.50 notebooks. I hang on to them because I'm a packrat but I don't ever actively search in them. (I actually tried to prevent a coffee ring on my table the other day with a notebook, and realized that it had the feature list for BCC 1.0 in it.)

Long term ideas go into searchable storage because if you can't find them you might as well not have had them. My blog works fine for my business, since I don't believe in competitively sensitive information and because explaining to 3rd parties sharpens my thinking frequently. At my day job, where they will not let me just stuff my work product on the public Internet, we use wikis. If you haven't done this before, try it for a few weeks, it will revolutionize the way you work. ("How do we set up the test server environment?" "Ask Bob." "Bob quit last year." "Awww shucks." -> "How do we set up the test server environment?" "Did you search the Wiki?" "Oh yeah. But it doesn't mention what version of the DB to use." "Well, when you find it out, Wiki it.")

To add to this, try a convention I read about--possibly here: only answer questions with wiki posts.

I have a text file on my desktop where I keep ideas.

When I come up with some off-the-wall idea, usually x264-development-related, I throw it into the text file; it rarely takes more than a dozen words. I'm not writing it for someone else, I'm writing it for myself--all I need is enough so that I remember what I was thinking when I have time to try the idea later.

I'll often do this when developing normally as well; I'm working on X, and my thought process with X produces some idea that applies to Y, so I throw it into the list and try it later rather than breaking my concentration on X.

I've been throwing my thoughts into text files as well. I just hate scrolling through a long text file to find something. Gotta figure something out...

Also, I use the webcam of my laptop to make snapshots of paper notes I've written (the paper notes then can be disposed).

I use Code Browser: http://code-browser.sf.net It folds text so it is similar to having a mind map or personal wiki. But it is still a text editor, which I like and feel most at home in. I wrote an article about it: http://www.chrylers.com/agile-knowledge-management

But what if some new idea hits you while not sitting in front of the desktop?

I use a laptop, not a desktop, and it's always with me (almost).

sms to 'self'.

I use Evernote. It OCRs text out of photos I take on my iPhone. I try to take a photo of anything which gave me an idea, and usually looking at the note is enough to trigger the idea again. That text is searchable.

I take pictures of whiteboards whenever I've been doing design. It can't OCR my handwriting well, so I usually use the iPhone's text entry to tag it with a few words before I save the note.

I agree with Evernote, it is awesome in so many ways. Moreso for retrieving stuff you read 12 months ago. I rarely add my own notes, but you can do that.

But as good as it is, it could be so much better, its search engine is really quite bad, not to mention the UI. But its by far the best thing I've found, I love it.

The best way to record your thoughts and ideas and commit them to memory is to explain them to another person. Try it as often as the nature of your thoughts permits; it's really effective.

I agree. Most people don't care about my drivel so I talk to EverNote's "voice notes" on my iPhone, then review what I was going on about on the desktop version later.

Everyday meeting notes: low-cost A4 pad. This is my short-term memory - I rarely look more than 2 weeks back.

Strategy/product thinking: A5(?) Moleskine notebook. This is my long-term memory. It takes longer to fill and I love looking back on it.

To-do list: single sheet of A4 with 'job' and 'next action' pairs. I re-write this every few days.

Notepad and a huge list. which i decided to turn into a web based todolist manager http://totdo.com ,but I'm still transitioning to it.

I have a directory called "ideas" full of text files, one per idea - typically a programming project or blog post. I use the simplest outline format imaginable: broken english sentences indented with tabs.. no concern for punctuation or grammer.

Ideas typically evolve in my head faster than I can outline them, so I try to get points written as quickly as possible. I make each point atomic, breaking compound points into sub-trees. I try not to edit myself, but I will restructure the outline as I go because that seems to feed back into the creative process and help the idea take shape.

Lately, I've been holding back this process because I already have more ideas than I will ever have time to realize and I could easily spend all my available time coming up with more :(

The key to effective brainstorming is to minimize obstruction and distraction. Recording your ideas should be effortless and impartial. The ideal system will be different for each person, but when in doubt, start simple and complicate only as needed.

I usually email myself notes with some keywords attached. Since I use gmail, it's easy to search for them later.

Good for long term storage and where you might not know where or when the thoughts are needed. There are security issues for sensitive data.

I record quick thoughts with pen and paper on a small pad I carry with me everywhere.

For more intensive work I use mindmapping. Either on whiteboard, or using http://thoughtmuse.com (disclaimer: I'm the founder of ThoughtMuse)

I have a 1 inch binder with three dividers. There is plain paper, lined paper and graph paper with a final section with spare paper for each sections. I have 3 regular folders in there and a pouch containing a 6 inch triangle and typically a 0.5 mm mechanical pencil, occasionally 0.7mm but almost always one of these http://www.amazon.com/Pentel-P1035C-Mechanical-Pencil-Metall... . That takes care of most general ideas and architecture diagrams and mockups and such. Tasks go into bugzilla and text/source goes into files in git. I don't find anything but pencil and paper fast enough for certain things, including tablets.

Drawing. I draw them and try to make them beautiful, not just throwaway squiggles. My thoughts come fast and translating them into words is like having to edit a paper at the same time as the idea is taking influence over my mind.

One day, a ladybug went to a caterpillar and said to him, "You have so many legs! How do you decide which leg goes in front of the other when you walk?"

He thought about it for a moment and told her, "Well it's easy, you just put this one in front of this one in front of this one in front of this one......." and while proudly demonstrating his abilities to her, he toppled over like a dumb ass!

Another alternative is I'll use my BlackBerry's voice notes to rattle something off and save it to make sense of later. :)

If I'm in front of a computer I dump everything into OmniFocus http://www.omnigroup.com/applications/omnifocus/. It will sync across multiple machines so my notes are always up to date on all the different machines.

Voodoo Pad http://www.flyingmeat.com/voodoopad/ is also good for longer writing pieces - it's like a personal wiki system. It also syncs across machine.

Oh, and I always carry a little Moleskine http://www.moleskine.com/

Still forget some things though :-)

I also use omnifocus on all my computers and a big moleskine to doodle and dump lists. I got a HTC Magic last week so I'm making a omnifocus version for android (web based so can be used with other phones)

Are Moleskines really worth the cost compared to Mead? If so, why?

in a word, yes.

I carry around this Moleskine pretty much everywhere I go: http://www.moleskine.com/catalogue/classic/cahier/cardboard_...

They costs about $8 for a set of three which last me 2-3 years usually. The thing I like about this Moleskine is it easily bends to the shape of my leg in my front pocket so I don't even notice that I am carrying it.

Now, when I'm at the computer I use Noopsi http://noopsi.com (I'm the main developer) which I created primarily to scratch my own itch of having an easy to add/edit/search/share database of my thoughts and ideas.

Plenty of people seem to swear by them.

But here's the thing - it's not so much the cost (in absolute sums, it's not that large). It's whether you use it. You obviously sweat over costs; perhaps this sweating can be a cudgel to force you to write down whatever. The more a moleskine isn't worth buying, the more you will find yourself compelled to use it. Then wouldn't you be better off in the end?

Actually, then I'd be making the sunk cost fallacy -- thinking something deserves more investment simply because I already spent more on it.

In any event, I'm not sweating over costs. If it really is worth $11 more per pad, then I'm fine with that. I just don't want to pay for a hip brand for no reason.

> Actually, then I'd be making the sunk cost fallacy -- thinking something deserves more investment simply because I already spent more on it.

Yes, you would. But as I said, if that motivates you to actually use it, then it's a net gain.

Not familiar with Mead. It's subjective - the thing is worth whatever value you put on it. If it suits you better than the others it's worth it I suppose. But in the end it's just paper. Try different things until you find something that works for you.

I've found that it's really useful for me to write down my thoughts. In the past I assumed that I would remember any worthwhile ideas, but I've found that's not the case at all.

When I'm not at my computer, I use iPhone Notes (about to switch to Simplenote) for short notes and a small notebook if possible when I want to do serious brainstorming. When I'm at my computer I usually use a personal MoinMoin wiki (MoinX). For todo lists I use Things on my iPhone and laptop.

I get a lot of ideas when I'm in the car or otherwise don't have a piece of paper handy, and unfortunately they slip away too easily. I haven't gotten one yet but, I'm thinking that a Sansa Clip with voice recording (~$40, different models) on my keychain might work (hmm, might need a lanyard). Many times I've wished I had one. You'd get the 'talk it out aloud' advantage, a record, and the indispensable ease, even easier than typing.

Protip: the less you think about this the better. Bics and napkins, your editor, whatever.

I second this. Consistency is key, however, since if you don't have the ability to retrieve old notes, the endeavor is fruitless.

Emacs, org-mode; and my org-file is in version control.

Great question, thanks for asking. Once can differentiate between having sparks, thoughts, ideas and completed works.

When I was writing a blog, I built up insights and mental pictures in my mind until they became too intense to hold with integrity without written expression and publication (in the lead up, little notes may be jotted down in a text file). After publication the intelligence could integrated from the sub-conscious but without the emotion and I'd then delete the text file: from informal to formal. If one looks at ideas and thoughts as transformative, then recording and developing takes an enhanced meaning as such. Of course recording something may be as simple as some arbitrary account information without any of this framework.

The issue I was thinking was: How do you think your thoughts? If you lie in bed awake at night, are you thinking a stream of words? I used to think in words, but find my mind has changed.

I usually have an imaginary conversation with an imaginary person, like I'm explaining the ideas to them. The problem is, there's no permanence to that, and even if I record it, I don't want to listen back to my spoken words at the same speed it took to say them.

This is one reason I'm strongly considering dictation software.

At some point you might want to remember the pool of thoughts just experienced and summarize in point form.

You mean the thoughts I experienced while writing that comment?

The imaginary conversation, whilst in it, remember the interesting parts. At the end of it, jot those interesting parts down.

Depends on the season. When it's time for loose jeans, I carry around a Moleskine. I only ever write, not draw/doodle, but actually putting pen[cil] to paper makes me more likely to sit down and brainstorm out a few other ideas while I've got it out. It's also helpful in that, when you later store the thought somewhere more permanent, you have the opportunity to reinterpret and rephrase it to fit with any additions or updates you pondered to it since.

When I have fewer pockets, I make do with my iPhone. Though most of my thoughts are ideas, not plans, I find [the iPhone app] Things to be quite helpful in getting them down and sorted away, even without a correspondent Mac.

I use Quotepad on my PC

http://quotepad.info/

It's a rebranding of Notesholder Lite

screenshot:

http://notes.aklabs.com/images/notesholder-desktop-sticky-no...

I always carry a small Rhodia notebook in my back pocket. They have very sturdy covers and won't come apart or get torn up. Everything goes into it: todos, ideas, notes about things I've just seen, heard, or read. I also like to keep some of those post-it bookmarks and some stamps stuck in the back against the cardboard backing. When I come home everything gets dumped where it needs to go, like my daily todo list, address book, or whatever.

I also keep a few text files going with books to read, movies to watch, and sights and attractions I'd like to visit.

I should add that these notebooks are much cheaper than moleskines :)

When I'm away from a computer, I stick to loose paper products. For lecture notes, this means US Letter copy paper. For scribble notes, this means 3x5 notecards. I'm looking to get a sheet-feed scanner to digitize all of this eventually.

When I'm at my computer, I use a mixture of OneNote and Emacs org-mode. I have a Tablet PC, and I make a point of abusing OneNote for handwriting recognition.

When I have a note or set of notes reasonably finalized in OneNote, it's just a matter of copying the recognized text into an Emacs buffer and making a mark on the note in OneNote saying that I'm now tracking it in org-mode.

I use A4 paper sheets I got from photocopier shop that they give me for free( bad photocopies, half pages clear). They are great for trying different things.

Very important: I use good quality, fine tip, Universal highlighters. COLORS ARE ESENTIAL. And of course mindmaps.

I use a voice grabber with software for transcription, but I don't like how it works.

I have a cheap canon camera for taking photos I save.

On computer:I have done my own software(not public released yet) for it. I use Ubuntu, and don't like what currently exist today, so I made my own tablet-friendly or headphone friendly tools.

Most of the times, I use the voice recorder on my mobile phone. Vocally expressing a thought is much easier and unconfined. Writing stuff down often results in me forgetting things in between.

I have a fairly large paper notebook in my bag which is great for sketching interface mockups and taking related notes.

When I'm at a computer I use a password protected server-side tiddlywiki (pytw). But that's mostly a place to get stuff out of my head and out of my INBOX (think GTD). I don't think these ideas are particularly good or valuable, and rarely need to search through them. Having it accessible from anywhere over the internet is useful, though I mostly use it from work and home.

I tried lots of things and nothing beats the pencil and paper method. Notes on the concepts or high-level ideas go into a notebook, notes and sketches for an ongoing stuff such as UI designs, ToDo lists, random thoughts on current project - on separate sheets of paper. Latter are not meant for keeping beyond several weeks, and so they are shredded periodically.

(edit) Vectorized UI sketches are kept of course in the graphics editor files, backed up, replicated and what not.

A mixture of several topic-specific Moleskines, some A4 pads, post-its, blog, diary and word processing or calendar software. If it's a thought that's linked to something else, or a date, I often (in true GTD style) associate it with that date or object. Most of the time it's my "work", "home" or "daily" moleskine that gets the brunt though. And although they're not searchable, it's so much fun flipping back through them...

I use Gmail.

I set up a second account which forwards to the first and gets sorted into it's own inbox using Gmail's multi-inbox feature.

This way, I simply email myself anytime I want to remember something for later.

there are a number of reasons this works well:

-Email is a common interface and I'll see it daily so stuff stays in the front of my mind.

-Can be added to/updated from any number of devices including my phone, ipod, computer

-Searchable and chronological.

-Updated/new information can be added by replying to the original thread.

I have been in search of a solution to this problem for many years. (The quest is chronicled in this blog entry: http://www.loper-os.org/?p=8)

Until my own system is complete, I will continue using a standard "moleskin" notebook (expensive, but I fill it up very slowly and I doubt that a cheap one would stand up to several years of sharing a pocket with a set of keys.)

I have a personal stenographer.

I try to think less! (Or, more specifically, focus my thoughts completely on supporting the actions at hand).

I also have tended to jot stuff down on scraps of paper, and then collect those scraps into folders on different subjects, but I've realized that I rarely go back and look at them.

To quote Rudyard Kipling's poem If: "If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim"

The purpose of writing is about 90% to clarify what you're thinking, and only about 10% to read again later.

With a thoughtrecorder. I mean, that's what they were invented for right ?

/jk Exercise for the reader : What would a thought recorder be like ?

Way too many single papers, cut off parts from other papers, backsides of papers, old envelopes and so on. I cannot think as creative when I am in front of a computer, I tend to think more logically and concentrated. For me thoughts need creative freedom and that comes best when I am doing things in the house.

I prefer the pencil and paper route. I have a notebook in which I scribble my thoughts. It's a pain to search for something, but then there's the added advantage of finding something totally unexpected scribbled in there when you're searching for something else.

I use CintaNotes (http://cintanotes.com). It's really well suited for quick saving and finding little bits of information. Hot keys are highly configurable too, so that you can use Win key for example.

Google notebook is pretty good and i mostly use that. autosave, search, tagging. They don't develop it anymore apparently but it's still usable. http://www.google.com/notebook

I used to use google notepad. But since google doesn't support it any more, I thought, it's a good idea to switch. I started using evernote after that. They make it very easy to import your existing entries from google notepad too.

Pocketmod - http://www.pocketmod.com

In my phone which is not expensive & feature rich like an iPhone or G1. I key in stuff with T9 in to an sms & save it :)

On sticky notes which comes with Ubuntu.

On sides of lecture notes :)

I keep a to-do list broken down by project plus misc things like blog, aims etc. It's lightweight and online so it's easy to access from 3 of the 4 options above. I just add the thought as a task and come back to it when I'm ready.

When I'm within reach of my Emacs, I use org-remember to create an idea entry. Otherwise, I usually carry enough calendar sheets on whose backsides I can keep ideas fresh until I can enter them into a computer.

I have tried using Lion Kimbro's method. It was very interesting but too intense for people wanting to be efficient.

http://www.speakeasy.org/~lion/nb/

Legal pads- for working through something complex, I just divide the issue out among multiple pages and build up to a solution page that ties it all together.

Assuming I can't get to my blog - which is my preferred method, as it forces me to be clear and concise - I scribble with pencil and paper.

With an Ono-Sendai.

I create text files and use EditPlus for writing. I then place the text files in a folder and name each file appropriately.

I usually record my thoughts by writing an email to a friend. We each do this for each other: serve as an audience.

I draw a "mindmap". It's a simple, star-like diagram, with lots of drawings. Try it out, it's worth it.

I am sending my ideas to my own email... My inbox got a bit messy lately....

iPod touch for writing things down on the go, but text files or drawings on my laptop when I'm using it. Everything gets synced back from my iPod, so I always have my ideas in a searchable form on my laptop.

I use jdarkroom on ubuntu/writeroom on mac.

I blog them. Seriously. Blogging is about explaining my ideas to whoever wants to read them, and thus it forces me to be clear and precise. It allows me to find flaws in my own reasoning.

I blog for myself: when I re-read my old posts, I feel like a stranger to them. It's hard to load the old ideas to my brain, so to say, but the fact that I wrote them in a way that would be clear to someone else allows me to understand them. If I didn't blog my thoughts, I would instead write a quick and dirty note on paper, and 2 years later when I found it again, I would have no clue what my original thoughts were...

Voted up for pragmatic clarity and a sense of affinity for your approach!

Those are some mighty big words.

I think we have ourselves a READER.

I use my iPod Touch's Notes app to jot down things I need to do, buy or remember. It's cumbersome, but since it's the device I carry around, it's the obvious choice.

I also do that for to-dos and reminders. But what about longer, more structured, narrative thoughts? Paragraphs and mini-essays, in other words.

iPhone OS 3.0 has a Voice Recorder built in that works pretty well. I've recorded 10 minute blog posts by just casually talking into the mike.

I like Wikidpad. http://wikidpad.sourceforge.net/

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