Communications... Old School... Notes and Letters

Aloha!

This may not be the right place for this post. Feel free to move it as appropriate.

While I love tech, I also love old school methods. I still take notes with pen and paper and still send letters in the mail.

Just thought I would share my note taking method. And hope you share yours so I can improve upon my method.

My preferred notebook is the Seven Seas Writer by Nanami Paper. It is an A5 size, so not to big and not too small. It's just right. It has 480 pages of fine Japanese paper. And I carry mine in a leather. sleeve.

1808FC2F-1E7D-47EB-B325-7E980F94C4E5 by Hanzo posted Feb 23, 2023 at 17:45

My notebook has about 20 blank pages in the front. I use this space as a content or index area. I do not index everything written, choosing only important notes or ideas and meetings.

The back has a few blank pages for me to list books I want to read.

F770C169-36AB-482A-95B2-217315329E4F by Hanzo posted Feb 23, 2023 at 17:45

When I take notes, I just date and write. For meetings, I always write out my agenda either in pencil or a different color ink from my meeting notes. Then I take notes in the meeting. Writing is more personal than typing notes when you are with people.

A251A647-50A1-476B-A47B-5400C78CAF87 by Hanzo posted Feb 23, 2023 at 17:45

When I am done, I switched to technology. I scan the note and add tags to the digital note to aid searching. Then I add the to do items to my task manager and/or calendar as appropriate. If I can do it in minutes, I will complete it right away.

Then, if it was a meeting, I will type out a letter summarizing what was discussed, what needs to be done and by who, and the next actions. Old school. But I find many people like that approach. If they prefer digital, then the letter will be an email instead. Either way, it is a good memo for me as well as CYA.

Been using this approach for decades. On occasion, I may may some small tweaks in my method.

What is your note taking and communication method?

 

I get laughed at for my ever present legal pad, yet in a meeting I flip back to my notes instantly while co workers search their electronic devices for theirs. When it's full, I write the date range on the front sheet with highlighter and put it in the bottom drawer of my file cabinet. I also write out important emails on the pad first to be sure what I want to convey is precise and to the point before typing it in. I always have a pad close by.
We also use a small whiteboard at the house for notes to each other, eliminates the "I forgot to tell you" from our life.
My circle of friends also have pre-determined codes and words to be written in chalk on our house steps should things get ugly.
Nothing beats writing it down!

 

Tally book is where its at men, as you get older its an invaluable source as too why the wife sent you to the store?

 

As a retired long haul driver I must have a hundred or so of those pocket notebooks in boxes along with old log books. Never know when I might need the directions to a rig site from 30-40 years ago or a log to tell me where I ,allegedly, was on Oct 21st 1974 which is determined by which Oct. 1974 log book I happen to pick up first.

 

I write notes all the time. This leads into a pet-peeve of mine about technology. I literally have about 15 passwords I have to know to do my work, it’s insane! I promise millions of man hours are completely wasted nationwide fighting this like I do. I write my login info on a sticky note right on the device now, screw it. Yeah, paper and pens.

 

Interesting topic! And, like @Meat I have so damn many passwords that it has become impossible to remember them, mainly because my passwords are very strong, consisting of a bunch of gibberish, no words. I must have close to a hundred so what I do is - well - don't even try to remember them. I have a small, encrypted USB stick (256-bit encryption) that contains all of them with their accounts and any other pertinent information. I remember one password for the stick. I keep the USB stick in the safe (two copies off site) but no one else knows that password and if someone tries an incorrect password more than 5X it then deletes the contents. This makes it very handy if I have to run and very secure. I know it's sort of low tech but it's secure and that's what is important to me.

For notes, I am old school at meetings or classes, handwritten on a steno notebook, but then transfer them to a computer (new school) usually a simple text file. I know it is not time efficient but the few minutes it takes to make a text file allows me to collect my thoughts and write them up thoroughly.

Even now, on my home computer, I have a simple text file that's titled 'NOTES' which contains things I might have read or heard that I found interesting, things I should do (Do List), things I might buy, etc... life is too damn complex to remember all the little things yet they are important too, so I write them down less I forget them due to the daily noise.

I really should move towards something like @Hanzo does with tabs and etc... much better system than mine.

 

My "tally book," @Gator 45/70 that I carry in my pocket for miscellaneous notes, shopping lists, etc.

9A93B4D4-D8B8-490F-ABD1-EE6B08318D96 by Hanzo posted Feb 24, 2023 at 13:41

 

I took notes during jury duty and was surprised that everyone didn’t. Later I found out many just wanted to go home and I suspect Google was easier for them to make a decision.

 

I really like your note taking style and it has inspired me to start adding a "table of contents" type page and page numbers. I'm also going to look up your notebook because I'm always looking for better notebooks and paper.

I also enjoy the old fashioned art of putting pen or pencil to paper. I still have penpals and sometimes I feel like I'm closer to them than the people that I communicate with on a regular basis via modern technology. I think of us as storytellers who are writing stories together.

Your post inspired me to go through all of my pictures and find evidence of my notes. I used to have a lot more, but I deleted lots of pictures. I like to color code my writing when I can and when the subject matter is boring I try to make my notes look more interesting. Professionally, I take a similar approach as you. I jot down my notes by hand then scan them digitally, add, subtract, and revise if necessary. Thank you for inspiring me to take a stroll down memory lane. It reminded me of how good my life is and how thankful I am. Even though the world is very uncertain and a little nuts right now life is still full of so much good.

Note-taking & Letterwriting by Alanaana posted Feb 24, 2023 at 17:08

 

Nice! Are you a doctor?

 

@Hanzo I was going to take that path at one point, but I became a computer nerd / business owner instead.

 

Sweet! Probably more money and less liability. My oldest daughter chose the computer nerd path. She is living the dream now.

 

I use fountain pens every day, for my journal, hobby journal, to do list and shopping list. Right now I have different colors of ink in 5 pens that I rotate through daily, using a different color each day. I'm pretty old school, I've been known to send cards and letters with wax seals too.

 

@Hanzo Yes, that's so true! I'm thankful that I took this path and your oldest daughter was smart to choose it too. Being proficient with technology and having good problem solving skills is like a passport. I have a lot more freedom than I would have if I had continued on my original path. I probably wouldn't be living in paradise.

 

@Gray Wolf That's amazing! What kind of fountain pen do you like to use? I want to start using fountain pens. I also love mixing wax for seals. Writing handwritten letters has become a lost art.

 

My daughters do the wax seals too!

 

During the lockdowns, I decided I wanted to be more in touch with the "old school" ways. One of the many things I did was get a few fountain pens, and started writing in cursive again. It really is relaxing for me. For those looking, I used The Goulet Pen Company and was very happy with the service. You can get some of the basic ones for like 20bux each and I just got a bunch of their ink samples to have a nice variety of choices.
@Gray Wolf I'd love to know where you got your wax seal stamp, that is on my list of things to get as well.

JW

 

Got a new notebook to replace my pocket carry Moleskine. Trying out a Smythson. Living My Best Life Panama Notebook in cerise | Smythson

I bought mine on eBay to avoid the $20 shipping from the UK.

9CF122BE-9958-471B-BEA8-D04C658146AD by Hanzo posted Mar 25, 2023 at 13:26

F085381F-D152-4249-AEE4-24F905EA0532 by Hanzo posted Mar 25, 2023 at 13:26

So far, I like that the leather cover is soft and supple and it has a page marker. I'll let you know how I get on with it after using it for a bit.

 

IMG_3241 by Hanzo posted Mar 28, 2023 at 18:05

It was windy, hence da finger.

 

Mostly I got mine from ebay. The variety available is amazing