Note-taking methods, each with a template

Walter Pauk devised it at Cornell University. Divide the page into cues on the left, notes on the right and a summary at the bottom. During the lecture you write notes; afterwards you add questions as cues and a two-line summary, then quiz yourself from the cues.

Topic:
Date:
Cues and questions:
Notes:
Summary:

Keep one thread per course, with a note per lecture, so the summaries read in order before an exam.

Main points at the left edge and details indented under them. It works when the speaker or the book is well organized, and it turns into an essay plan almost by itself.

Topic:
- Main point
  - Detail
  - Detail
- Main point
  - Detail

Use this template

Lists keep their indents in a note, and a heading can start each main part.

Tiago Forte’s method: sort everything by how soon you need it, into Projects with a finish line, Areas you look after with no end, Resources for later, and an Archive for what’s done.

Projects: things with a finish line
Areas: things you look after
Resources: things to look up later
Archive: done or paused

Use this template

In ThreadPage, make three folders, Projects, Areas and Resources, and use the built-in Archive as the fourth.

David Allen’s method: capture every open loop, decide its next action, and review the lot every week. Notes hold the thinking; the next action is one line you can do. Getting Things Done® is a registered trademark of the David Allen Company.

Inbox emptied:
Each project’s next action:
Waiting for:
Someday or maybe:

Use this template

ThreadPage has no task list or calendar. Keep next actions as checklists in notes, mark a thread Waiting when it waits on someone, and set a reminder to bring it back.

The sociologist Niklas Luhmann kept one for decades: one idea per note, written in your own words, linked to the notes it builds on. Over years the links matter more than any folder.

Idea, in one sentence:
In my words:
Source:
Builds on:

Use this template

Link notes with note references. ThreadPage shows no backlinks and no graph, so write in each note what it builds on.

Tony Stubblebine gave it its name. Between two tasks, write a line: what you just finished, what’s next and how you feel. The day becomes a log you can read back, and switching takes a breath instead of a scroll.

Just finished:
Next:
How I feel:

Use this template

Each note keeps its time, so the log is already in order.

One note a day for whatever comes up: plans, thoughts, links. It’s the easiest habit to start, because you never decide where something goes.

Today:
Done:
Notes:
Tomorrow:

Use this template

Keep them in one thread, and move anything that grows into a project into a thread of its own.

Four lines before you log off: done, in progress, blocked and tomorrow. Your future self, or your manager, reads the week in a minute.

Done today:
In progress:
Blocked on:
Tomorrow:

Use this template

Share the thread with your manager on Can view, and they read each day’s report without a meeting. Sharing needs Pro.

Quotes, facts and ideas from what you read, each with its source and why it caught you. Writers kept them for centuries; tags make them easy to find again.

Quote or idea:
Source:
Why it matters:
#tags:

Use this template

Write #tags in the note, and search finds every quote with them.