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Submitted by williamelledgepe on
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In the podcast "How to Take Notes" one of the recommendations is to use symbols for shorthand.  What notetaking symbols do you use?  

For action items I circle the initial of the person who is supposed to compete the action item (which is a little different than the MT example).  I also use a double lined arrow for "which resulted in."  The podcast lists a checkbox to mark to-do's, a cloud for deliverables, and a box for a delegation.  I use a carriage return symbol (pointing right) to demarcate a sub-point.  

I usualy list meeting attendees in the top right corner (right below the date) in order so I can see who was sitting next to whom.  I was recenly encouraged to do it around a box representing the table which adds the domension on who sits at the end of a table.  

To help wth shorthand I am looking for some more symbols.  If you have any good ones, please list them in the comments.  

katehorstman's picture
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Fun topic! I use a number of symbols that I have found to work for me.

I use a box for actions, that way I can X through them if I have completed the task. I also use a letter IN the box if it’s someone else’s task. I use a capital letter inside a circle to mark the day of the week (Thursday gets an R).

I also mark the top right corner of a page if all the deliverables on the page are complete. That way I know I don’t have to do anything else from that page and its just notes then. I circle outstanding deadlines or deadlines that are very important. I do try not to use colors or highlighter, because I like to mark things done and you cant take highlighter off the page. I also date my page notes so that I can track back through old notes. 

 

Kate

gehrhorn's picture
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I use a box for action items that are assigned to me. It gets checked when it gets done. I use a box in the bottom right corner of the page to indicate that that page is "processed" and there are no tasks, deliverable, etc. that I would need to find on that page any more.

VPfreedude's picture

I use a few different things in my notes, similar to previous posters. 

tasks I need to follow up on get circled with a cloud looking thing so I quickly see my deliverables.  A dot next to them if they are in progress and that dot turns into a check once complete. 

I also name participants to a meeting under the title of my note starting on my left and working right so I can try to remember the setting. 

i also flag key ideas with words in the left margin (cost savings, + rev, upside, etc) to quickly bring a key point to my eye. 

I box my direct's initials before any notes that are deliverables for them (I.e follow up items for me) as well. 

Gre1gri's picture

For note taking I do the trendy use of a Moleskin for my GTD system. 

In my Notes section I write an "A" with a cricle around it for any item and put owner's initails next to it. I put "D" with a circle around it for something I'm accountable for but that is a delegation canidate. When preping for my O3 I go throgh my notes and put them the "manager section" so I'm ready to go.

Also, for points that were mentioned several times I star them.  Intentiional or not, they came up several times so I want my records to show that....even if it's just for me.

williamelledgepe's picture
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I'm a civil engineer and write the word "spreadsheet" more frequently than I care to admit.  I tried a bunch of alternatives and disliked all.  Dropping the vowels left it a clunky mess with still too many letters.  Ssht was too open to accidental interpretions when I write quickly.  I finally came up with a good symbol for spreadsheet - I use the capital symbol for sigma.

 

 

nanzermd's picture

I started as a healthcare practitioner before everyone had electronic medical records.  Shorthand literally saved me countless hours.  Some of the ones I still use in my note taking:

c = with

s = without

a = before

p = after

Vister44's picture

I've spent my entire conscious life making money on trading. In due time I started a planer https://onplanners.com/planners/best and wrote down all my deals on a demo account there, watched how the euro dollar pair moves, wrote down the news and how the pair behaves at the same time, it helped me at the beginning of the trader's stage, I saw that the pair sometimes walks on a certain channel, so this is where I earned my first time.

Vister44's picture

I've spent my entire conscious life making money on trading. In due time I started a small planer https://onplanners.com/planners/best and wrote down all my deals on a demo account there, watched how the euro dollar pair moves, wrote down the news and how the pair behaves at the same time, it helped me at the beginning of the trader's stage, I saw that the pair sometimes walks on a certain channel, so this is where I earned my first time.