Keeping a Meeting Notebook for Work

I have a love-hate relationship with meetings. I enjoy attending meetings when there is a clear agenda and when it’s productive and dislike them when there are just too many in a day or when the discussion could have been sent in an email.

It’s tough to facilitate a meeting and capture “minutes of the meeting” at the same time. In the digital age, even with the right tools, we often miss listing down pertinent details or action items.

A few years ago, whenever I facilitated a meeting, I almost always forgot what action items were discussed and end up remembering them last minute. Back then, I was heavily reliant on digital tools. When I finally realized that it wasn’t effective nor efficient, I decided to go back to basics: pen and paper.

When I moved away from OneNote/Evernote/any app, I noticed that I was able to focus better when I wrote things down by hand. This very reason alone is why I highly recommend dedicating a notebook (or using an iPad with an Apple Pencil) for meetings.

Writing will help you remember things better

While using a keyboard is faster than writing with a pen, it doesn’t necessarily equate to better recall. Studies have shown that note-taking by hand yields better recollection of information. This is because you are more connected and invested when putting pen to paper (or pen to iPad).

To an extent, it would be easier to locate handwritten notes because of better recall. When you need to revisit an idea or something that was discussed previously, you can easily flip through pages of your notebook (because you most likely know when and where it was discussed). This will work well if you do keep your meeting notes in one notebook (not a mix of post-its, napkins, scratch paper).

Read: Organizing Work Notes by Partially Using the Bullet Journal Method

Go beyond words

One clear advantage of writing by hand is that we can switch the method of note-taking. If bullet points are not always effective, then you can mix it up with a few sketches (mind maps, diagrams). You can even sketch out your notes, if you can swing it!

You will become less distracted during a meeting

Let’s face it – no matter how disciplined we are, we can easily be distracted when we’re on our laptop. Sometimes, during a meeting, I tend to lose focus because something seemingly important comes up – an email for example. I often feel inclined to respond to that email and then eventually lose shift my focus away from the meeting.

Move your fingers away from the keyboard, put your phone away, and keep your pen and paper in your line of sight. You may or may not have things to write about during the meeting but having it in front of you will help you focus.

Bonus It can help with work-life balance

I used to cram everything (personal and work) in one notebook. It was a good system until I realized that I started to take my work home with me. When I started to use a separate notebook, I made sure that I left that meeting notebook on my office workspace (or home workspace if I’m working from home). As a self-proclaimed workaholic, I know that this practice of leaving my notebook behind has been helping me with my work-life balance.