Electronic note taking from notepad to netbook in 4 easy steps  Casting aside that trusty A4 notepad after years of loyal service can be a difficult step in the move to electronic note taking.  The biggest hurdle to overcome is often simply making sure your netbook is always where where you are, and not left back the desk, and it’s always ready to take notes.  Moving to 100% electronic note taking is a work style change,  and can only be fully appreciated when you’ve been doing it for a while.

There are many aids to electronic note taking,  including electronic pens, but many of them can leave you disappointed and seriously out of pocket.   The four key steps to upgrading yourself to electronic note taking are below.

Firstly, select your primary note taking hardware and software.  There is so much choice these days, but chances are you’ll settle on one of the big contenders:   Microsoft OneNote or Evernote.  These are probably the big hitters in the world of note taking and offer comprehensive categorisation, search, and linking capabilities. What ever you chose it must be reliable, fast, and support all the types of notes you’ll be taking – text, diagrams, images, etc. Pick one, and stick with it as your new loyal servant.

Secondly, select a (very small) notepad, and small pen.  A6 or A7 size is perfect. This will be your backup-buddy for the rare times when you really can’t use your favourite note taking software.  It’s not always appropriate to lug your netbook into a short meeting,  or take notes by the coffee machine.   Having a very small notepad will encourage you to take minimal handwritten notes,  whilst more detailed meetings and presentations should be recorded electronically.  The primary role of the small notebook is really to take Actions from meetings only.  Carry it around as your comfort blanket,   but the small size will deter you from taking lots of notes.

Thirdly,  most mobile phones these days have good quality cameras built in.  As well as snapping holiday pics, and videos for YouTube, they are a fantastic way of capturing whiteboard,  flip charts and other presentation material.  You can then simply transfer the image to your note taking software with minimal effort.  Some software will even interpret the text in the image and index it for you.

Finally, ditch that A4 or A5 notepad.  They’re far too big and won’t help you make the transition. Keeping these at hand will encourage you to take more notes in them, and scupper your chances of moving to electronic note taking.

Tell us about your electronic note taking ideas and experiences.