1a3 - Fall of the note taker
# Our notes turned against us
Our notes turned against us. After many years of taking notes, our collection of notes is more cluttered than ever, more overwhelming, more frustrating. And we have shockingly little to show for it.
Our note collection is full of other people’s articles and old todos that lost their utility years ago. Dealing with the growing mess becomes your burden.
It’s time to push back. You deserve control over your ability to think masterfully with your digital notes. You deserve to think without a todo list looming over your shoulder.
You deserve a ==guilt free ideation chamber. ==
# We let the servant become the master
We let the servant become the master. We knelt at the alter of “todos”, “projects”, and “getting things done”. Yes, they have their place. But no, they are not the whole story. And it’s time we start working on the rest of the tale.
We gave up the ==inherent joy of thinking as its own reward.== Can you even imagine your note library being a place of tranquility? (Blasphemy!) We stripped away the soul of inquiry and replaced it with soulless efficiency—which, just because we can track every second of our days, absolutely does not mean we should.
You may not know this, but you have a choice. You don’t have to serve your task manager. You can take the power back. You can choose to be led by the carrot of curiosity as opposed to the stick of a never-ending list of todos.
# We fixated on collecting junk
We fixated on collecting junk. Collecting is addictive. And easy. It feels good to “clip” a new article into our note library. It feels like progress. But that’s a fallacy. You haven’t done anything. This is the “Collector’s Fallacy” and it’s a disease we’ve inflicted upon ourselves.
- Collecting a new idea does not equal KNOWING a new idea.
- Collecting a new idea does not equal being able to effectively work with it.
- Collecting a new idea does not equal being able to effectively talk about it with others.
==We don’t need more knowledge every second. Instead, we need to get better at developing the knowledge we already have. ==
# We wasted time highlighting
==Instead of spending time developing our ideas, we got into the habit of just highlighting other people’s ideas. ==
And in all that time, what do we have to show for it? Another person’s article, with some highlights. What a waste! Your valuable time and enthusiasm deserve better.
- The Note Taker stays in Highlight Mode, which keeps them in a passive, consuming mindset.
- The Note Maker spends more time in Developing Mode, actively getting their hands dirty with the ideas they encounter.