Log in or create a free Rosenverse account to watch this video.
Log in Create free account100s of community videos are available to free members. Conference talks are generally available to Gold members.
Summary
Unlock the cognitive benefits of handwriting without losing the convenience of digital organization. Research consistently demonstrates the cognitive value of writing notes by hand. However, there are important benefits to keeping notes digitally. In this seminar by Duly Noted author Jorge Arango, you’ll learn workflows for integrating handwritten notes into your digital notes. Watch Part 2 Watch Part 3
Key Insights
-
•
Note-taking serves varied use cases including prosthetic memory, creative ideation, reading annotation, and lecture capture, each requiring different media.
-
•
Handwritten notes promote deeper flow and better attention in certain tasks due to slower processing and lower temptation for verbatim capture.
-
•
Digital notes offer superior searchability, organization through tags and links, and multimodal content inclusion like photos and audio.
-
•
Combining handwritten and digital notes through workflows, like scanning or direct digital handwriting, yields benefits of both media.
-
•
Using 'wrapper notes' in applications like Obsidian integrates scanned or digital handwritten notes with metadata for projects and people.
-
•
Developing an emergent, evolving metadata and tagging system is more effective than premature optimization of note structures.
-
•
Avoid transcribing handwritten notes fully; OCR and wrapper notes provide sufficient search and reference, saving time.
-
•
Beware of spending excessive time optimizing note-taking tools and processes at the expense of actual work and thinking.
-
•
Extended Mind Hypothesis supports that notes and environment can be considered extensions of cognition, augmenting brain capabilities.
-
•
AI tools like GPT-4 can help summarize and reflect on notes, acting as a reality check to uncover missed insights or gaps.
Notable Quotes
"Notes are a way to enhance our thinking, not just a prosthetic to memory."
"Paper has no boot up time — you just open it and start writing."
"People who take handwritten notes tend to remember lectures better because they make the information their own."
"Digital notes are infinitely organizable and easily searchable unlike paper notes."
"Handwritten notes allow deeper flow because you can draw, make arrows, and creatively express ideas."
"The goal is not to take notes. The goal is to think effectively. – Andy Matus."
"It’s easy to waste time fiddling with tools and processes instead of focusing on the actual work."
"I resisted premature optimization in tagging and let structures emerge bottom-up from actual use."
"Using wrapper notes in Obsidian lets me relate notes by project or people and jump between related ideas."
"You can give a text to an LLM and ask what you might be missing — often it comes back with surprises."
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"Doctors hate using EHRs because it turns them into clerks, interacting more with machines than patients."
Standardizing Product Merits for Leaders, Designers, and Everyone
June 15, 2018
"Most strategy today is guesswork based on what others are doing, not based on situational awareness."
Simon WardleyMaps and Topographical Intelligence (Videoconference)
January 31, 2019
"Cisgender binary options in onboarding flows exclude non-binary and gender-expansive identities."
Sandra CamachoCreating More Bias-Proof Designs
January 22, 2025
"I held Jeff accountable by expecting criticism to come with rationale and intentional improvement."
Darian DavisLessons from a Toxic Work Relationship
January 8, 2024
"Having conversations with stakeholders before sharing AI-generated recommendations validates their legitimacy and relevance."
Fisayo Osilaja[Demo] The AI edge: From researcher to strategist
June 4, 2024
"There is a common thread in craft: dignity, purpose, utility, and beauty."
Uday GajendarThe Wicked Craft of Enterprise UX
May 13, 2015
"Investing in people and fostering collaboration always pays off in stronger teams and better user experiences."
Davis Neable Guy SegalHow to Drive a Design Project When you Don’t Have a Design Team
June 10, 2021
"Once cash prizes were gone, people stopped feeling ownership of the design system."
Eniola OluwoleLessons From the DesignOps Journey of the World's Largest Travel Site
October 24, 2019
"Most of us in design are very process-oriented, but traditional devops tools are task and issue-centric, making collaboration hard."
Aurobinda Pradhan Shashank DeshpandeIntroduction to Collaborative DesignOps using Cubyts
September 9, 2022
