How do you take efficient, organized meeting and task notes?

Lately I have been using Wudpecker and im loving it 🙂

When it comes to taking efficient meeting and task notes, I rely on a structured approach and digital tools to ensure everything is captured and easily accessible.

I just jot down everything during the meeting and then assemble it into simple bullet-point sentences. It's the only method that works and I'm always finish it during the meeting time itself.

Create a consistent note-taking template for meetings and tasks. Include sections for key points, action items, deadlines, and follow-ups. This helps keep your notes organized and easy to review later.

Super cliché answer: start with the why. Why are you taking notes? To keep a record of everything that was said? To keep track of decisions that were made during a meeting? To extract actions from meetings? For who are you taking notes: just yourself, to share with the team? It depends on many factors. There's not one method that will fit every meeting. Now that's out of the way, one generic method I used a lot was simply a google doc with a template at the top. The template is determined by the answer to the questions above. Use the same doc for every meeting, copy-paste the template. You're good to go.

I read a book called "The Giant's Notebook", and this taught me the difference between taking notes and archiving(writing) it by undertaking the process of internalization.

I open a new Notion page before the meeting. If it is not populated enough after the meeting, I delete it. Simple yet effective for me :)

Pen to paper. Actions & follow-ups. Things I need to understand. Open questions. Unknowns.

I use Protolyst (my tool, so potentially biased!) I take notes in meetings and then I consolidate key info, actions and takeaways by creating 'Atoms' - a small note just for this piece of info which exists separately to the notes doc with everything in it. Then I can interconnect each Atom to wherever it's relevant in my workflow - such as connect relevant info to tasks in my task list Then when I open up the Task item, I have all the info at my fingertips - no need to dive through all my notes or scroll through Slack to refind the info, it's already there for me

Before the meeting: I like to gather the key points and prepare myself for any unexpected questions that may arise. During the meeting: I take detailed notes, capturing any ideas that come up from both myself and others. After the meeting: I write one or two paragraphs about each note, document everything before it fades from memory. then analyze the ideas that were discussed, filtering out what can be implemented immediately and saving the rest for future consideration. Finally, write down the final decisions made for each subject. How I do that? -in the past uesing Microsoft office tools but Now I truned all my life inside #notion :)

I suggest using a structured approach, like the Cornell method, which involves dividing your page into sections for cues, notes, and summaries, or switching to digital note-taking tools like Notion or Evernote, which have built-in templates for easy organization, in order to take efficient, organized meeting and task notes. Keeping your attention on the meeting's most important topics, actions, and choices, and reviewing and revising your notes soon after the session to ensure they are clear and actionable, can greatly improve your efficiency and output.

Starting with the meeting agenda as a guide, take notes during the meeting on the main topics presented, any actions to be taken, and any deadlines that need to be met. To prioritize activities, maintain tabs on progress, and make sure nothing vital falls through the cracks, it's always beneficial to check and update these notes often using a digital note-taking application that can assist to classify and search them afterwards.

I'm possibly the worst person at taking notes in the world. I either take notes and never look at them again or don't take notes