Why Your Notes Don't Last. 🔗 **Source:** [Why Your Notes Don't Last.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCoaug12x8Y) > [!note]+ Document Notes > tags: [note-taking, bullet-journal, knowledge-management] > author: Ryder Carroll > source: YouTube > reference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCoaug12x8Y > date created: 2024-12-19 08:15 > > # 🏷️ Title: Why Your Notes Don't Last > <!-- deep-read:sections start --> ## 🧰 Action Inbox - [H1] Define single source of truth for all notes — avoid note creep #organization - [H2] Write notes for a stranger, not current self — add context for future understanding #clarity - [H3] Implement rapid logging with symbols for events, tasks, notes, moods — create structured entries #system ## 🧭 Table of Contents - [📝 Summary](#-summary) - [📖 Main Content](#-main-content) - [🗒️ Notes](#️-notes) - [📚 References](#-references) - [🗣️ Paraphrase](#️-paraphrase) - [📰 Newsletter](#-newsletter) - [✅ Action Items](#-action-items) - [🧪 Hypotheses](#-hypotheses) - [📊 Methodology](#-methodology) - [❓ Questions](#-questions) - [🔮 Future Research](#-future-research) - [💡 Implications](#-implications) - [🧠 Learning Styles Assessment](#-learning-styles-assessment) - [📊 Accessibility Assessment](#-accessibility-assessment) - [🌍 DEIB Assessment](#-deib-assessment) - [✅ Logical Validity](#-logical-validity) - [🛡️ DARVO Analysis](#-darvo-analysis) - [🎯 Conclusion](#-conclusion) ### 🔗 References - [Bullet Journal Method](https://bulletjournal.com) - [Official Bullet Journal Notebook](https://bulletjournal.com/pages/store) ## 📝 Summary - Old notes become meaningless without context, leading to wasted effort and lost ideas - Solution involves three pillars: committing to one note-taking location, using structured systems, and writing for strangers - Key stakeholders are anyone taking notes for future reference - Risk of "note creep" and losing important information across scattered systems - Bottom line: Future-proof notes require intentional structure and contextual detail ## 📖 Main Content Ryder Carroll argues that most notes become useless over time because they lack sufficient context for future understanding. He identifies three main problems: note creep (spreading notes across multiple locations), obsolescence/ownership issues with digital tools, and writing notes that only make sense to your current self. His solution centers on the Bullet Journal Method, emphasizing commitment to a single source of truth, using durable materials and open formats, implementing organizational systems like indexing and collections, and most importantly, writing notes as if for a stranger who lacks your current context. ## 🗒️ Notes #### ⏱️ [00:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCoaug12x8Y&t=0) — [H1] The Problem: Notes Lose Meaning Over Time - Key idea: Old notes become incomprehensible without proper context - Evidence: "Make sure to call G. 19.5 is the best setting. Today was a really hard day." #### ⏱️ [01:15](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCoaug12x8Y&t=75) — [H2] Note Creep: Scattered Note-Taking Locations - Key idea: Taking notes in multiple places creates findability problems - Evidence: "Over time, you begin to take some of your notes on post-its, others in notebooks, others in journals" #### ⏱️ [02:05](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCoaug12x8Y&t=125) — [H2] Solution: Define a Source of Truth - Key idea: Pick one primary location for all initial note-taking - Evidence: "Pick one place where you'll take all your notes... all of them begin there" #### ⏱️ [02:45](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCoaug12x8Y&t=165) — [H2] Digital Vulnerability: Link Rot and Ownership Issues - Key idea: Digital notes face obsolescence through broken links and platform changes - Evidence: "Studies show that just after a few years, a significant percentage of those links become deadends" #### ⏱️ [03:30](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCoaug12x8Y&t=210) — [H3] Company Control Risk - Key idea: Digital platforms can change pricing and features without notice - Evidence: "Customer's bill allegedly went from $60 a month to $1,000 a month with minimal notice" #### ⏱️ [04:15](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCoaug12x8Y&t=255) — [H2] Digital Protection: Open Formats and Local Storage - Key idea: Use markdown and offline-capable tools for digital longevity - Evidence: "Can I take notes offline? and Can I open those notes in other programs with no problems?" #### ⏱️ [04:45](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCoaug12x8Y&t=285) — [H3] Physical Notebook Quality Matters - Key idea: Invest in notebooks from specialized manufacturers for durability - Evidence: "Cheap notebooks are prone to falling apart. Pages tear out, bindings break" #### ⏱️ [05:30](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCoaug12x8Y&t=330) — [H2] Organizational Structure: Index and Collections - Key idea: Use systematic organization to prevent notes becoming "incoherent swamp" - Evidence: "This functions like an address book for your notes" #### ⏱️ [06:15](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCoaug12x8Y&t=375) — [H3] Collections Provide Context - Key idea: Group related notes together for better understanding - Evidence: "Simply by taking related notes in the same place, you provide them with greater context" #### ⏱️ [06:45](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCoaug12x8Y&t=405) — [H3] Reflection Rituals Curate Value - Key idea: Regular review helps identify and preserve meaningful notes - Evidence: "Bujo's rituals help you refine and cultivate notes worth your attention while pruning the ones that aren't" #### ⏱️ [07:30](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCoaug12x8Y&t=450) — [H1] Write for a Stranger, Not Yourself - Key idea: Current context assumptions make notes meaningless later - Evidence: "Time will rob our notes and memories of that context, rendering the note useless" #### ⏱️ [08:15](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCoaug12x8Y&t=495) — [H3] Future Self as Stranger - Key idea: Your future self won't share current conditions and memories - Evidence: "Our future self will have less and less in common with who we are right now" #### ⏱️ [08:45](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCoaug12x8Y&t=525) — [H3] Add Context Like Writing for an Intern - Key idea: Include enough detail for someone unfamiliar with the situation - Evidence: "Call Catherine C for her to pick up cake for Mark S's August 26th, 2025 birthday party" #### ⏱️ [09:30](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCoaug12x8Y&t=570) — [H2] Rapid Logging: Categorized Single Sentences - Key idea: Use symbols to categorize notes, actions, moods, and events - Evidence: "Rapid logging breaks entries down into four categories: notes, actions, moods, and events" #### ⏱️ [10:15](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCoaug12x8Y&t=615) — [H3] Rapid Logging Example - Key idea: Multiple short entries create comprehensive context - Evidence: "Today was Rosha P's last day. It's hard on us, probably harder on her. Feeling sad, I'm grateful. Send flowers" ## 📚 References - [Bullet Journal Method](https://bulletjournal.com) - [Official Bullet Journal Notebook Store](https://bulletjournal.com/pages/store) - [YouTube Channel - Bullet Journal](https://www.youtube.com/@bulletjournal) ## 🗣️ Paraphrase - Notes become meaningless over time when they lack sufficient context for future understanding - Scattered note-taking across multiple platforms creates findability problems and wastes mental energy - Writing notes with current context assumptions fails because future self won't share the same knowledge and conditions ## 📰 Newsletter **Future-Proof Your Notes: Why Your WordPress Documentation Strategy Needs Context** Ever revisited old WordPress development notes only to find cryptic entries like "Fix CSS bug" or "Update plugin X"? Ryder Carroll's insights on note-taking apply perfectly to WordPress development and documentation. **Key Takeaway**: Your future self (and team members) are strangers who need context to understand your notes. **Practical Applications**: - **Source of Truth**: Consolidate WordPress project notes in one place (GitHub Issues, Notion, or physical notebook) - **Add Context**: Instead of "Plugin conflict," write "Contact Form 7 v5.2 conflicts with Custom Post Type UI causing 500 errors on /contact page" - **Categorize**: Use symbols or labels for bugs (🐛), features (✨), and documentation updates (📝) This approach transforms scattered WordPress development notes into valuable team knowledge that survives developer transitions and project handoffs. Resources: [Learn WordPress](https://learn.wordpress.org/), [Developer Docs](https://developer.wordpress.org/), [WP-CLI](https://wp-cli.org/) ## ✅ Action Items #### DevRel - Developer advocacy: Document development decisions with full context for future team members - Education: Create note-taking templates for workshop attendees to capture actionable insights - Developer experience: Establish single source of truth for API documentation and developer feedback - Developer marketing: Use rapid logging to track campaign performance with contextual details - Community management: Document community interactions with enough context for handoffs #### OSPO - Policy & Governance: Create detailed contribution policy notes with rationale for future policy updates - License Compliance: Document license decisions with full context and legal reasoning - Security Management: Log vulnerability reports with comprehensive timeline and resolution context - Software Inventory: Maintain detailed SBOM notes with dependency reasoning and update schedules - Developer Support: Create knowledge base entries that work for new team members - Community Engagement: Document upstream relationships with context for sustainable partnerships - Strategic Alignment: Write KPI reports that explain methodology and business context #### Community - Maintainers: Document roadmap decisions with community input context for future reference - Contributors: Create onboarding notes that work for contributors joining months later - Sponsors: Maintain transparent funding records with project impact documentation - Ecosystem: Log cross-project coordination with sufficient detail for new participants #### WordPress - Core: Document feature decisions with user research context and technical constraints - Core Performance: Log optimization attempts with before/after metrics and environmental context - Core AI: Document guardrail decisions with ethical reasoning and implementation details - Core Program Team: Create meeting notes that new team members can understand immediately - Mobile: Document UX decisions with user feedback context and platform constraints - Playground: Create educational content with learning objectives and prerequisite context - Community: Document event planning with budget context and lessons learned - Training: Write lesson plans that work for different instructors and skill levels - Marketing: Document campaign strategies with audience research and performance context - Support: Create knowledge base articles that work for users and support staff - Design: Document design decisions with user research and accessibility considerations - Documentation: Write style guides with rationale and update procedures - Photos: Document content moderation decisions with policy context - TV: Create content guidelines with technical specifications and quality standards - Polyglots: Document translation decisions with cultural context and style reasoning - Accessibility: Create audit reports with WCAG context and remediation priorities - Meta: Document .org infrastructure decisions with scaling context and maintenance requirements - CLI: Write command documentation with use case examples and error handling - Hosting: Create deployment checklists with environment-specific context - Tide: Document scoring algorithms with transparency requirements and update procedures - Openverse: Log content moderation decisions with policy context and appeal procedures - Themes: Document review criteria with examples and edge case handling - Plugins: Create security review templates with threat modeling context #### The WPCC - Programs: Document fellowship selection criteria with equity considerations and outcome metrics - Projects: Create governance templates with decision-making context and accountability measures - Funding: Maintain grant documentation with impact measurement and reporting requirements #### FAIR - Technical independence: Document platform decisions with vendor lock-in analysis and migration paths - Policies: Create transparency requirements with enforcement mechanisms and review schedules - Governance artifacts: Write charters with conflict resolution procedures and update processes ## 🧪 Hypotheses - Notes taken with contextual detail will remain useful 5x longer than context-free notes - Centralized note-taking systems reduce information retrieval time by 60% compared to scattered approaches - Writing notes "for strangers" increases team knowledge transfer success rates by 40% - Physical notebooks have 20-year longevity advantage over digital platforms for personal knowledge management ### 📊 Methodology - Longitudinal study tracking note comprehension over 1, 6, 12, and 60 months - Time-motion studies comparing information retrieval across different organizational systems - A/B testing contextual vs. minimal note formats in team environments ### ❓ Questions - How much context is optimal without creating note-taking friction? - What organizational systems work best for different types of knowledge work? - How do cultural differences affect note-taking preferences and effectiveness? ### 🔮 Future Research - AI-assisted context augmentation for existing note archives - Integration patterns between physical and digital note-taking systems - Long-term preservation strategies for digital knowledge management ### 💡 Implications - Practice: Teams need standardized note-taking protocols with context requirements - Policy: Knowledge management policies should mandate contextual documentation standards - Security: Note-taking systems require data portability and ownership considerations - Education: Note-taking skills need explicit instruction in academic and professional settings - Funding: Investment in durable note-taking infrastructure pays long-term knowledge dividends ### 🧠 Learning Styles Assessment Reading level estimate: Grade 8 (accessible to general audience) #### 👀 Visual learners - Present: Clear examples contrasting good vs. poor note formats - Improve: Flowcharts showing note organization systems, before/after screenshots #### 🔊 Aural learners - Present: Video format with clear narration and examples - Improve: Audio-only version for commute listening, downloadable MP3 #### 🗣️ Verbal learners - Present: Story-driven examples, clear analogies (intern, stranger metaphors) - Improve: Glossary of terms, comparison tables for different methods #### 🧩 Kinesthetic learners - Present: Practical examples and actionable steps - Improve: Downloadable templates, hands-on practice exercises #### 🧠 Logical learners - Present: Clear problem-solution structure, cause-effect relationships - Improve: Decision trees for choosing note-taking systems, ROI calculations #### 🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Social learners - Present: Community references and collaborative aspects - Improve: Discussion prompts for teams, peer review checklists #### 🧘‍♀️ Solitary learners - Present: Self-reflection prompts about current note-taking habits - Improve: Personal assessment worksheets, private journaling exercises #### 🌿 Naturalistic learners - Present: Physical notebook emphasis, sustainable practices - Improve: Environmental impact comparisons, lifecycle thinking about tools ### 📊 Accessibility Assessment #### Screen reader semantics - Present: Clear heading structure, logical content flow - Improve: Alt text for any visual examples, transcript availability #### Keyboard navigation - Present: Standard video player controls - Improve: Chapter markers for easy navigation, skip-to-content options #### Contrast and readability - Present: High contrast video text, clear audio - Improve: Closed captions with high contrast, adjustable playback speed #### Text resizing and reflow - Present: Responsive video player - Improve: Text-based summary that scales properly #### Media and captions - Present: Video with clear audio - Improve: Professional captions, downloadable transcript #### Forms and interactions - Present: Simple video interface - Improve: Accessible feedback forms, keyboard-navigable timestamps #### Standards reference - Video player should meet WCAG 2 <!-- deep-read:sections end --> ## 📺 Video  --- # 📄 Full Transcript *Auto-generated from YouTube captions · timestamps roughly every 30 seconds · [watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCoaug12x8Y)* **[00:00]** I recently found a very old journal of mine. It was filled with notes about all sorts of things. But after a while, I realized something really weird. I didn't understand what half these notes were about anymore. I didn't know what they meant. Make sure to call G. 19.5 is the best setting. Today was a really hard day. Who is G? What did I need to call them about? The best setting for what? What made this day so hard? It felt like I was reading the notes of a stranger. Hi, I'm Ryder, founder of the Bullet Journal Method. a simple life OS **[00:30]** that has helped people from around the world write a better life. In the last video in this series, I showed you a few ways to futureproof your thinking. Today, it's about future proofing the notes we use to capture that thinking so you can get the most out of what you write down for years to come. Let's dive in. Let's start from the outside in. Whether it be digital or analog, the first way to future proof your notes is to commit to where to take notes. Without a clear **[01:02]** commitment, many of us fall victim to note creep. Over time, you begin to take some of your notes on post-its, others in notebooks, others in journals, and some in the shiny new note-taking app of the week. Note creep causes two issues. One is small, but the other one is potentially catastrophic. The first problem is having to decide over and over again where to take notes. This wastess energy and leads to the real problem, not knowing where to find important notes again later. That has cost me a lot of stress, money, time, **[01:34]** not to mention really important ideas. To solve note creep, define a source of truth. Pick one place where you'll take all your notes. Maybe for you that source of truth will be an app like Obsidian or Notion. For me, that's my bullet journal. Whether my notes are personal or professional, all of them begin there. Now, to be clear, once you have a source of truth, you can still move your notes around. For example, I often move some of my reading notes, which I take in my notebook, into my Obsidian database so I can use them in **[02:05]** very long-term or super complex projects. That said, I never have to wonder about where the first place is where I wrote something down, so I can always find my notes again later. So, why do I use a notebook? for many reasons, but here are two main considerations that also apply if you are a digital notetaker. Obsolescence and ownership. One of the perceived benefits of digital note-taking is how easy it is to link your resources from around the web. However, studies show that just after a few years, a **[02:35]** significant percentage of those links become deadends, taking all the referenced information with them. This phenomenon is known as link rot where links to websites, articles, resources gradually break down over time. And that's only the beginning though. The bigger vulnerability is ownership. When your source of truth is a digital app, its features and functions depend on company priorities. So just when you have a perfect setup, some update breaks a key part of your system. That of course is if you can still access the **[03:06]** app at all. When you don't own the container for where your notes live, your notes can suddenly disappear or be locked behind a barrier or major price hike without notice. This recently happened with a popular note-taking app that's been around for over a decade where a customer's bill allegedly went from $60 a month to $1,000 a month with minimal notice. Online note-taking services, especially those funded by BC or private equity, don't always last or they don't stay the same. That's the nature of business. Business models change, companies get acquired, products **[03:37]** get folded in or sunset. To fight this and to futureproof your notes, you can do two things here. You can capture your notes in a format that is open sourced and you can capture those notes on a physical medium that you control. When it comes to apps, this often boils down to file formats like Markdown and being able to store those files locally. And if that doesn't mean anything to you, you can ask, "Can I take notes offline?" and "Can I open those notes in other programs with no problems?" If the answer is no to either, you likely don't **[04:09]** have enough control over where your notes live. Let me know in the comments down below if you want me to do a deeper dive into that. With a notebook, none of this really matters. What does matter, though, is the quality of the materials. Most notebooks on the market are made by companies that produce countless other products, and it shows. They feel like afterthoughts. My suggestion here is to buy notebooks from companies that focus on making notebooks. For example, when I created the official bullet journal notebook, I reached out to a company that's been making notebooks for over a hundred years. I was a customer before I **[04:41]** was a collaborator. You can learn more about the official bullet journal notebook here. Cheap notebooks are prone to falling apart. Pages tear out, bindings break, the ink bleeds through thin pages, making your entries difficult to read. Each notebook can help us better understand and navigate our work, our world, and ourselves, but only when the content of our notes makes any sense. So, now we just talked about where to put our notes, which brings us to the next consideration, how to take future proof notes. **[05:16]** Without a structure, your notes can become an incoherent swamp of random to-dos, ideas, insights, and information. Once you committed to a source of truth, it's time to implement a system keeping that source organized. Otherwise, your future self may have no idea where to find what. This is where the bullet journal method comes into play. Here are three simple ways the bullet journal method can help you futureroof your notes. One is to have an index. This functions like an address book for your notes. It allows you to both quickly find your notes in the **[05:46]** future as well as give you a bird's eye view of what you were paying attention to during the lifespan of that notebook or folder. Yes, you can bullet journal digitally. The second is collections. You populate that index with collections. These are dedicated pages that aggregate all notes related to specific topics that matter to you like family memories, projects, career insights, or therapy notes for example. Simply by taking related notes in the same place, you provide them with greater context which helps to **[06:18]** futureroof them. Bullet journal is really a life operating system for writing a better life. It helps you process the past, organize the present and author your future. That's why the real magic happens with the rituals. Regular practices of reflection that help you process and curate your notes. In short, Bujo's rituals help you refine and cultivate notes worth your attention while pruning the ones that aren't. What you're left with is a clean record of what was most alive for you at the time, which is critical for your future self **[06:49]** to derive value from your notes. If you want to learn more about how to bullet journal or join our live planning rituals, you can scan this code here. Okay, so the last consideration is a really strange trick that's helped me future proof my notes and that is you have to stop taking notes for yourself. This may sound strange, so let me explain. When we take notes, we usually think about our current or immediate future self. By doing this, we tend to take a lot of shortcuts because we **[07:20]** assume that we will remember the unwritten context around the note. And that's mostly true for a time. Eventually, time will rob our notes and memories of that context, rendering the note useless. For example, you may know who CS is right now, but you won't a week from now. Though you may know what it means to call your doctor for an appointment now, you may not a month from now. Though you may know what **[07:51]** dinner was really fun and romantic means now, you probably won't a year from now. You get the point. The best trick that I have for this is to take notes for a stranger. Why? Because in time, our future self will have less and less in common with who we are right now. They will not share the same conditions, concerns, and yes, even the same memories. When we write for a stranger, we tend to write much more clearly. How? just by adding a touch of context. You can think of it as like taking notes for **[08:22]** an intern. For example, call CC remake. I would write call Catherine C for her to pick up cake for Mark S's August 26th, 2025 birthday party. This is still just one sentence, but it's significantly more futureproof. Rapid logging, another bullet journal technique, directly helps with this problem by labeling each sentence with a symbol to categorize each note quickly. Rapid logging breaks entries down into four categories: notes, actions, moods, **[08:54]** and events. Helps us name our experience. Each is a single sentence journal entry paired with a symbol. When used together, you can quickly create a lot of context for future proofing our notes. For example, instead of feeling bad because RP left, which would mean very little to my future self, probably doesn't mean much to you right now. A rapid log version of this would look like this. The event, today was Rosha P's last day. The thought, it's hard on us, probably harder on her. Mood, **[09:26]** feeling sad, I'm grateful. Action, send flowers, and note of appreciation. In just four simple sentences, I was able to create notes that are greater than the sum of their parts. It provides more than enough context for a stranger like you to understand a personal experience of mine. The whole point of writing things down is because our mind struggles to hold on to even the most important thoughts. The strategies I just laid out in this video will help to ensure that you're not just collecting information, but that you're holding on **[09:57]** to and benefiting from your hard one wisdom for the rest of your life. In the next video in this series, I'm going to be talking about futurep proofing our goals, cuz what's the point of taking notes about things that ultimately don't matter? So, be sure to subscribe to this channel to be notified when that's ready. Thank you for taking the time. Happy bullet journaling and I'll see you in the next one.