And to do that isn’t that hard from using a system where you just… you link to things that are meaningful and to any particular note. You want the ideas to be able to come to you when and where they are useful to you and you want them to stay out of the way otherwise. It’s also composed of processes and ways of making the ideas actionable somehow. Jorge: When you say ‘system,’ I’m thinking it’s not just a repository of things. Because it wasn’t embedded in the system that I was developing for myself - just this idea of having my own thoughts and connecting them - it didn’t really prompt me to clarify my thoughts and so in that sense, the relationship that one has with their writing, or the relationship I had with my writing, changed significantly once I started to develop a system that was my own. Maybe do homework with or something like that. But then the issue is that - at least when I was doing it - I wouldn’t have a destination for it beyond maybe an exam or the thing that I was assigned to. I mean, I came from the same sort of process of taking notes that, maybe I wouldn’t write it down verbatim, but I would just try to write down whatever I could when I was in class, similar to what you’re describing. But what I’m hearing from you in this concept of smart notes is slightly different, no? And I’m saying that because I think that for many people, the idea of notes evokes this notion of just writing down the things that you’re hearing or seeing in the environment.
#How to use devonthink to go professional
And later on, when I was in professional context - in meetings - I would also try to take notes of what was being said in a meeting, right? And I was not trying to be verbatim at that point but trying to summarize on the fly. And I would try to transcribe things verbatim, you know, and I would always be behind the words that were coming out of the teacher’s mouth. Jorge: I remember when I was in school, I would take copious notes of what the teacher was saying. It’s not so much the notes themselves, so much as the effect they have on you, I suppose. How you start to develop them over time, how they start to argue with each other in time, because what you’ve written now is different than what you’ve written in the past, and you start discovering things. And what makes it smart, I think, is where you start to reflect on those notes. So, smart notes, I think encapsulates a lot of different ideas that come from that very simple process.Īgain, the simple process is: You have a single note that has maybe a single idea to it, and then you connect that to other notes. And then Sonke Ahrens had translated that into these digital versions. Which in turn would link back and based on this approach that the sociologist - Luhmann was it? - that put together this analog system of note cards. And he had based it on the Zettelkasten approach this idea of having individual notes that really captured a single idea that would then link to other notes.
#How to use devonthink to go how to
Kourosh: What are smart notes? You know, I take the title from, Sonke Ahrens’s book, which was How to Take Smart Notes. What are “smart notes”? Note-taking systems The book, like I said, it’s called Taking Smart Notes with DEVONthink.
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And I’m hoping that we will get into productivity and more particularly note-taking. And it wasn’t until I read one of your books called Taking Smart Notes with DEVONthink, that the tool really clicked for me. I have been using a tool called DEVONthink for a couple of years. I reached out to you because of the productivity side of that formula. So all of that together is whatever I am. And I can add one more: I enjoy video games. And, throughout my life I’ve also been a piano player, musician I like to tinker around with sounds. I’ve also developed into a writer: I write about task management, I write about taking notes - basically things that involve trying to do things that feel meaningful, trying to do good work. And I work with clients, I see patients and do some medication, but also do a lot of talk therapy type work. Most of my work is I’m a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst. For folks who might not know you, can you please tell us about yourself? About Kourosh Jorge: Well, I’m so glad that you are able to join us.
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Kourosh: Thanks so much for having me, Jorge. I get a small commission for purchases made through these links. Some show notes may include Amazon affiliate links.
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How to Take Smart Notes by Sonke Ahrens.Taking Smart Notes with DEVONthink by Kourosh Dini.In this conversation, we discuss smart note-taking and how DEVONthink can help us work more effectively. He is the author of an excellent book on how to take smart notes using DEVONthink, a personal information management tool. Kourosh Dini is a psychiatrist, psychoanalyst, and productivity expert.