

Ask HN: How do you manage your thoughts? - benregn

How do you manage your thoughts? When I say thoughts that can of course mean anything, e.g. project ideas, other ideas, things to do, things maybe to do, events etc.<p>Pencil and paper? Some web app? Something totally different?
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dgunn
I started using a notebook to capture ideas as they occur to me. As a policy I
do not maintain any structure or withhold any topics; I just write whatever
I'm thinking below the last thing I wrote.

This is really useful as a way to free your mind of your current ideas. I have
a tendency of dwelling on something because I'm afraid I will lose it
otherwise. By writing it, I am able to let it go and start fresh. This may
sound familiar if you've read the PG essay called "The Island Test" as it is
his rationale. I've only adopted it.

<http://www.paulgraham.com/island.html>

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robfitz
After years of notebook use, I've recently fallen in love with index cards.

I hesitate less before writing down a probably-bad idea (some of which turn
out to be good) because it won't permanently "contaminate" a notebook.

I can sort & re-order, keep my tasks separate from ideas, and scrap cards when
they are dealt with.

When I would use notebooks, I liked to keep one per project/client/theme, so
now I no longer need to carry multiple notebooks everywhere -- just a small
stack of blank cards.

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fehrbehr
Just recently, I started a new business with a partner. We carry little
notebooks around to capture things as we surface them. Sometimes I do a quick
audio recording on my phone. The most prescient ideas, questions, problems to
solve are transferred to a Wiki he created for us where we can track further
dialogue/brainstorming, ownership, and closure.

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ColinWright
I use a stack of old business cards. I write on the back, and then I can
shuffle, add notes, discard, etc. Cards from a week ago get reviewed, culled,
and some things then get transcribed into a notebook or a wiki.

I tend to work on longer term projects on a wiki, but the ideas and fleeting
thoughts go on the backs of business cards.

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hluska
I'm a firm believer in two notebooks. I keep a little one one me at all times
so I can write down ideas as I have then, and a few times a week, I transfer
them to a bigger notebook which I keep at home. I find that sometimes, my
thoughts gel between the first time I write them and when I transfer them.

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hacker007
I have tried notebooks and index cards but I had the problem of forgetting
them. Now, I keep two text files in my dropbox folder. One for work use and
one for personal use. This has been working fairly well for me. I use these to
take notes, ideas and track to do lists.

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VicT11
Two things. I use a paper folded up once horizontally and twice vertically
which creates 12 spaces that I use for calendar days for immediate to do
lists. For longer things, like interviews and thoughts, I use a small moleskin
which makes it a real pleasure to write.

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oceanician
Tangentely.

I tried carrying a small notebook around, but it didn't really work. For
household 'work' I write a todo list once a week. At the moment, I just start
a new todo list everyday on paper as I sit down in the morning.

