I take loads of notes. Like a serious amount, that at some points it seems a bit unhealthy. I enjoy writing everything down for later use, and over the years it has proven invaluable numerous times. I like the process of doing it, I like to remember things, so I read them back, and I use them in personal and work related projects on a daily basis. This isn’t a post to polish my ego or anything. ”oh look at me, the perfect little notetaker” – it just sets the scene so to speak.

There are a few times that this habit has sucked the joy out of activities. It ruined podcasts for a little while, for instance, but I soon worked out my workflow and what I wanted to achieve. As I wrote about in my linked post above, there is a tendency in the modern world to want to hack everything. To squeeze and shape all the things in your life to get the most out of it. There’s a time to be efficient and proactive, but not with the things you enjoy. Those things are to slow down and enjoy the most.

There’s a benefit to subscribing to services like Blinkest and cramming in all the information you can get your hands on. There is also. Time to slow down, flip through the pages of a good back and enjoy the moment. Some people get immense benefit from listening to audiobooks or podcasts at 2x speed, and then there are other that enjoy the pauses and the silence, and want to dwell on the words.

I am in the camp of slowness. Of savouring what you enjoy, or benefiting from the things you do the most. I write things down in a notebook, with a pencil! I don’t need to hack my brain with a Personal Knowledge Management system because I just write things down, and I read them. Likewise, I go over some of the things that I read and listen to (not all of them) for nothing more than to enjoy them again and remember the things they say.

I value the people that rush around and hack all the things, but this not me, and I am totally at peace with that. One is not better than the other, they are just two sides of the same story that is modern life.