In summary

• Less data means less work in the future

• Less data means you can structure the data on the fly (for example during meetings)

• Being able to structure data on the fly means you can better react to what's happening

• Choosing what to record and what not to record reduces the amount of noise

My two cents

These days I see more and more technology and AI that let's you record everything you do.

For example, tools like Rewind let you record basically everything that happens on your computer.

The important thing for me is not so much having more data to work with but having the right data to use.

The example of interview notes

I could easily today record my research interviews using a tool like Otter that then gives you a full transcript of the conversation.

But often I choose to not do so, because it's just much more efficient to take notes of only the important stuff.

By choosing what data to record and what to leave out, I'm making the life of my future self much easier. I have less information to analyze and go through. A lot of the "noise" is already taken out.

The example of note taking in meeting

When it comes to note-taking in meetings, I've noticed that to me the important is not so much to have a recording of what is said, but rather to re-structure the conversation as it happens.

Taking notes by hand, forces me to record only what is important, as I don't have the time to record everything.

Most of the time, when people speak, they mix a lot of different pieces of information (tasks, decisions, context, etc.) Here note taking helps me to put this information in the right place to get a better overview instead of having the raw timeline of all the different elements that were shared.

It makes it also possible to see live that the conversation might only be focused on giving context, but no decisions are taken. This helps me then realize that we should take a decision to move forward.

As the discussion happens taking notes helps me also realise where the communication is blocked. If I don't take any more notes it's clear: the conversation doesn't add more valuable information and we can jump to another topic.

I realize that a lot of what is happening in a conversation is necessary to arrive to conclusions but not the whole road makes sense to be recorded for the future.