Notes ‒ A Backup For Your Thoughts

February 2024 ‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒ 5 minute read

The Writing Master (1882) by Thomas Eakins

To lose something is ultimately to forget about it. For the length of time which you forget something, it is as if that something has ceased to exist.¹That is of course unless you remember it

This process is equally true physically, digitally and mentally. However, in the case of losing things digitally there exists a fail safe. Backing up your data, whether onto the cloud, a hard-drive or a server, ensures that a copy of your work will always exist.

On the other hand, to lose things mentally is an entirely different story (and no, I don't mean losing your mind, although admittedly that can be quite frustrating at times). What I'm referring to here is the loss of ideas, insights, inspirations... In other words, any thoughts which hold value.

Inevitably most of our day-to-day thoughts are of minimal value and will therefore be swiftly disposed of. But, some thoughts we have are valuable, and are undeniably not worth forgetting.

So, in order to keep these thoughts, they somehow need to be backed up. In the same way that the human brain is essentially just a high-functioning, biological computer, likewise your thoughts are essentially just data on that computer. Unfortunately²Or maybe fortunately there is no way to simply upload this data from your brain. However, there's nothing stopping you from manually writing down your thoughts.

To thoughtlessly and consistently lose valuable mental data simply doesn't make sense. Instead, this data should be backed up, preserved... Put simply, whenever you have a thought of value, you should immediately write it down.

To write down your thoughts is to slowly but surely assemble a mental map of your mind. A note can include as little as a bullet point, or as much as an in-depth, highly detailed paragraph. Then, as you begin to collect more and more notes, you can begin to catagorise them, collate them, connect them.

Equally worthwhile and valuable as your own ideas are other people's ideas. If someone has already explored an idea then there's no need to reinvent the wheel; take inspiration and incorporate their ideas into your own ones. Authenticity trumps originality every time. Other people's ideas can be captured in notes through quotes, hyper-links or summaries — most of the time it's as simple as copying and pasting.³ In these cases, it's also worth included the source material to easily refer back to

A default notes app may work fine depending on your needs, but for a completely free, multi-device syncable option, I use Google Keep. Other alternatives I've heard recommended include Evernote, if you're willing to pay for extra features, and Obsidian, for a more dynamic and personalisable ecosystem. You can find an excellent break-down of every note-taking alternative here. In the end it doesn't particularly matter too much, but whatever you do settle with, stick to it.

At any given time, the human brain can only hold a limited number of ideas. However, by having a body of notes to refer to, new ideas can be connected and built upon much, much easier. Notes enable your thoughts to be organised, catagorised and laid out right in front of your eyes, as oppose to having to painstakingly dredge every nook, cranny and corner of your mind.

Interestingly, an idea lodged within your mind never tends to be particularly legible at first; without form, an idea creates only an impression. Though it may seem grand in your mind, it's only as you begin to express an idea that you find yourself struggling to fully capture it in its entirety.

That's because no idea is ever complete on it's own; ideas are like puzzle pieces. In order to make a coherent picture, they need to fit into place with the pieces adjacent to them. And just like puzzle pieces, ideas can only connect with others ideas if they fit together.

Something about expressing an idea forces you to make it coherent, and to do this, you must first put it into a context. Expressing an idea creates something far more tangible, something which you can then actually use, build upon and work with.

Now it's one thing to talk about ideas. There's much to be said for bouncing around ideas in conversation and seeing what sticks. But, the only way to express an idea in the best possible way is to express it in writing.

To write down your ideas forces you to clarify them, to elaborate on them, to elucidate them. To capture an idea in its entirety requires you to write and rewrite, sometimes dozens of times. It requires you to take all the vague fragments and condense them and turn them into something meaningful and coherent.

To capture an idea in its entirety is to take pieces of a puzzle and make a picture out of them.

Notes allow you to collect those puzzle pieces.

It's worth noting that just as many ideas are created in the process of writing as well. Oftentimes the very act of expressing one single idea causes you to stumble upon others in the process. In fact, arguably one of the best ways to procure ideas the very writing process I'm describing.

However, before you even begin writing, you first need a starting point - one single idea from which existing ideas can be connected and new ones can be created. It's only when you have an extensive selection of ideas that you can then determine the one with the most potential.

This then links to Sturgeon's law, which states that '90% of everything is crap'. Contextually, this principle means (somewhat brutally) that '90% of your ideas are crap'. In other words, if you've collected ten or so ideas, it's likely that only one of them will be any good.

Ironically, the very act of taking a note means that you think it has value; however, in order to stay true to Sturgeon's law, you'll have to overcome an inbuilt Egocentric bias. We all think that all our ideas are great, but the truth is, they're not. Now that's not to say you should discard all the ideas you consider not up to scratch either. You never know when you'll need that exact puzzle piece to fit in place.

One single idea is both the best and the worst of it's kind. To find that one idea which stands out from all the others, you first need to have others to compare it to. And to do that, all you need to do is collect them... to take notes.

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